Imagine walking into a hall packed with more than 5,200 cheeses. Pungent, to say the least. That’s how many cheeses were at the coveted World Cheese Awards in Bern, Switzerland this year. On Thursday November 13, thousands of gruyères, cheddars, emmentals, bries and blues went head to head in a race to be crowned the best cheese on the planet for 2025.
Organised by the Guild of Fine Food, the awards sees cheeses from over 40 countries being blind-tasted by a panel of 265 fromage connoisseurs. The judging happens over three days, first identifying the cheeses with a texture, aesthetic and flavour worthy of a Bronze, Silver, Gold or Super Gold award, then narrowing down the Super Gold winners to a final 14, then assessing those finalists to determine the World Champion Cheese. It’s serious business.
Last year, British cheesemongers were tragically robbed of the opportunity to compete in the awards when their cheeses didn’t make it past customs. But at this year’s event, they made a triumphant comeback. Rising above thousands of other entries, four British cheeses were among the 107 products that earned ‘Super Gold’. Three of those then made it into the top 14 cheeses in the whole world.
The Aged Rutland Red from Long Clawson Dairy in Melton Mowbray was the highest scoring British cheese with 76 points. It’s a Red Leicester that’s made with vegetarian rennet and is hand-buttered and clothbound before being matured for six months. Clawson Dairy describes the cheese as ‘a touch sweet, with hints of caramel, and a savoury, moreish bite’.
That wasn’t the only Red Leicester to make it into the top rank. Leicestershire Handmade Cheese Company’s Sparkenhoe Red Leicester, the only unpasteurised Red Leicester in England, also featured in the top 14 with 75 points. It’s described as ‘creamy and mellow, with a nutty, sweet and citrus finish’. The third British cheese chosen for the World Cheese Awards’ final 14 was the Pavé Cobble, an ash-coated soft goat’s cheese, from White Lake Cheese in Somerset. It was awarded 76 points.
The UK was the second best represented nation in the World Cheese Awards’ top 14, beaten only by host country Switzerland, which boasted four cheeses in the final lineup. Our only other Super Gold award went to the Corra Linn by Errington Cheese in Lanark – a firm, crumbly sheep’s cheese with an earthy, subtly sweet flavour. Britain was also awarded 8 Gold, 25 Silver and 49 Bronze medals. A very gouda result, if you ask us.
Super Gold British cheeses at the 2025 World Cheese Awards
- Aged Rutland Red, Long Clawson Dairy
- Sparkenhoe Red Leicester, Leicestershire Handmade Cheese Company
- Pavé Cobble, White Lake Cheese
- Corra Linn, Errington Cheese
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