Finalists named in hunt for best Aussie cheese and dairy products

Judges for the 2014 Australian Grand Dairy Awards have tasted their way through a pool of more than 430 cheese and dairy products to select finalists in this year’s hunt for Australia’s best dairy products.

Now in its 15th year, the Australian Grand Dairy Awards recognise and reward excellence, quality and innovation in Australian dairy produce, paying tribute to the highly-skilled Aussies who develop and make these products.

To be eligible to enter the Australian Grand Dairy Awards, products must be made from Australian milk and have been awarded gold at state qualifying competitions, ensuring that the finalists and selected winners are truly the crème de la crème of Australian dairy produce.

Products from 19 different classes were put through their paces in a rigorous and highly technical judging process by a team of 22 judges who tasted and tested them, assessing for flavour, aroma, body, texture, colour and appearance over two days.

Cheese making expert and the Australian Grand Dairy Award’s chief judge, Neil Willman, says the calibre of Australian dairy produce has improved significantly throughout his 15 years on the judging panel.

“I continue to be impressed by the great dairy products being created by Australian manufacturers and this year, it has been exciting to see some smaller producers give some of the more well established products a run for their money.

“Australia’s dairy offering just continues to get better and better. Manufacturers are perfecting what they do and some are innovating with new flavour combinations. The end result has been a really tantalising crop of award contenders. It’s wonderful to see their efforts recognised on a national stage,” said Neil.

The 2014 Australian Grand Dairy Awards winners for each product class will be selected from the following list of 56 finalists. The highest scoring product from both the dairy and cheese categories will also be crowned Grand Champions recognising them as Australia’s best dairy product and Australia’s best cheese.

This year’s winners will be revealed at an exclusive awards ceremony to be held in Melbourne on Tuesday 26 November.

The 2014 Australian Grand Dairy Awards finalists are:

Cheese:

Class 1 Fresh Unripened Cheese

• La Vera Ricotta
• Brancourts Neufchatel
• Montefiore Mascarpone

Class 2 White Mould Cheese

• King Island Dairy Black Label Double Brie
• Wicked Brie

Class 3 Semi-Hard and Eye Cheese

• Heidi Farm Tilsit
• Heidi Farm Gruyere
• Tasmanian Heritage St Claire

Class 4 Cheddar Style Cheese

• Pyengana Cheddar
• Warrnambool Heritage Tasty Cheddar
• Warrnambool Mature Cheddar

Class 5 Hard Cheese

• Mil Lel Parmesan
• Mil Lel Romano
• La Vera Pecorino

Class 6 Blue Cheese

• Berry's Creek Tarwin Blue
• Berry's Creek Bellingham Blue
• King Island Dairy Roaring Forties Blue

Class 7 Washed Rind Cheese

• King Island Dairy Huxley Washed Rind
• Tasmanian Heritage Red Square
• Old Telegraph Road Fire Engine Red

Class 8 Flavoured Cheese

• Cuore Blu Diavoletti
• Olympus Halloumi
• Puglia Chilli Pecorino

Class 9 Goat's or Sheep's Milk Cheese

• Berry's Creek Rowefords Blue
• Meredith Marinated Feta
• Woodside Monet

Dairy:

Class 10 Natural Yogurt

• Farmers Union Greek Style Natural Yogurt
• Mundella Greek Natural Yoghurt
• Coles Greek Yoghurt

Class 11 Flavoured Yogurt

• Maleny Gourmet Yoghurt Apple & Cinnamon
• Gippsland Dairy Mango & Blood Orange Yogurt
• Maleny Gourmet Yoghurt Passionfruit

Class 12 Ice Cream

• Gourmet Ice Cream White Chocolate, Salted Caramel & Macadamia
• Dooley's Premium Licorice Ice Cream
• Dooley's Premium Honey Malt Ice Cream

Class 13 Dairy Gelato

• Caffe e Gelato Milany Pistachio Gelato
• Sugo Mi Caramelised Fig & Ginger Gelato
• Caffe e Gelato Milany Dark Chocolate Gelato

Class 15 Milk

• Alexandrina Pure Jersey Full Cream Milk
• Pura Original Milk
• Over the Moon Non Homogenised Jersey Milk

Class 16 Specialty White Dairy Drink

• Pauls Smarter White Milk
• Pauls Zymil Low Fat Milk
• Norco Hi Lo

Class 17 Flavoured Dairy Beverage

• Oak Egg Nog
• Dare Iced Coffee Double Espresso
• Dare Iced Coffee Double Espresso

Class 18 Cream

• Yea Brand Creme Fraiche
• Tweedvale Pure Double Cream
• Yea Brand Double Cream

Class 19 Butter or Butter Blend

• Tatura Salted Butter
• Beautifully Butterfully Salted Butter
• Beautifully Butterfully Unsalted Butter

Class 20 Dairy Dip

• Ultimate Dairies Fetta & Kalamata Olive Dip
• Paradise Beach Purveyors Pesto Swirl Dip
• Ultimate Dairies Labneh & Chive Dip

Source: Dairy Australia, 6 November 2013