Thorp (WQOW) - An area cheese maker stands alone at the top.
Holland's Family Cheese, in Thorp, took
home first place at the 2013 U.S.
championship cheese contest. Judges looked at 1,700 from more than 30 states,
and picked Holland's Gouda based on flavor and body.
"This is the
whipped cream on the strawberry, it's huge recognition that you're doing
something right so, and it's great teamwork, I have an awesome team that helps," says Marieke Penterman,
with Holland's
Family Cheese.
The Gouda was actually one of two kinds of cheese, made by Holland's, to land in the
top 16. Overall, Wisconsin
cheese makers did well, claiming 14 of the 16 top cheeses.
******************
GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) -- A Wisconsin Gouda has been named the nation's top cheese.
Marieke Penterman, of Holland's Family Cheese in Thorp, Wis., won the U.S. Championship Cheese Contest in Green Bay Wednesday with her Marieke Mature Gouda.
Out of a possible 100 points, Marieke Gouda scored 98.31 in the final round of judging.
First runner-up was Tarentaise, a semi-hard alpine cheese made by Spring Brook Farm/Farms For City Kids Foundation in Reading, Vt. Second runner-up was Medium Cheddar, made by Team Cracker Barrel Natural Cheese, Agropur Weyauwega for Kraft Foods in Glenview, Ill.
More than 1,700 cheeses were entered, including pepper-flavored, smoked and sheep cheeses.
Wisconsin captured the most gold medals, with 47 of the 81 categories judged. Vermont and New York came in second, with six gold medals each.
