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Cabot Clothbound Cheddar Wins At First Annual Good Foods Award Ceremony In San Francisco

Collaborative Effort With Cellars At Jasper Hill Nets Prestigious National Award For Sustainable Products

CABOT, Vt. (January 20, 2011) /PRNewswire/ — Cabot Creamery Cooperative’s Clothbound Cheddar was named a winner in the cheese category of the first annual Good Foods Award Ceremony held January 14 in San Francisco. Made in conjunction with Cellars At Jasper Hill in Greensboro, VT, Cabot’s Clothbound Cheddar was one of just eight winners in the contest’s highly competitive Cheese category.

The Good Food Awards recognize the top responsible artisan producers in the country and promotes awareness of the sustainable food movement across the nation. Nearly 800 entries were organized into seven categories (beer, charcuterie, cheese, chocolate, coffee pickles, and preserves). The nearly 800 entries were narrowed down to just 130 finalists spread across the seven categories. When final selections were made, Cabot Clothbound was among the eight winning cheeses.

“Cabot Clothbound Cheddar is a marvel of milk, master cheese making and artful aging,” said Cabot cheese maestro Marcel Gravel. Made one vat at a time, from the milk of purely Holstein cows, the result is a singular, Old World style cheddar. A special, proprietary blend of cheese cultures gives an unpasteurized note to this pasteurized milk cheddar.

Cabot Clothbound is a handsome natural rinded traditional cheddar. Bandaged with muslin and skillfully aged a minimum of 10 months at Cellars at Jasper Hill, it has all the characteristic texture of an English-style cheddar with the sweet caramel and milky flavors that sets it apart from all others on the counter.

Traditional hooping and clothbound curds are just the beginning of this vanguard, Vermont collaboration. After creation by Cabot’s cheesemakers, the wheels journey north along the Revolutionary War-era Bayley-Hazen Road into the care of Andy and Mateo Kehler, fellow Vermont cheesemakers and affineurs, and owners of The Cellars at Jasper Hill. “Here, the cave-aged wheels benefit from spa-like pampering and controlled, mold-ripened maturing to develop their beautiful, natural rind,” said Mateo Kehler, co-owner of Jasper Hill Farm. “It’s all about spruce boards, hand turning and tender brushing.”

In addition to selection as a winner of the Good Food Award, Cabot Clothbound has also won the coveted blue ribbon in the “Bandaged Cheddar-Sharp to Aged” category at the biennial World Cheese Championship Cheese Contest in 2010 in Madison, WI, and was also awarded “Best Of Show” at the 2006 American Cheese Society competition and a gold medal at the 2009 World Cheese Awards in London.

ABOUT CABOT CHEESE

Cabot Creamery Cooperative has been in continuous operation in Vermont since 1919, and makes a full line of cheeses, yogurt, sour cream, cottage cheese and butter. Best known as makers of “The World’s Best Cheddar,” Cabot is owned by 1200 dairy farm families located through New England and upstate New York. For additional information on Cabot Creamery, visithttp://www.cabotcheese.coop

ABOUT CELLARS AT JASPER HILL

Cellars at Jasper Hill is a commitment to American artisan cheese making and farm viability, bringing new potential to value-added farmstead cheese production. In a 22,000 square foot cheese-aging facility with seven underground cellars, trained affineurs mature and care for cheese makers’ un-ripened cheeses, reducing the initial investment and training needs of farmers seeking diversification. The Cellars at Jasper Hill matures and markets cheeses from 8 cheesemakers. For additional information on the Cellars at Jasper Hill visit our website athttp://www.cellarsatjasperhill.com or check out our Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/CellarsAtJasperHill.