Who knows how many people were tuned in last night for the big announcement! Literally – who was the big cheese in the world? For the first time since 1988 – it was a Wisconsin cheese that was named the best in the world by less than two tenths of a point!
Hundreds of onlookers and even more monitoring the announcement on a live stream via the internet heard the results at the Monona Terrace Convention Center. With a score of 98.882, Emmi Roth cheese makers headquartered in Fitchburg, with the cheese actually made in Monroe – captured the title with a hard smear-ripened cheese called "Roth Grand Cru Surchoix".
First runners up was a cheese from Switzerland with a 98.758 score, and the second runner-up winner from The Netherlands with 98.754 – definitely showing the international influence of the competition.
Wisconsin cheesemakers as a group walked away with 38 gold medals in total.
The impact of the event will be felt long after visitors leave Wisconsin. Nearly 6,000 pounds of cheese entries will be donated to the Second Harvest Food Bank of Southern Wisconsin for distribution from the cheese makers. Next month, the winners will be auctioned off at a special event in Milwaukee to help generate funds so Wisconsin can host the event again in 2018.
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