What is it Like to Judge a Cheese Competition?

Editor’s note: The New York International Cheese Competition is judged by cheese trade buyers only and had over 200 submissions from 5 countries in 40 categories in 2021. Get an exclusive look at the inaugural competition and then check out the list of winners.

I was standing half listening to a conversation, half watching cheesemongers plate gorgeous displays, when all the sudden a noise behind me turned into big celebration. It took me a minute to understand what was going on, but the joy of the people celebrating was infectious and familiar.

We were at the Mondial du Fromage in France and the organizers of the international event had just posted the results of the cheese competition. A group of French producers was joined by Brazilian cheesemakers in celebrating their wins. These results included the medals that cheeses had won a day early after being judged by over 50 international judges.

 

The Impact of Competitions

Competitions like this and their accompanying awards have huge impact for producers. They are a stamp of approval that many use to promote and sell their products, more than one producer has even used an international medal to get a bank loan to grow their production facilities or improve their aging centers. I know, because I been involved in international competitions and cheese judging for the past 14 years, both at home in Mexico and abroad in the US, Latin America, and Europe. I was in fact one of the first non-Europeans to judge the World Cheese Awards back in 2009.

I have often said that those cheeses that win, either disappear forever or become catalyzers for change. The reason may be that the economic pressures to maintain the quality of artisanal cheese when demand suddenly increases breaks or makes a cheesemaker, their production plant, and even their city or region. Take, for example, the now-iconic Kraftkar a blue cheese from Norway that was awarded World Cheese Awards in 2016. This cheese put Norway on the map as an artisanal cheese powerhouse and convinced the government to host the competition in 2018, giving another Norwegian cheese the chance to win the Best in Show medal. However, Fanaost, the second winner made by a small producer with only 16 cows is almost impossible to find even in Bergen the closest city to where the cheese is produced. 

There are hundreds of stories of cheeses that have won a bronze or silver medal and have transformed the lives of their producers, and more stories about gold and super gold medal winners that are now recognized as part of a dynasty of winners. And then there are stories like that of Rogue River Blue winning the Best in Show at the World Cheese Awards in Italy to become the first American cheese to win the international competition and changing forever the perception of American cheese, or Ossau-Iraty made by Agour winning a second time the highest award propelling the producer to be a force in the Basque Country, or Tarentaise from Spring Brook Farm winning the American Cheese Society competition top price in 2014 and 2017 to show that raw-milk cheeses made in the US are wonderful and safe.

 

The Responsibility of Judging

Therefore, I don’t think of judging as a perk or even a reward for hard work, but as a responsibility to the industry, to the producers, but overall, to cheese. I know far too well that a medal can change everything for a producer, I have seen it with my own eyes, and that’s why I take my training seriously. I want to be prepared to understand what makes a cheese good or bad, delicious, or inedible, technically perfect, or aesthetically pleasing. I eat a lot of bad cheese and spend a lot of time trying to understand why is bad, how it became bad, and what could be improved. So that when I taste amazing cheese, I know that is not just something I really like at that moment, but hopefully I am recognizing the hard work of the producer. For you aspiring judge, my advice is this: put yourself in a position where you are also trying to understand what makes cheese a good cheese, eating good cheese all the time is no education for your palate.

Back in the event hall the energy was electric, the cheesemakers who had traveled to Tours in the middle of France and won were totally excited, crying, posting on their social media. Others were calling people back home to inform the cheesemakers and their marketing teams that they had just won a medal. After months of carefully distancing from others, hugs of joy were inevitable. We were all vaccinated and felt safe, but above all happy!

 

The Mondial du Fromage continued and Virginie Dubois Dhorne won the best cheesemonger competition for 2021. Another moment when the industry present rallied against our heroines and heroes. Soon, I will be judging in Oviedo the World Cheese Awards. This year there will be 4,000 cheeses from 45 countries in competition, including entries from places like India, Guatemala, Japan, Colombia, and Ukraine. We will also have the most diverse panel of judges with 230 people representing over 35 nations.