Stonetown Artisan Cheese has won the top prize for Grand Trunk in this week’s cheese competition at SIAL Canada. Grand Trunk was named Grand Champion in the international cheese competition that included approximately 200 cheese entries from around the world. Grand Trunk was also named the Category Champion in the Swiss Style Category.
“We are humbled to have been awarded a Grand Champion win two competitions in a row, this time for Grand Trunk. I am very proud of Ramon, the head cheesemaker, and the entire team for the efforts they put in daily to produce a quality product. Great cheese comes from great milk, and our farm team is very much a part of this win.” says Hans Weber, owner of Stonetown Artisan Cheese.
“Grand Trunk is a farmstead Gruyere style cheese made with the traditions and recipe from the Swiss Alps. The careful ripening for 15 months includes washing the rind with wine yeasts resulting in both a visually stunning exterior, and a harder, drier interior that becomes rich and creamy in your mouth with a deep complex flavour, balanced, yet pleasantly persistent. Grand Trunk is named after the old railway bridge of the former Grand Trunk Railway in St Marys”
Wildwood was also a winning cheese in this competition, the Category Champion in the Firm Cheese Category, and was also awarded a special prize for the Best Canadian Cow Milk cheese, by Dairy Farmers of Canada.
“Wildwood is unique in that the curds are washed in the make process, which results in a creamier cheese, and the rind is carefully nurtured just over a year, by washing and brushing it with wine yeasts. The aromatic rind gives the cheese a contrasting texture to the interior and typical aromas associated with washed rind cheeses. Wildwood is named after the Wildwood Dam in St. Marys.”
Over the years, Stonetown Artisan Cheese has placed as a finalist in 25 awards, both in Canada and in competitions throughout the world.