A washed rind, Alpine-style cheese from Gloucestershire has been named Supreme Champion at the British & Irish Cheese Awards 2025. Burford by King Stone Dairy rose to the top among hundreds of entries into the 29th edition of these prestigious Awards, which were once again hosted by the Bath & West Food & Drink Festival near Shepton Mallet in Somerset.
Produced in the Cotswolds at the small-scale and regenerative Manor Farm Chedworth, Burford was originally conceived by farmhouse cheesemaker, David Jowett, as a way to capture the sweet complexity of the farm’s summer pastures. Burford is now being made year round to reflect the seasonality of Manor Farm’s single herd organic cow’s milk, with tasting notes including charcuterie, hazelnut and hints of tropical fruit.
David Jowett, head cheesemaker at King Stone Dairy, said; “We are delighted to hear that Burford has been awarded the title of Supreme Champion at this year’s British & Irish Cheese Awards! Burford is one of our newer cheeses, only really being in production over the past year or so, so we are especially proud to see the cheese doing so well so soon. I feel that Burford is the combined result of the brilliant milk production by Seb and his team here at Manor Farm, the careful and precise cheesemaking techniques we carry out in our cheese production, and skilled affinage practices carried out in our maturing rooms. The award is a tribute to the quality of farming and craftsmanship of our teams.”
All special trophy winners were announced during the British & Irish Cheese Awards Dinner on the evening of Friday 21 March, and the Reserve Champion Cup was presented to Golden Cross, a log shaped goat’s milk cheese from Golden Cross Cheese Company in East Sussex.
Around the UK, the Best English Cheese trophy went to Clara, an ash-coated goat’s cheese log from Harvey and Brockless; the Best Scottish Cheese trophy went to Anster, a delicate, pale and crumbly cheese from St Andrews Farmhouse Cheese Company; and Caws Teifi Cheese took the Best Welsh Cheese trophy with Saval, a Caerphilly-based washed rind cheese.
Julius Longman, chairman of the British & Irish Cheese Awards, commented: “We had an incredible day’s judging at the 29th edition of the Awards, with the skill and ingenuity of our cheesemakers plain for all to see. I think it’s fair to say that we had more deliberation and debate than ever before on the way to finding our Champion, which is testament to the outstanding quality on offer from our cheesemakers across the UK and Ireland. As such, David and his team should be immensely proud of their achievement in taking the Supreme Champion trophy for the second time. King Stone Dairy is a fantastic representation of what our cheesemakers are doing so right; working to do better by the land and produce superb quality milk, to make an innovative range of cheeses that are a wonderful reflection of the land from which they came.”
Organised by The Royal Bath & West Society, the British & Irish Cheese Awards 2025 assessed nearly 600 entries on Friday 21 March, with the help of 52 judges from across the industry. The expert panel, made up of cheesemakers, cheesemongers, cheese experts, buyers and commentators, judged entries in their individual classes during the morning session, awarding Bronze, Silver and Gold accolades. During the second round, all Gold award winners from each category were judged alongside one another to identify the category winners, before all category winners were judged in the final round to find this year’s Supreme Champion and Reserve Champion.
Hosted by the Bath & West Food & Drink Festival, the British & Irish Cheese Awards judging hall was open to the public over the weekend of 22 to 23 March. Festival visitors were invited to witness the incredible scale of the judging arena, cast their votes in the People’s Choice Award, and even join the festival’s brand new Guided Cheese Tours. To find out more follow along on Instagram and Facebook.
Image credits to: Joe Breakwell / The Royal Bath & West Society
Main Image: L-R Sabrina Pearson, IFF, Tom Livermore, King Stone Dairy, Carol Paris, Chief Executive of The Royal Bath & West Society and broadcaster Nigel Barden.
