When you picture the source of a Best of Show cheese, you’re probably imagining grassy green fields, maybe rolling hills, a creamery in a red barn. And most years, you’d be pretty accurate. This year, however, the cheese just crowned Best in America is a clothbound cheddar fresh from below the streets of Queens, New York. This year’s American Cheese Society conference, judging and competition has just concluded in Richmond, Virginia, and the Queens-aged cheddar is just one of three fascinating dairy stories reflected in the top three Best of Show awardees.

stockinghall cheddar | murray's cheese | cheeseandchampagne.com

Stockinghall Cheddar by Murray’s Cheese was born after the retailer, who pioneered retail cave-aging in the US, expanded their NYC caves to a new, larger space in Queens. Murray’s had aged other makers’ products but sought to develop their own cheese as well. Cavemaster and head affineur PJ Jenkelunas collaborated with Old Chatham Creamery‘s cheesemaker Brian Schlatter to develop the cheddar, which does begin its life in OCC’s more typical farm setting in upstate NY before being delivered to Murray’s for aging in their caves for about a year. The R&D for the new cheddar was also aided by Cornell University’s Stocking Hall Dairy Incubator, hence its name. (You may have sampled it under its previous name, Ezra, when it first debuted in 2017.) Schlatter described their objective with the recipe as to create a cheddar with a little sweetness, caramel notes but also a little of the sulfur of an English cheddar. I felt the wheel we sampled leaned more to the caramelly side but there was a subtle brothiness as well. Alas for would-be fans, Stockinghall is currently only available at Murray’s NYC retail locations and not in their Kroger’s markets. You can order it online, however, as long as the stock lasts.

wegmans professor's brie | cheeseandchampagne.com

In a first, both the first and second Best of Show cheeses are the product of retailer-partnerships — and the same cheesemaker, Brian Schlatter. Second place went to Wegmans Professor’s Brie, a bloomy-rind, luscious cow/sheeps-milk blended triple-cream. Does its square shape look familiar? “That’s the mold we had,” Schlatter explained. Old Chatham Creamery has made Hudson Valley Camembert in those square molds for decades; in fact, it was one of the first cheeses we ever shared here on the blog in 2008. Since then, Old Chatham was sold to new owners and moved further upstate; Wegmans Food Market’s Cathy Gaffney was a past student of the new owner, Dave Galton, at Cornell University. Again, leading to the new cheese’s name: Professor’s Brie.

How does New York-headquartered Wegmans Food Markets fit into this story? In 2013, Wegmans opened their own cheese caves, specifically designed with the intent to age soft-ripened bloomy cheeses. A mission Gaffney had spent five years developing, during which time she had to work with French manufacturers to get necessary equipment approved for import to the US. While the early objective had been to bring bloomy cheeses over from France and finish them at the Wegmans’ caves, they realized that the two, three or even four-week journey from Europe wasn’t getting them these young, soft cheeses in an ideal condition. And so they set out, again their affineur working with cheesemaker Schlatter, to develop a brie-style cheese that could rival the European imports. The winning recipe is a blend of cow and sheeps-milk and added cream, for a truly decadent, delightfully buttery cheese. While most of the country is again out-of-range for this award winner, it will be available in all 99 Wegmans locations from Massachusetts to Virginia — and store 100, opening in North Carolina next month.

aries | shooting star creamery | cheeseandchampagne.com

It would take an extraordinary cheese to rival the back stories of these two Cornell-educated cheeses; and that’s exactly what the third place Best of Show delivers. No, its cheesemaker, Avery Jones, hasn’t gone to Cornell — yet. But we’re fairly certain she’s the first ACS winner to miss picking up her award because she was traveling with her high school drama club in Scotland. During the conference we sampled a 15-year Wisconsin cheddar the same age as this newcomer, founder of Shooting Star Creamery. She has, however, had the advantage of growing up in the industry and a father, Reggie Jones, who owns the also award-winning Central Coast Creamery in Paso Robles, California. Avery developed the recipe for Aries, an aged sheeps-milk gouda, and made it at Central Coast. Aries also scored 98 points at the US Championship Cheese Contest earlier this year, and Jones has two more cheeses already in the works. Quite the debut! Unfortunately, there are only three more batches of Aries aging on the shelves and the farmer who supplies her sheeps milk stops milking for the season in October, so Aries may be hard to come by for the near future. (It may be available at Sigona’s markets in Redwood City and Palo Alto, Calif., if you’re lucky enough to be local.)

It can be frustrating, even when a Best of Show cheese is more widely available, to track them down in the aftermath of a big win. That this year’s top three are all limited in availability is unfortunate, but what makes the American Cheese Society great are the many unique stories its members offer. You might not get to taste all three of this year’s winners, but why not take a look at the complete list of this year’s honorees and seek out some new and nearer to you? You can view the winners here.

And because we’re here to serve our fellow cheeselovers, here are a few suggestions:

alternate award-winners | cheeseandchampagne.com
clockwise from top left: Flagship Reserve, Winter Wooly, Shepsog, Ewereka

If you can’t get Stockinghall, look for Beecher’s Flagship Reserve.

If you don’t live near a Wegman’s, you can still find Hudson Valley Camembert in many retailers, or look for Woolly Rind (or Winter Woolly) from Green Dirt Farm.

And for your crunchy, sweet aged-sheeps-milk fix, like Aries, try Central Coast Creamery’s Ewereka, which took second place in the category; or Grafton Village Cheese‘s Shepsog.

