Great British Cheese Awards Winners Announced
The winners of the Great British Cheese Awards have been announced. The Great British Cheese awards were established three years ago to celebrate the best of British cheese produced and distributed by independent cheese makers and retailers and this year, both established artisan brands and new cheesemakers have taken top awards.
The category winners are:
Artisan Producer – Tenacres, Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire – Award sponsored by Slow Food in the UK
Gillian and Tim Clough farm a small herd of Anglo Nubian goats on their ten acre farm in Hebden Bridge. They have been making their Hebden Goat Cheese on the farm since 2015. The cheese is slowly set before being moulded and aged for three weeks. Judges described the cheese as having “the perfect creamy texture with a good balance and colour”.
As winner of this category, Tenacres will also receive a phenomenal prize sponsored by Slow Food in the UK. They have won return flights to Turin, two nights accommodation and passed to ‘Cheese’ a biannual Slow Food Festival held in Bra, Italy that celebrates traditional cheese and cheese-making. Shane Holland, Executive Chairman of Slow Food in the UK said “We were really pleased to sponsor the awards. The winner will have a thoroughly enjoyable time at the Bra Cheese Festival and we hope this will help to further extend their passion and knowledge for artisan cheese.”
People’s Choice – Dorset Blue Vinny (Woodbridge Farm, Sturminster Newton)
Resurrecting a 300 year old recipe, the Davies family have been producing Dorset Blue Vinny at Woodbridge Farm, near Sturminster Newton for almost 40 years. The cheese is made with fresh milk from their herd of 270 Friesian dairy cows. The cheese takes 24 hours to make and for the first few weeks it is turned by hand every day and is then turned weekly. It takes up to 20 week for the cheese to mature. This is the only award that is purely selected by nominations received from the voting public.
Best Blue – Dorset Blue Vinny (Woodbridge Farm, Sturminster Newton)
Double award winners Dorset Blue Vinny has also been named as Best Blue Cheese. The Davies family are the only commercial producers of Dorset Blue Vinny. Judges said that the cheese had a “good creamy, butter texture with a fabulous rind with fresh lactic notes”.
Best Hard Cheese – Cornish Jack (River Amble Creamery, Port Isaac)
Cornish Jack is made by River Amble Creamery, an artisan cheesemaker based near Port Isaac. Cornish Jack is a traditional Swiss-style cheese; a full-fat hard cheese with a fruity flavour and nutty tones. Judges said they could taste the richness of the milk and that it had a definite ‘wow’ factor for a cheeseboard as well as claiming that they “couldn’t stop eating the cheese”.
Best Retailer – George & Joseph Cheesemongers (Leeds) – Award sponsored by The Academy of Cheese
Leeds’ only specialist cheesemongers opened their shop in Chapel Allerton in 2013. George & Joseph stock and source the finest locally produced Yorkshire cheeses along with a selection of the best cheeses from the UK and further afield.
As winners of the Best Retailer award, George & Joseph will also receive an Academy of Cheese Level One Associate Course. Tracey Colley, Founding Director of The Academy of Cheese said: “We were delighted to support The 2018 Great British Cheese Awards. The Academy of Cheese recognises the importance of promoting cheese knowledge and these awards were a perfect platform to reach a highly engaged community.”
Best Soft Cheese – Tunworth (Hampshire Cheeses, Basingstoke)
Tunworth is made by Hampshire Cheeses. Described as a very British Camembert, a soft, white-rinded cheese reminiscent of its French cousin. It is made entirely by hand from pasteurised whole cow’s milk and has an earthy mushroom fragrance and long-lasting sweet and nutty flavour. Judges felt that this was “a great example of a wash-rind cheese” with “a full texture, complex yet balanced flavour – delicious”.
Best New Producer – Edmund Tew (Blackwood’s Cheese, London)
Owned by cheesemakers Dave Holton & Tim Jarvis, Blackwood’s Cheese was founded in June 2013. Edmund Tew Cheese is produced with raw organic milk and despite being handmade, has as little intervention as possible to protect flavour and the all-important soft texture. Judges said that the cheese had a “lovely golden colour and fully developed flavour” and that you could “still smell the grassy notes of milk”.
A full list of award winners can be found here: http://www.greatbritishchefs.
