Cheeses from the same producer in Québec won two years in a row.
The best cheese in America is Canadian—again. Québec’s Fromagerie La Station won top honors at this year’s American Cheese Society competition for its Alfred Le Fermier. This Alpine-style raw cow’s milk cheese has a yellow-orange hue on the rind and carries notes of flowers and hazelnuts. The farmstead creamery also earned Best in Show in 2024 for its Raclette de Compton au Poivre: a raclette-style melting cheese with a pink peppercorn line running through the center.
Fromagerie La Station started making cheese in 2004 and is currently run by the Bolduc brothers: Martin, Simon-Pierre, and Vincent. Simon-Pierre Bolduc makes the cheese, while Martin Bolduc tends the crops. The farm boasts 140 Canadian Holsteins, with all milk going to cheese production. Alfred Le Fermier is named after their great grandfather, Alfred Bolduc. It was initially made by Carole Bolduc, the brothers’ mother, who initially launched Fromagerie La Station as a retirement hobby farm; Alfred Le Fermier has since become the creamery’s signature cheese.
Martin Bolduc says he didn’t expect Fromagerie La Station to win a second year in a row. “It’s unreal for us,” he says.
Withersbrook Blue by Jasper Hill Farm came in second, making it the highest-scoring cheese from the United States. This raw milk blue begins with the same make process as Bayley Hazen Blue but is aged for 60 days and marinated in cider, lending it a dessert-like quality.
“We created this cheese to soak up extra milk at particular times of the year,” says Jasper Hill Farm’s CEO and co-founder Mateo Kehler, comparing Withersbrook Blue to a “little bank.” The cheese is available yearly in early summer and around the holiday season. Along with Withersbrook Blue, Jasper Hill Farm’s Bayley Hazen Blue and Barnstorm Blue—made in collaboration with Murray’s Cheese—won first in their categories. Overall, 13 of Jasper Hill Farm’s cheeses placed; seven of those cheeses took first place in their categories as well.
“What I’m most proud of was the solid showing across our whole collection,” says Kehler. “It’s a testament to how high our team is reaching.”
Third place went to another Canadian cheese: Grand Trunk, a cow’s milk gruyère by Stonetown Cheese in Ontario.
The inaugural honorable mentions of the competition included several raw milk cheeses. “[We’re] particularly happy to see the callout of raw milk cheeses this year,” says Brewster McGall, the vice president of brand development for American Cheese Society sponsor Gourmet Foods International. McGall added that the inclusion of raw milk cheeses generates excitement among buyers and cheese sellers.
Judging for the competition took place at the University of Minnesota’s football stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in May. Winners of the competition were revealed at the American Cheese Society’s annual conference in Sacramento, California, on July 24. More than 1,000 cheesemakers, cheesemongers, and food industry professionals attended this year’s conference.
Below is a list of the top ten cheeses at the 2025 American Cheese Society Judging & Competition (listed in alphabetical order):
- Alfred le Fermier, Fromagerie la Station
- Barnstorm Blue, Murray’s Cheese
- Bayley Hazen Blue, Jasper Hill Farm
- Chemin du Brûlé, Fromagerie la Station
- Classic Raclette, Alpinage Cheese LLC
- Deer Creek Vat 17 World Cheddar, Deer Creek Cheese
- Grand Trunk, Stonetown Cheese
- Marieke Gouda Aged 9-12 months, Marieke Gouda
- Stracciatella, NDR Liuzzi, Inc.
- Withersbrook Blue, Jasper Hill Farm
Honorable Mention
- Highest Scoring – Raw Milk
- Alpha Tolman, Jasper Hill Farm
- Grand Trunk, Stonetown Cheese
- Chemin du Brûlé, Fromagerie La Station
- Highest Scoring – American Original
- Ellsworth Colby Jack, Ellsworth Creamery
- Highest Scoring – Farmstead
- Runnymede, The Farm at Doe Run
- Nicasio Square, Nicasio Valley Cheese Co.
Click 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.
