News: Thorp - Marieke Gouda (Wins Cheese Contest - 2016)

Contact: Dolores (Mohr) Kenyon
E-mail: dolores@wiclarkcountyhistory.org 

Surnames: Roth, Schefer, Umhoefer

----Source: Thorp Courier (Thorp, Clark Co., WI) 3/16/2016

Marieke Gouda Sweeps World Championship (Cheese Contest - 2016)

Wisconsin dominates throughout the competition.

The Dairy State was well represented during this year’s World Champion Cheese Contest in Madison, as Wisconsin cheese companies took Gold Ratings in 38 different classes. The contest, which wrapped up last Wednesday at the Monona Terrace Convention Center, featured over 2,950 entries from 23 countries - an all time high for the competition.

Helping bring recognition to Wisconsin cheesemakers was Thorp’s own Marieke Gouda Category, the Marieke Gouda team swept the category, taking first, second, and third place, as well as placing high in the ranks with eight other trademark flavors.

Marieke Gouda - Caraway earned top marks with a score of 99.25 out of 100. The flavored Gouda also earned Best of Class. Marieke Gouda - Truffle took second with a score of 99.05 and Marieke Gouda - Burning Mélange came in third with a score of 99.00. Marieke Gouda - Bacon came in with a score of 98.85.

In the Mild Gouda category, the Marieke Gouda Belegen came in third with a score of 99.15 and two other mild Goudas were in with the other top-ranked cheeses.

Holland’s Family Cheese also had cheeses entered in the Aged Gouda category as well as their newest product line - cheese curds.

For the first time in 28 years, the international panel of judges named a cheese from the United States as the best cheese in the world. A smear-ripened hard cheese Roth Grand Cru Surchoix from Emmi Roth USA earned a score of 98.88 out of 100 to claim the top title. First runner-up in the contest, with a score of 98.758, was the Urnascher Honkuhkase made by Johannes Schefer of Switzerland. An Aged Gouda product placed third, which was submitted by Team Lutjewinkel North from The Netherlands.

“The cheeses judged at this competition are, without a doubt, the best in the world, and all of the cheesemakers who participated are to be commended,” said John Umhoefer, director of the Wisconsin Cheese Makers association, which hosts the biennial competition. “Win margins are incredibly thin, often with just tenths of a point separating the medalists from the rest of the pack.”

Overall, U. S. cheesemakers dominated the competition, earning gold medals in a whopping 83 of the total 110 categories judged. Switzerland came in second among the countries, with nine golds. Cheesemakers from The Netherlands earned six gold medals, while Austria, Canada, and Spain each took three. German cheesemakers won two golds and Mexico earned one.