World-renowned judges confirmed what you may have already known: some of the best cheese made in the country is produced in Door and Kewaunee counties. Local cheesemakers won 10 awards across seven different categories in the biennial contest. Overall, judges sampled hundreds of dairy products across 118 categories, ranging from traditional cheese varieties to milk protein concentrate.

Agropur's Luxemburg plant led the way with seven awards. Jeremy Robinson won Best in Class for his Whole Milk Low Moisture Mozzarella, Smoked Provolone, and Reduced Sodium Provolone. Renard's Cheese/Rosewood Dairy in Algoma won a third-place award for its Renard's Whips. Agropur's Pat Doell and Ezra Frater, Door Artisan Cheese Company's Ricardo Gutierrez, and Team DACC from Red Barn Family Farms also received awards in the U.S. Championship Cheese Contest held at the Resch Expo in Green Bay.

The Top 20 cheeses in the USA include Team DACC's Vintage Cupola American Original Cheese. The entry will vie for the title of the overall winner, which was announced at 2 p.m. on Thursday at this link. 

UPDATE: The Vintage Cupola American Orginal Cheese produced by Door Artisan Cheese Company in Egg Harbor for Red Barn Family Farms in Appleton, won second place overall in the competition, coming just behind an aged gouda made in Connecticut by a Wisconsin-born cheesemaker. The margin of victory was .126 points.

MOZZARELLA

Jeremy Robinson
Agropur
Luxemburg, WI
US
99.275
Best of Class
Low Moisture Mozzarella, Whole Milk

Pat Doell
Agropur
Luxemburg, WI
US
99.13
Third Award
Low Moisture Mozzarella, Whole Milk

MILD PROVOLONE

Pat Doell
Agropur
Luxemburg, WI
US
99.725
Second Award
Provolone Cheese
 

Jeremy Robinson
Agropur
Luxemburg, WI
US
99.625
Third Award
Provolone Cheese

SMOKED PROVOLONE

Jeremy Robinson
Agropur
Luxemburg, WI
US
99.65
Best of Class
Smoked Provolone

Ezra Frater
Agropur
Luxemburg, WI
US
98.725
Third Award
Smoked Provolone

REDUCED SODIUM CHEESE

Jeremy Robinson
Agropur
Luxemburg, WI
US
99.3
Best of Class
Reduced Sodium Provolone

NATURAL SNACKING CHEESE

Renard's Rosewood Dairy, Inc
Renard's Cheese / Rosewood Dairy
Algoma, WI
US
99.485
Third Award
Renard's Whips

AGED GOUDA

Ricardo Gutierrez
Door Artisan Cheese Company
Egg Harbor, WI
US
98.8
Third Award
Aged Gouda

OPEN CLASS: HARD CHEESE

Team DACC
Red Barn Family Farms
Egg Harbor, WI
US
99.44
Best of Class
Vintage Cupola American Original Cheese