Websterville, VT—Vermont Butter & Cheese Creamery announced today that their Bonne Bouche won second place overall at the American Cheese Society’s annual cheese competition in Seattle WA. The reserve champion award was among six ribbons that the company received for their creamery’s crème fraîche, cultured butter, quark, feta, and coupole. With record breaking entries, Bonne Bouche was judged among 1,462 cheeses made in North America.
“This is the most exciting award of our 26 years of making cheese and entering contests,” said company co-founder, Bob Reese. “Not only did we win for the aged goat cheese category, but we also won among the 92 first place winners across all 350 categories.” The American Cheese Society’s annual competition is considered one of the world’s most influential and prestigious competitions in artisanal and specialty cheesemaking.
French for a good mouthful, Bonne Bouche is a 4 oz ash-ripened goat cheese. The cheese is ladled by hand and drained overnight. Fresh out of the cheese forms, Bonne Bouche is sprinkled with salt and poplar ash, dried, and cured in a cool and humid aging room for up to two weeks where it develops its distinctive wrinkled rind. ”It has taken a decade to perfect this cheese,” said co-founding cheesemaker, Allison Hooper. “The milk changes seasonally and we are adjusting the recipe to accommodate those changes. Assurance that the cheese will be predictably delicious at six to eight weeks old when the consumer buys it takes a commitment to quality.”
Bonne Bouche is one of a signature line of four surface-ripened cheeses. Choosing to establish this French-style cheese made in America for the American market, Hooper said, “For this small goat cheese to make its way to the winner circle and be judged against the formidable mountain-style cheeses tells us that the judges recognize a good cheese of this type when they see it. While it may be well known in France it has taken some time for our customers to embrace the distinctive wrinkled rind, a visual clue that the cheese will have a mild and sweet milk flavor.” Like the early years of pioneering fresh goat cheese, the creamery is committed to breaking new ground with aged goat cheeses, like Bonne Bouche, by sampling chefs, retailers, and consumers one at a time.
In their twenty-seventh year of business, Vermont Butter and Cheese Creamery is a leading American creamery crafting innovative, all-natural fresh and aged goat cheeses, crème fraîche, mascarpone, and European-style cultured butter. The creamery supports a network of more than 20 goat dairy farms, providing milk that meets the highest standards of purity, and is a proud contributor to the health of local agriculture.
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