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For an event that started in a cooler in Green Bay, the World Championship Cheese Contest has turned into a hot ticket in Madison.
The contest begins March 7 at Monona Terrace, and what was once strictly an industry-focused event has evolved in recent years into a spectator sport — albeit one that offers a chance to nibble at the contestants.
Judging takes place over the course of three days, culminating in a ticketed evening gala on March 9 called “Cheese Champion.” There, 16 finalists are winnowed down to a winner, and cheese lovers can sample 50 different cheeses along with appetizers.
The contest was founded in 1957 by the Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association, but organizers didn’t really start reaching out to the public until 2012. Previously, anyone could attend, but there wasn’t a lot to see — or taste.
“You could wander through and see judges spitting out cheese,” says Jeanne Carpenter, specialty cheese manager at Metcalfe’s Market and the organizer of the tasting evening through her business, Wisconsin Cheese Originals. “That was kind of the highlight.”
Now casual observers can try limited samples throughout the exhibition. Cheese Champion is expected to sell out its 500 tickets, with proceeds going to scholarships for graduate research at the Wisconsin Center for Dairy Research and the Second Harvest Food Bank of Southern Wisconsin.
“It had been very much industry-focused, and still is,” says Kirsten Henning, event manager for the Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association. “But it’s great the consumers are so involved, too.”
The biannual contest alternates with another WCMA event, the U.S. Championship Cheese Contest.
This year’s championship will have 2,932 entries from 23 countries and 31 states. In 2014, 34 of 90 category winners were from Wisconsin, but a big-wheeled Emmentaler from Switzerland was named champion. No Wisconsin, or American, cheese maker has taken top honors since Roland Tess of Kiel in 1984.
Carpenter says two Wisconsin companies in particular, Roth of Monroe and Holland’s Family Cheese in Thorp, have a shot at the title because they are making the kinds of cheese the judges have favored over the years — Swiss Alpine cheeses and Dutch Goudas.
Carpenter has been wowed by Roth’s Private Reserve, a raw cow’s milk cheese.
“This recent batch can stack up against the best Gruyeres coming out of Switzerland, though I don’t know how Switzerland would feel about me saying that,” Carpenter says.
Marieke Penterman of Holland’s Family Cheese was a world finalist in 2014 and a U.S. champion in 2013.
“If she’s entering a Gouda that’s over a year old, she has a chance of winning because her cheese is amazing,” Carpenter says.
The contest is open to the public on Monday and Tuesday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Monona Terrace’s Exhibit Hall for those who want to observe the judging. There is no admission charge. For more information, or to order tickets ($25) for Wednesday’s Cheese Champion event, see worldchampioncheese.org.
