A Swiss Gruyère cheese from Canton Bern has been crowned the best in the world at the latest World Cheese Awards. The event, held in Newport, Wales, saw Gruyère beat Italian Gorgonzola to claim the top spot.
The event on November 2 involved blind tasting and rating the quality and flavour of 4.443 kinds of cheese from 42 different countries. The judges in Newport were a collection of cheesemakers, experts, influencers, and anyone who is just crackers about cheese.
The top spot in 2022 was taken by Le Gruyère AOP surchoix, from Vorderfultigen, Canton Bern. A Gorgonzola Dolce from Italy took second place.
According to 20 minuten, judges said the Gruyère - which was chosen to represent all Gruyères made in Switzerland - was a “really refined, artisanal cheese” with notes of herbs, fruits and leather - in other words, quite tasty. Jury member Christian Zürcher added it was "a really perfect artisan cheese that melts in your mouth."
Originating from the Gruyère valley in Canton Bern, the cheese is regularly voted as Switzerland’s favourite. This is also likely the case abroad, as another type of Gruyère won the US World Cheese title in Wisconsin in March of this year - although that hasn’t stopped America from labelling the cheese “generic,” paving the way for several badly produced knockoffs.
Speaking to Wales247, Le Gruyère AOP international marketing manager Dennis Kaser said that “this result shows the quality behind the cooperation of all these people: 1.900 milk producers, 155 cheesemakers and 11 refiners. The result of this cooperation is a high-quality cheese that is very popular with consumers. I am very proud to represent Le Gruyère. Congratulations to the Vorderfultigen village cheese dairy!”
The event also saw success for Ukraine, which had been set to host the awards before the Russian invasion. In spite of the war, 39 Ukrainian cheeses were rated, with cheese distributor Natali Kahadi joking that “we are not stopping our production. We fight our war with cheese."
You can see the moment Switzerland won in the video below:
Video: Guild of Fine Food / YouTube