Somerset-based White Lake Cheese has come away from this year’s Artisan Cheese Awards as one of the competition’s biggest winners, taking two category winner trophies, three category runner-up prizes and 27 other awards.
Revealed during the Artisan Cheese Awards Supper at St Mary’s Church in Melton Mowbray on Saturday 23 May, this incredible performance from Roger Longman and his team has made White Lake Cheese the most decorated producer at this year’s Awards. The tenth anniversary edition of the Artisan Cheese Awards saw a record-breaking 643 entries judged by 80 experts on Thursday 14 May, representing many of the finest cheesemakers from across the UK and Ireland.
On one of the cheese industry’s most important nights of the year, White Lake was presented with the Best Sheep Cheese trophy for its Pavé Cobble, an ash coated cheese with a truncated pyramid shape, made with local unpasteurised ewe’s milk. Roger also collected the Best Affinage Cheese trophy for his Sheep Rustler, a semi-hard sheep’s milk cheese, which is aged at Bagborough Farm in Pylle for three months, as well as Highly Commended trophies for Goat Curd in the Fresh class, Rachel in the Semi-Soft class and Sheep Rustler in the Sheep class.
While celebrating statement wins in these categories, White Lake Cheese also collected nine Gold awards for cheeses including Driftwood, English Pecorino, Eve, Pavé Cobble, Rachel, Sheep Rustler, Tor and Tuppence. In addition, White Lake won 12 Silver and six Bronze awards, with accolades going to a total of 18 different cheeses from the producer, including awards for a number of new cheeses.
Roger Longman, owner and founder of White Lake Cheese, commented: “The Artisan Cheese Awards is hugely competitive, so we’re super happy to be going home from Melton Mowbray with this incredible haul of trophies and prizes. It’s always an honour to stand alongside the UK and Ireland’s top cheesemakers, and even better fun to come out on top. What a fantastic weekend for everyone at White Lake. It’s important to celebrate, but our main focus is always striving to do better and better.”
White Lake Cheese’s full range is available to purchase from whitelake.co.uk, as well as from independent retailers across the UK.
