2026 ACS Best of Show: A Vermont Champion and Two Cheeses We'd Never Heard Of

Jasper Hill Farm's Winnimere just won Best of Show at the 2026 American Cheese Society competition. If you've had it, this is not a surprise. Spruce-bound, washed-rind, funky in the best way, aged in Jasper Hill's underground cellars in Vermont — it's a classic for a reason. On Fromag, it's sitting at a perfect 5.0 average from our reviewers. Nobody's arguing.

Second place went to Artze, from Blakesville Creamery. We don't have Artze in our library yet — but across the 9 other Blakesville cheeses we do have (think Linedeline, Shabby Shoe, Afterglow), we've logged 10 reviews averaging 4.7 stars. Consider this our formal note to go add Artze.

Third place is where it gets interesting: 'Nati Gouda, made by Urban Stead Cheese. We had never heard of either the cheese or the creamery. Not a single entry in our library — and we've got over 800 American cheeses cataloged. Somehow, Urban Stead Cheese slipped past us completely — even though husband-and-wife team Scott and Andrea Robbins have been at it in Cincinnati since 2018, both grandkids of dairy farmers themselves, renovating a long-vacant building in the Walnut Hills neighborhood into a working creamery and tasting room.

That's the thing about cheese. You can build what you think is a pretty comprehensive library — 800-plus cheeses deep — and still get humbled by a creamery you've never heard of taking home a national medal. The backyard is bigger than you think.

There's always another wheel, another maker, another corner of the country quietly making something great without asking for permission.

Congrats to Jasper Hill, Blakesville, and Urban Stead. And consider this our to-do list.

Full winners list from the American Cheese Society.