Wisconsin Newcomer Takes Best Of Show At American Cheese Society Annual Conferen

Mike and Carol Gingrich of Uplands Cheese Company in Dodgeville, Wisc. have taken top honors for their farmstead cheese, Pleasant Ridge Reserve, at the 18th annual conference of the American Cheese Society held in Louisville, Ky.

The "Best of Show" winner is a semi-hard, washed-rind cheese that the Gingrich's began making just one year ago. Pleasant Ridge Reserve is made only with spring and summer milk, which the Gingrichs consider to be the highest-quality, best-tasting milk. Great milk means great cheese, so during spring and summer, the cows are grazed on the rich grasses indigenous to the Gingrich's area of southwest Wisconsin.

The cows are on a rotational grazing system, which means that they are moved to a different part of the pasture each day to allow the grasses they've eaten to re-grow. This ensures a constant supply of their high-quality feed source throughout the season - and award-winning cheese.

Held at the historic Camberley Brown Hotel in downtown Louisville, the American Cheese Society conference, themed "The Chef and the Cheese on the Table," drew 275 participants from all over the country. Attendees at the three-day conference included cheesemakers, cheese retailers, distributors, food journalists, restaurateurs, and cheese aficionados who listened to panelists speak on issues that included the challenges of making and selling cheese, how to educate chefs and consumers about cheese, the cheese traditions of America, the future of raw milk cheese, and the much lighter conference highlight, Great Bourbon and Cheese Pairings.

An impressive 85 cheesemakers submitted over 375 cow, sheep and goats' milk cheeses for judging. Along with Uplands Cheese Company's Pleasant Ridge Reserve, some of the other winners included California's Marin French Cheese Company for its La Petit Creme in the soft-ripened cows' milk cheese category. In the open goats' milk category, a blue ribbon went to Judy Schad of Capriole Farm in Greenville, Ind. for her washed rind cheese, Mont St. Francis. Willow Hill Farm in Vermont picked up first place for its new mixed milk Summertomme, while two Vermont cheddar producers, Grafton Village Cheese Company and Cabot Creamery, each picked up blue ribbons for their cheese. Canadian producer Les Fromages Chaput received first place in the soft-ripened goat cheese category for its Briquette Chaput.

Major sponsors of this year's conference included the California Milk Advisory Board, the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board, the Brown Hotel, and the Great Cheeses of New England. The 2002 conference will be held in Washington, DC.