Every week this time of year from our customers I hear the following statement, “I love this time of year when all the contest cheeses come to Brennan’s!” Longtime Brennan’s customers are “in the know” about this event and now you can be to! Here’s a little history: Since the 1980′s owner Skip Brennan has been purchasing all of the available World Championship Cheese  entries after they have been judged. The contest is held every two years and continues to grow in the number of entries submitted. This year over 2,504 cheeses were judged!

Just some of the entries in our coolers awaiting cutting.

Since the Contest (March 5-7), most of those cheeses have now made their way to our New Glarus cheese cellar. We sort them and determine what can be cut right away for our stores and what can be aged.  A big project for us, but we like to say that opening the boxes is like Christmas morning for cheese lovers.

Now the cheese has begun to arrive in our stores! First to land are soft  fresh cheeses like Brie, Blue, Fresh Mozzarella  and some semi-soft cheese. Every Brennan’s store has a different mix, and we are sampling one variety every day. One of the most exciting things to me is that I know how much effort and time cheesemakers put into selecting the cheese they enter into the contest. About 7 years ago, Brennan’s visited one of our favorite cheesemakers. While going through his coolers, I noticed a wheel of cheese sitting all by itself on a stainless steel table. I asked what it was. The cheesemaker replied, “That’s the cheese I’m submitting the World Championship Cheese Contest.” It was like his baby.

Our cheese team with award-winning cheesemaker Marieke Penterman at the final judging.

So, don’t miss this  awesome one time opportunity to try cheeses that cheesemakers around the world selected as their best. Stop in and ask your Brennan’s store cheese specialist about all the options, and don’t forget to visit our microbeer and wine selectors for some perfect pairings.

Happy World Championship Cheese Season!

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