WORLD CHEESE AWARDS 2021-22
Worth the wait More than 4,000 cheeses. Some 230 judges jetting in from all over the globe. A breath-taking venue. And a very worthy artisan winner from the home nation. After a two-year hiatus, the World Cheese Awards returned in November to the Spanish city of Oviedo. Here’s what happened. Report by Michael Lane Judging photography by Julián Rus García
HAVING BEEN MORE than two years in the making, the 2021-22 World Cheese Awards was always going to be eagerly anticipated but it certainly delivered on all fronts. Organised by the Guild of Fine Food, the Awards’ 33rd edition took place in a picturesque host city – Oviedo in the northern Spanish region of Asturias – and was held in an architectural marvel of a building. What’s more, there was a record number of cheeses (4,000-plus) entered and the most geographically diverse set of judges ever assembled. And, in customary fashion, the destination of the World Champion trophy came down to the very last cheese to be tasted on the day. When a soft, mould-ripened goats’ cheese
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December 2021 | Vol.22 Issue 10
was brought out on stage at just after 5:30pm on 4th November, there was notable excitement from the Spanish contingent watching in the auditorium at Oviedo’s Palacio de Exposiciones y Congresos. This was the final cheese to be judged during the very last session of the day – where the expert Super Jury tastes and scores the Top 16 cheeses – after the main judging session had been held during the morning alongside the Asturias Paraíso Natural International Cheese Festival. And this unique specimen from the home nation’s southern region of Andalusia also proved to be the best. Despite its distinctive square shape and the unique layer of olive stone ash that runs through its paste, Olavidia is a more subtle
cheese on the palate than some of its other fellow Top 16 cheeses. That did not deter the final panel of experts, which included judges from France, Italy, Sweden, Ukraine, India and Japan. It was actually a UK-based judge, Jason Hinds of Neal’s Yard Dairy, who presented the cheese to the panel and extolled its virtues. “This is unlike anything I’ve seen before,” he told his peers and the audience. “Its appearance is so original and it didn’t let me down. It’s unctuous, seductive, pillowy, warm and comforting.” Hinds’ fellow judges agreed, with many offering the maximum score of 7 points, and Olavidia registered the top score of 103. While other Spaniards in the room were shouting “Vamos” and applauding loudly,
