French sheep’s milk cheese named 2018 World Champion Cheese
But U.S. cheesemakers dominated the competition, earning gold medals in 87 of the 121 contest classes.
A hard sheep's milk cheese called Esquirrou — made in France at Mauleon Fromagerie by Michel Touyarou and imported by Savencia Cheese USA of New Holland, Pa. — was named the 2018 World Champion Cheese. The winner of the annual World Champion Cheese Contest was announced on March 8 during a reception at the Monona Terrace Convention Center in Madison, Wis.
Earning an impressive score of 98.376 out of 100, Esquirrou (pronounced ehs-keer-oo) bested a record-breaking 3,402 entries in the 2018 contest, according to the Madison-based Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association (WCMA), host of the biennial event. It is crafted in the Pyrénées region of France, aged no less than 90 days and features nutty notes and a toasted wheat aroma.