Have you tried any of the Best of Show winners? Tell us your impressions!

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I bring up my PNW roots fairly often, but as an interlude between there and my current east coast residence, I was fleetingly a Cali girl. For four years that forever spoiled me for winters and sock-wearing, I studied in the charming town of Claremont, California. Sadly, the Cheese Cave was still a few years off from opening, but I have enthusiastically cheered sister-owners Marnie and Lydia Clarke on via social media since they opened their doors in 2010. I can’t help but wonder if my journey to cheese would have been accelerated had my Sunday ritual of 42nd Street bagels and CD browsing at Rhino Records (okay, at least I’m not quite so old that I was actually buying records back then) been followed with a stop at the Cheese Cave. Of course, my college student budget wouldn’t have permitted me to indulge too often, so there’s that small consolation. (Ironically, part of my first food job at my school’s supper club was to arrange the cheese and cracker trays for the evening events. I don’t remember them well but assume it was your standard food service brie and cheddar assortment, alas.)

cheese cave | claremont | cheeseandchampagne.com

All that to say that when I finally had the occasion to return to Claremont this spring, I was determined to finally visit the Cheese Cave in person. I was on a mission to obtain some California cheeses to take home, while my youngest curd kid was adamantly lobbying for the softer specimens. I was impressed that our cheesemonger offered suggestions for both a super ripe-and-runny one to enjoy then, and then a firmer one that could travel back east. Because we were going to be out and about for a while, I bought a cheese carrying bag; when we got back to the hotel later that day, I was surprised to see he had added a cooling pack as well — a much appreciated gesture.

big sur | stepladder creamery | cheeseandchampagne.com

The traveling cheese we brought back was Big Sur from the farmstead Stepladder Creamery up the Central Coast. Stepladder makes small-batch goat cheeses from their Lamancha goat herd as well as some mixed-milk cheeses utilizing milk from Cal-Poly’s herds. (Hooray for well-educated dairy animals. 😉 ) Though newer to goat cheese making, the farm actually has a history in dairy — over 100 years ago, it was part of a network of Swiss and Italian-immigrant dairy farmers in San Luis Obispo County.

Stepladder’s Big Sur is a mixed-milk, ash-rinded, triple-creme cheese with the buttery richness of the cows-milk and a subtler lactic tang. Its paste stays on the firmer side, for a bloomy, making it ideal to travel in your summer picnic basket. (Rosé or a grassier white wine would be ideal.)

big sur | bloomy rind | cheeseandchampagne.com

This cheese has definitely earned Stepladder Creamery a spot on our someday West Coast road trip itinerary. (They offer lodging on the ranch, as well!)

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North Fork Munster, Redhead Creamery

March 8, 2019

We’ve been fans of Alise Sjostrom’s Redhead Creamery since the early days way back in 2013. After growing up on the family dairy farm, Alise studied at the Vermont Institute for Artisan Cheese and lived and worked in Vermont and Wisconsin before returning home to Brooten, Minn., to launch her own creamery. (And family, simultaneously, […]

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Idyll Gris, Idyll Farms

February 25, 2019

Michigan isn’t a state that crosses our cheese-radar often, but I’ve enjoyed sampling the goat cheeses of Idyll Farms when I do come across them. This duo was a refreshing delight, the award-winning Idyll Gris and fluffy-as-a-cloud Idyllweiss. (Bonus points for the Sound of Music pun.) Idyll Farms is a farmstead, humane-certified goat creamery located […]

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Sogn, Shepherd’s Way Farms

November 12, 2018

Shepherd’s Way Farms may hail from Jill’s home state of Minnesota, but the farm’s Big Woods Blue has held a steady spot in the blue cheese rotation in my house, as well. So I was delighted to come upon a new cheese offering from the farm during this past summer’s cheese camp. Sogn is a […]

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American Cheese Month Spotlight: Pennsylvania

October 5, 2018

October is our favorite month of the year: American Cheese Month! Coincidentally, we also celebrate an anniversary (Colleen) and birthday (Jill) this month, so all the more reason to break out the bubbly and toast to some of our favorite domestic beauties. Inspired by this summer’s ACS conference in Pittsburgh, I thought I’d highlight a […]

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Jasper Hill Farm is King of the Haystack

August 6, 2018

I’m back from the American Cheese Society conference in Pittsburgh and while I’m still coming off my lactic buzz, it’s time to give a hearty round of applause to our friends at Jasper Hill Farm. Not only did they take their third Best of Show title in the farm’s 15-year history, but they achieved the […]

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Dispatches from Cheese Camp ‘18

July 31, 2018

It’s always a treat to have the annual American Cheese Society conference take place within driving distance, and this year’s provided an excuse for me to finally make my first trek to Pittsburgh. It was a lovely city and I certainly won’t let another decade (cough–two–cough) pass before returning! After many deep dives in dairy […]

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Summer of Cheese in the Northeast

July 16, 2018

The American Cheese Society Conference & Competition returns to the east coast this year, taking place July 25-28 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Its concluding Festival of Cheese on Saturday, July 28th, is open to the public and gives attendees a chance to sample some of the 2,000+ cheeses entered in the annual cheese competition. (Sometimes the […]

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World Cup of Cheese: Team Comté or Team Paški Sir?

July 14, 2018

Any football-loving cheese fans out there? While we would’ve loved to see a South American team in the final, the all-Euro final four do make it a little easier to find cheeses to represent each nation. Yes, even Croatia! Here’s our pick for the final four du fromage. Of course it’s no easy feat to […]

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