Soft-Ripened
Bloomy rinds, judged on the state of the paste at the moment it reaches the table — not on how impressive it looked a week early.
Competition
Judged blind. Scored on paper.
The annual competition runs in six categories. Judges never see a label, results are published with the score sheets, and entries open in January. Creamery-tier membership includes entry.
The six categories
Enter as many as you like; each wheel is entered in one category only, and the category you choose is the standard you are judged against.
Alpine Styles
Mountain-style wheels, large formats included. Eyes, body and the long sweet finish that separates a good one from a correct one.
Aged Cheddar & Territorials
Cheddars over twelve months and the regional territorials alongside them. Texture and crystal development count as much as flavor.
Blue
Veining, salt balance and whether the blue is in service of the cheese or has simply taken it over.
Washed-Rind
The category that punishes a careless cave. Rind condition, aroma and the gap between what the nose promises and the paste delivers.
Fresh
Chèvre, pasta filata, quark and the rest — where there is nowhere to hide, because age cannot fix anything.
How judging works
- 1 · Entries are stripped. Every wheel is re-labeled with a number when it arrives. Judges see the number and the category, nothing else — no creamery, no region, no story.
- 2 · Panels of three. Each category is judged by a panel of three, drawn from makers, affineurs and buyers so that no single point of view sets the standard.
- 3 · A score sheet per wheel. Appearance and rind, aroma, texture, flavor, and finish, each scored against the category standard, with written comments required for any score at either extreme.
- 4 · Faults are named. A wheel that is downscored is told why: the specific fault, not a number alone. This is the part entrants say they come back for.
- 5 · Panels reconcile. Where the three sheets disagree sharply, the panel re-tastes together and records the disagreement rather than averaging it away.
- 6 · Results are published with the sheets. Every entrant receives their own sheets; placings and the full category sheets go up on the site after the Annual Conference.
Entering
- Entries open
- January, and close when the category fills.
- Who can enter
- Any member creamery. Creamery-tier membership includes entry at no extra fee; other tiers pay a per-wheel fee.
- What you send
- A whole wheel or a cut of the published minimum weight, shipped cold, with the make date and the milk declared.
- Results
- Announced at the Annual Conference in October and published with the score sheets the same week.
Standards for each category are maintained by the Standards Committee and reviewed every year after judging. The Judging Standards session on 17 September walks through all six.