Inside the World Cheese Awards 2025
On November 13th, 265 cheese experts from across the world — mongers, makers, producers, educators, and writers — descended on a Swiss arena. They entered to the sound of traditional Alpine alphorns, and found themselves in a maze of 5,244 cheeses sourced from 46 countries. They assembled for one thing, and one thing only: to taste, discover, and honor the world’s best cheeses.
World Cheese Awards: The Top 10 Cheeses of 2025
- Gruyère AOP Vorderfultigen Spezial, Bergkäserei Vorderfultigen, Switzerland
- Crémeux des Aldudes aux Fleurs, Etxaldia, France
- Appenzeller® Edel-Würzig, SO Appenzeller Käse, Switzerland
- Gantrisch Bergkäse, Bergkäserei Vorderfultigen, Switzerland
- Königs-Chäs Rezent, Rüttiberg Käse AG, Switzerland
- Ossau-Iraty AOP, Agour, France
- Stockinghall, Murray’s Cheese, USA
- Aged Rutland Red, Long Clawson Dairy, United Kingdom
- Hechizo, Quesería La Zarcillera, Spain
- Montana Intenso, Maaz Cheese, United Kingdom
World Cheese Awards 2025 World Champion Cheese Credit Guild of Find Food KARGOKommunication
Stockinghall Cheddar photo credit Murray's Cheese
This year was the first time the competition was held in Bern, Switzerland. It awarded medals to dozens of cheeses from across the world – from Stockinghall Cheddar by Murray’s Cheese (which won Super Gold, Best American Cheese, and Best Cheddar) to a Japanese goat cheese by Yozawa Goat Farm.
Judging
World Cheese Awards Alpine Horns Credit Guild of Fine Food KARGOKommunication
Cheese Professor contributor Kristine Jannuzzi, better known as @nyccheesechick on Instagram, returned for her sixth year as a judge. “It's very dramatic when you walk in,” she says. “ They had six musicians playing the Swiss alphorns, those long horns on the ground…you'd get the chills walking into that.”
They were soon broken into small teams and tasked with scoring a mixture of cheeses, from bloomy to blue, around fifty per team, over the course of three hours. The selections are anonymous. (While a judge may recognize an iconic cheese like Parmigiano Reggiano, they aren’t aware of the producer.) Alongside the cheeses, water, crackers, and sliced apples were supplied to help the judges cleanse their palates between tastings.
Each cheese was scored based on its look, feel, smell, and, for the most points, taste. The more points a cheese garners, the greater the likelihood it will be awarded a medal. Bronze, silver, gold, and super gold were handed out, table by table.
“As a team, we judge each cheese individually, and you can award as many bronze, silver, and gold medals as you’d like,” Jannuzzi says. The super golds — the cheeses with the most points, of which there were 110 — were presented to a jury, which then chose the winner. While there was an overall winner, a Swiss Gruyère AOP Vorderfultigen Spezial, a raw, dry-salted cow’s milk cheese aged for 18 months atop raw spruce planks by Bergkäserei Vorderfultigen (which also won back in 2022), awards for additional categories were given. Murray’s Cave Aged Original Stockinghall Cheddar won Super Gold, Best American Cheese, and Best Cheddar, for example.
Feedback on Cheeses
Josh Windsor
Producers don’t usually get much feedback on their cheese. But this year, Josh Windsor, the Associate Director, Caves at Murray’s Cheese, received compliments from a Super Jury judge, Svein Erik Backlund, who championed the cheese. “[He] called it ‘perfect’ and explained, ‘First of all, the smell has a sweetness to it. The cheese is really well balanced, with a saltiness that’s quite pleasant.’ So that was lovely to hear!” After overseeing the aging of the cheese for a year in Murray’s cheese caves, it was a rewarding finish for Windsor. “It was a phenomenal year for Stockinghall,” he adds.
Januzzi remarked on the overall winner, remembering the flavor from years past: “It's just this amazing gruyere,” she says. “It's got the crystals and just the typical characteristics, but [the flavor is] just so intense. [It’s a] beautiful, beautiful, beautiful cheese.” The runner up, which scored just one point below the Gruyere, was Crémeux des Aldudes Aux Fleurs by Etxaldia, a Brie-style cow’s milk cheese with flowers pressed into the rind.
For the judges, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime (or for Jannuzzi, six-time) experience to taste exceptional, creative cheeses from across the world. Jannuzzi’s team awarded a gold medal to an Italian blue, Briacacio Sheep’s by De Magi, which is soaked in liqueur and topped with raisins, inspired by Panbriacone, a Tuscan bread soaked in wine, and studded with grapes. “It almost has a Christmassy kind of feel to it,” she says. “It reminded me of Panettone.” One of Januzzi’s teammates was in awe over it, noting, “This was a discovery for me.”
Logistics
Kristine Jannuzzi with Alessandro Stocchi and Renato Giudici
There are more than a few logistics involved when amassing thousands of cheeses for judging. In the days leading up to the event, thousands of cheeses made their way to Bern, Switzerland via plane, boat, train, and car. It was a huge feat — like organizing the Noah’s Ark of the cheese world.
As noted on their social media, The UK’s Guild of Fine Food, the organizers of the awards, “supports producers with a network of free delivery points across six continents. Twenty consolidated shipping points globally give entrants, however small, the chance to ship their cheeses to a local depot.” This ensures that each producer who wants to be included can be, with minimal red tape.
“When you get to the table, all of the cheeses are wrapped or vacuum sealed,” Jannuzzi says. “You've got to open them up and examine the rind. Some don't always do so well on the transport.” In a briefing prior to judging, the experts were reminded to err on the side of forgiveness when it comes to damage.
“If it's an actual defect, that's different,” she adds. “If there's a cheese that is, like, unfit to judge [because] it suffered too much, then, you raise your hand and you let them know,” she says. As producers will send multiple samples, another that’s in better condition will be swapped in for consideration.
Some cheeses were bigger hits than others. “You see, some really interesting things,” Januzzi says. “We had a really strange-looking Brie-style cheese with black charcoal on the rind. And then we opened it up, it was completely black inside.”
The awards are a chance for cheeses from producers, small and large, from the Netherlands to Latin America, to gain recognition on the world stage. And for the judges, it’s a dream come true. “It's really an honor,” Januzzi says.