Jasper Hill earns a top spot again.
Winnimere by Jasper Hill. Photograph courtesy of the American Cheese Society.
It’s official: Jasper Hill makes the best cheese in America.
The Vermont farmstead creamery won First Place Best of Show at the American Cheese Society Judging & Competition with Winnimere, a cheese that also took First Place Best of Show at the competition in 2013. Results were announced July 8 in Louisville, Kentucky, at the 2026 American Cheese Society Conference.
Winnimere is a spoonable washed-rind raw cow’s milk cheese wrapped in spruce bark that’s similar to Vacherin Mont d’Or and inspired by Switzerland’s Försterkäse. It’s a seasonal cheese typically available late fall through early spring. The win follows Second Place Best of Show accolades in 2025 for Jasper Hill’s Withersbrook Blue, a cider-bathed blue cheese with sweet, lactic, and floral notes.
“Our approach to cheesemaking is to maximize deliciousness and focus, in a relentless way, on creating cheeses that reflect the best of our landscape, community, and the people who make these cheeses,” says Mateo Kehler, Jasper Hill’s co-founder. “It takes a village to do what we do.”
Kehler attributes Jasper Hill’s success to his team. “The best part of what I get to do is have a life with people who are reaching for something beyond what this synthetic capitalist world we are currently living and traveling in has to offer,” he says. “I like to think that what we offer is the opportunity for consumers and cheese lovers to connect through the consumption of these cheeses that are authentic and connected to place, made by real people.” According to Kehler, the batch of Winnimere that won was one of the best pieces of cheese he’d eaten.
Artze by Blakesville Creamery. Photograph courtesy of the American Cheese Society.
Second and Third Place Best of Show awards were given to Blakesville Creamery’s Artze and Urban Stead Cheese’s ’Nati Gouda, respectively. Artze is a lactic sheep’s milk cheese named after cheesemaker Veronica Pedraza’s grandmother. It’s dusted in Espelette pepper, a mild and smoky-sweet pepper from the Basque region of France. The cheese is aged for 14 days in Port Washington, Wisconsin, where the creamery is based; it uses the same recipe as Blakesville’s Afterglow and Shabby Shoe.
“I’m definitely an anomaly in Wisconsin,” says Pedraza, referencing Wisconsin’s abundance of cow’s milk cheeses.
’Nati Gouda by Urban Stead Cheese. Photograph courtesy of the American Cheese Society.
Urban Stead Cheese is based in Cincinnati, inside a former medical building that 2025 Hot Listers Scott Robbins and Andrea Siefring-Robbins transformed into a creamery. ’Nati Gouda is the cheesemakers’ tribute to their home city and sports a natural rind. The Dutch-style gouda is aged for a minimum of 18 months, developing flavors of salted caramel and butterscotch. In April, Urban Stead won Best of Show at the Los Angeles International Dairy Competition for its Aged Gouda; Robbins and Siefring-Robbins’ goal is to produce old world-style artisanal cheeses.
“We’ve struggled a lot with our gouda over the years and came close to scrapping it from our program,” says Siefring-Robbins, who teared up as she spoke.
“I’m really proud of Scott, but I’m really proud of our affineurs,” she adds. “I am hopeful we can go back [to Cincinnati] and garner the pride for ’Nati Gouda.”
When asked about how he learned to make good cheese, Robbins nodded to his understanding of chemistry as a sommelier and his mentors, which included 2026 Hot Lister Peter Dixon of Parish Hill Creamery.
In total, 438 cheeses won medals at the competition from about 1,600 entries and over 200 creameries across North and South America. Canada, which won top honors in 2025 and 2026, did not land in the extended Best of Show list, though its cheeses did win across several categories such as Soft-Ripened Cheeses (made from sheep’s milk).
Below is a list of the 11 Best of Show cheeses and honorable mentions from the 2026 American Cheese Society Judging & Competition (listed in alphabetical order):
- Artze, Blakesville Creamery
- Ewe’re My Boy, Blue, Maple Leaf Cheese
- Humboldt Fog, Cypress Grove Chevre, Inc.
- Leelanau Reserve, Leelanau Cheese Co.
- Marieke Gouda Mature, Marieke Gouda
- Marinated Labneh, Brush Creek Creamery
- ’Nati Gouda, Urban Stead Cheese
- Street Ched, Urban Stead Cheese
- Wagon Wheel, Cowgirl Creamery
- Willoughby, Jasper Hill Farm
- Winnimere, Jasper Hill Farm
Honorable Mentions
Highest Scoring Farmstead, Raw Milk, and Goat/Sheep/Mixed Milk: Black Swallowtail, The Farm at Doe Run
Highest Scoring Goat/Sheep/Mixed Milk: Mango Habanero Fresh Goat Cheese Log, Laura Chenel; Black Truffle Marinated Goat Cheese, Laura Chenel; La Madelaine, Fromagerie Nouvelle France; Hawkins Haze, Blackberry Farm
Highest Scoring American Original: Big Breakfast, Marin French Cheese Co.; Marieke Golden Mature, Marieke Gouda
Tap here to find a list of all the winners from this year’s competition.
Alana Pedalino
Alana Pedalino serves as Managing Editor of culture. Her work has been featured in Bon Appétit, Chicken Soup for the Soul, and more. She loves to write, cook, and kayak. Find her bylines at alanapedalino.com.
