Irish Cheese Awards 2013 @

In association with

The Irish Cheese Awards is firmly established as the major event in Irelands cheese industry calendar, and celebrates the excellence and variety of the wonderful cheeses now produced in Ireland.Irish cheese has been a huge success at home and abroad and is a sector bucking the trend and experiencing growth! We expect to have in excess of 150 cheeses to judge this year! This year, we are delighted to announce that the judging and awards will take place at Bloom, we also have some new features including a social media competition to allow a member of the public to participate in the judging as well as a chefs choice award sponsored by Eurotoques Ireland. This is the only competition dedicated entirely to Irish Cheese and provides a showcase for visitors and professionals to view and sample first-hand the tremendous variety of Irish cheeses on offer. These awards enable Irish cheese producers to showcase their products to a national audience and be in with the chance to be crowned Supreme Champion, this overall award is judged from the gold medal winners of the individual categories.

The Judges: We are delighted to announce our line-up of judges for this year's awards, and would like to thank them for their participation. They are: Elaine OConnor, OConnor Head Buyer, Avoca Group Charlotte Kamin, Kamin Proprietor of Bedford Cheese Shop, NYC, USA Pat Fenton, Fenton Cheddar Grader, previously of Dairygold Food Ingredients Ruth Hegarty, Hegarty Eurotoques Ireland Donal Skehan, Skehan TV Chef, Author, Food Blogger & Photographer Darina Allen, Allen Chef, Author, proprietor Ballymaloe House & Cookery School Tweeter not to leave the general public out, this year we decided to introduce a competition through Twitter to allow an eager foodie to join in the fun! Simply tweet us using the #IrishCheeseAwards signalling youre intent to enter... our criteria for selecting finalists will be based around how many of you mention Irish cheese in your twitter profiles and how! After the first round, well select and then announce round 2! The winner will be confirmed on Monday 27th May. You must be available to judge at Bloom in the Phoenix Park on Thursday 30th May from 10am

The Judging Process The competition will be judged by an acknowledged panel of experts on Thursday 30th May 2013. The judges work in pairs combining experienced cheese tasters with food professionals and all the judges together select the overall winner. Entries will be graded out of 100 based on the following criteria: Criteria Flavour & Aroma Body & Texture Overall Appearance Points Available 70 20 10

When judging is completed the winners will be contacted and asked to collect their awards at the presentation ceremony at Bloom

The Prizes Class winners will receive a certificate plus Gold Winner artwork for stickers to include on their packaging highlighting their winning status, PLUS post-show promotion naming the winners in key industry titles. Silver and Bronze prize winners will receive a certificate of their achievement. The Sheila Broderick Memorial Trophy A supreme champion will be selected from the Gold Winner cheeses from each Class, and will be presented with The Sheila Broderick Memorial Trophy. Eurotoques Chefs Award This year we are delighted to announce a new award voted for by the prestigious Eurotoques association of Chefs. The winning cheesemaker will receive a prize from Eurotoques.

Irish Cheese Awards 2013 Entry Classes

CLASS NO. CLASS 1 AWARD CATEGORY CREAMERY MATURE CHEDDAR (AGED 9 MTHS +) DETAILED DESCRIPTION Creamery produced cheddar aged more than 9 months Creamery produced cheddar aged less than 9 months Smoked cheese made using any milk type Fresh cheese made using any milk type Fresh cheese with flavour added made using any milk type New cheeses that have been available on the market for less than 18 months Sheep's Milk Cheeses Flavour added cheese made using any milk type Hard or semihard cheeses aged over 6 months made using any milk type Hard or semihard cheeses aged under 6 months made using any milk type Bloomy rind cheeses, white moulded cheeses, soft & semi soft from any milk Semisoft cheeses with bacteria ripened rind from any milk type Blue veined cheeses from any milk type Goat's milk cheese aged under 2 months Goat's milk cheese aged 2 months and over Soft cheeses with flavour added now have a new category see Class 5 Though category permits any milk, Class 14 is more appropriate for goat's milk cheeses NOTES Cheeses entered in this category must weigh less than 5kg Cheeses entered in this category must weigh less than 5kg

CLASS 2

CREAMERY CHEDDAR (AGED UNDER 9 MTHS)

CLASS 3

SMOKED CHEESE (ANY MILK)

CLASS 4

FRESH CHEESE (ANY MILK)

CLASS 5

FRESH CHEESE FLAVOUR ADDED (ANY MILK)

CLASS 6 CLASS 7 CLASS 8

NEW CHEESE (AVAILABLE LESS THAN 18 MTHS) SHEEPS MILK CHEESE FLAVOUR ADDED CHEESE (ANY MILK)

CLASS 9

HARD MATURE CHEESE (6 MTHS+, HARD / SEMI HARD, ANY MILK) HARD CHEESE (AGED UNDER 6 MTHS, HARD / SEMIHARD, ANY MILK) BLOOMY RIND (SOFT AND SEMISOFT, ANY MILK)

CLASS 10

CLASS 11

CLASS 12 CLASS 13 CLASS 14 CLASS 15

SEMISOFT (WASHED RIND CHEESE, ANY MILK) BLUE CHEESE (ANY MILK) GOATS MILK CHEESE (AGED UNDER 2 MTHS) GOATS MILK CHEESE (AGED 2 MTHS +)

2012 Supreme Cheese and winner of the Sheila Broderick Memorial Trophy: Maja Binder from Dingle Peninsula Cheese, Co Kerry
for Kilcummin Cheese

2012 Winners Winners:

Class 1 - Creamery Mature Cheddar Silver: Fivemiletown Creamery Mature Cheddar Bronze: Wexford Mature Class 9 HARD MATURE CHEESE Gold: Coolea Vintage Silver: Glebe Brethan Bronze: Mossfield Class 2 CREAMERY CHEDDAR Bronze: Ardagh Medium White Cheddar (Aldi) Class 10 HARD CHEESE Gold: Kilcummin Silver: St. Gall Bronze: Beenosbee Class 3 SMOKED CHEESE Gold: Ardrahan Smoked Silver: Gubbeen Smoked Extra Mature Bronze: Knockanore Oakwood Smoked Class 5 FRESH CHEESE FLAVOUR ADDED Bronze: Fivemiletown Goat Log with Mustard Class 12 SEMISEMI-SOFT Gold: Milleens Dote Silver: Ardrahan Bronze: Milleens O Class 6 NEW CHEESE Silver: Milleens Cead Bronze: St. Tola Ash Class 7 SHEEPS MILK CHEESE Silver: Knockdrinna Meadow Bronze: Knockalara Sheeps Cheese Class 13 BLUE CHEESE Gold: Crozier Blue Silver: Cashel Blue Class 14 GOATS MILK CHEESE Gold: St. Tola Log Silver: Kilree Bronze: Gortnamona Class 8 FLAVOUR ADDED CHEESE Gold: Dilliskus Bronze: Coolea Cumin Seed Class 15 GOATS MILK CHEESE - MATURE Gold: Killeen Goat Mature Silver: Killeen Goat Bronze: Knockdrinna Gold Class 11 BLOOMY RIND Gold: Cooleeney Bronze: Wicklow Ban