This Is Officially the No. 1 American-Made Cheese, According to This Year’s U.S. Championship Cheese Contest

Arethusa Farm Dairy produces some of the most fashionable cheese in America. Founded 15 years ago by former Manolo Blahnik executives Anthony Yurgaitis and George Malkemus, Arethusa made a significant move toward establishing its legacy by recently winning Best in Show with the farm’s Europa cheese at the biennial U.S. Championship Cheese Contest — becoming the first creamery in the competition’s 40-year history to secure the title in two consecutive events.

“It’s been the best in the country for the last two years and will be for the next two years,” Chris Casiello, Arethusa Farm Dairy plant manager, tells Food & Wine. “It really validates what we have done here.”

The traditional-style Gouda, aged for 13 months, was the top cheese among 2,414 entries selected by a panel of 38 judges in Green Bay, Wisconsin, based on the technical merits of texture, flavor, appearance, and taste. “Obviously, it is subjective,” Casiello says, “but enough of the judges said that it has the right characteristics. It meets the qualities of Gouda aesthetically and with great flavor.”

Creating high-quality cheese wasn’t the original idea for Yurgaitis and Malkemus when they purchased what had been a family farm established in 1868 in the rolling hills of Litchfield County, Connecticut. Initially bought to preserve open farmland, the two owners became interested in introducing cows to the farm just two years later—starting with purebred Holsteins and later adding Jerseys and Brown Swiss. Arethusa emerged as an award-winning contender on the Holstein breeder’s circuit before bottling its own milk in 2009 and soon expanded into yogurt, ice cream, and cheese.

“He’s got to be proud to see this vision he had 15 years ago when he and I got together and made a cheese plant, bottled milk, and made a great ice cream,” Casiello says about Yurgaitis (Malkemus passed away from cancer in 2021). “We spent a year flying around the country looking at things. It has to be gratifying to have this all validated after it was an idea 15 years ago.”

Related: It’s Official: Ina Garten’s Favorite Butter Is the Best in the World

Arethusa makes roughly half a dozen cheeses, including the Mt. Tom alpine cheese, Arethusa Blue, the Swiss-styled Crybaby, a Camembert, and more. And while other cheeses in the lineup have earned accolades, it’s the Europa that draws the most attention, both from judges and celebrities.

Located in Bantam, Connecticut, the farm — along with several retail outlets throughout the region — draws many famous weekenders from New York City. (Including Martha Stewart, who, during a 2024 visit, taped a segment for her show “Martha Cooks,” which aired in July.)

“We have always had people come in and showcase our stuff, but when Martha does something, she does it right,” Casiello says, adding it was a full two weeks of prep before her one-day visit and then more work for two weeks after she left. “It was an experience to witness that and be in the room trying to make cheese with sound crews, lighting guys, and three cameras. It was fun. She was good to deal with.”

When Europa won in 2023, the farm upped the demand for the cheese. “We certainly weren’t expecting to win that time,” Casiello says. “We made a ton of this cheese after we won, scaled up the product and obviously kept the procedure and haven’t strayed from what it takes to make it.”

That push means Arethusa now has 1,000 wheels of the cheese ready to go, with another 1,400 wheels aging — which it sells in artisan cheese shops around the country, locally in Big Y stores, and nationally at Whole Foods.

When this year’s competition rolled around, the dairy pulled a wheel based on aesthetics (official rules state you can’t taste the wheel before you submit it). “You are guessing on that lot and that batch,” Casiello says. “There are wheels on the shelf better than that wheel. We have older, we have one-off stuff, but we’ve tried not to stray too far.”

Fast Facts: Arethusa Farm Dairy Europa

Type: Gouda
Milk: Cow 
Age: 13 months
Awards: Best in Show, U.S. Championship Cheese Contest (first-ever back-to-back winner)

While the farm isn’t doing anything unique or necessarily better than others, Casiello says, they have hit the sweet spot with milk from Connecticut farms, cultures, the facility, the procedure based on traditions and the aging environment. “It all leads up to a certain cheese,” he says. ‘There is no great secret to what we are doing. All the facets have come together.”

The 13-month aging process allows the characteristic of the Gouda with a nutty umami taste with butterscotch notes to craft a “super complex” flavor with the right texture. “It is just a really well-made cheese that showcases the milk we are dealing with,” Casiello says, noting that the farm makes the Europa based on the seasonality of the milk as dictated by the cows’ diets.

“Our phone is going to be ringing off the hook,” Casiello says about the second-straight win. “If people want a piece of this, they certainly should be able to grab it.”

Read the original article on Food & Wine