I don’t brie-lieve it: World Championship Cheese Contest comes to Madison

In March 1980, Mary Lindemann quit her fashion merchandising degree and booked a trip to The Bahamas for spring break. Sitting behind her on the plane was a man who made cheese spread for a living. 

That man — Phil Lindemann — would later become her husband. She soon joined Phil to become part of the family-owned Pine River Cheese Spread legacy. 

“Here I am, spreading cheese for the rest of my life,” Lindemann joked. “From the time I was married, or dating, I became involved in the company.”

Wisconsin hosted the annual World Championship Cheese Contest (WCCC) on Tuesday and Wednesday at Monona Terrace. The contest was founded in 1957 and occurs every two years. Cheeses from countries from all over the world — including Austria, Denmark, Ireland, Japan and Spain — competed against each other in different classes. 

The Lindemanns are two of many cheese connoisseurs who biennially attend the WCCC. 

There are plenty of notable cheeseheads who attend, including self-proclaimed “cheese king” and U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden. He spoke at the contest and praised cheese-making as a vital part of the Wisconsin lifestyle. 

Van Orden noted cheese-making as a vital part of Wisconsin’s economy and culture. It is the only state in the U.S. that requires a cheese license to produce cheese for commercial purposes. 

“I am going to tell you I’m biased,” Van Orden said. “I’m pretty sure Wisconsin is going to be cleaning everybody’s house here.”

Who’s gouda-nough for first place?

To qualify for the WCCC, cheeses must be natural and often must follow a required list of ingredients. The competition divided cheeses into their appropriate classes, including baby Swiss and sharp cheddar. If cheeses do not follow the required list, they may be disqualified or moved into an open class. 

Cheeses in each class are evaluated by two different judges. Typically, judges are asked to preside over the cheese class they specialize in, according to former Center for Dairy Research (CDR) employee Juan Romero.

“That's their every day,” Romero said. “But that's not necessarily all; you gotta be qualified to do the job.”

Romero said he worked for the CDR for 26 years aiding in research and development in the cheese industry before retiring in 2023. He volunteers for the WCCC’s “B-Team” to stay involved with the industry.

While cheese scoring is subjected to judge discretion, all judges are required to follow a standardized point system, according to Romero. All competing cheeses start with a score of 100 points, and judges deduct points for various defects found in each cheese. 

According to the WCCC’s website, deductions can be made in any area: flavor, body and texture, salt, color, packaging and more. 

Paul McCarthy of Great Lakes Cheese has been working in the cheese industry for 17 years. He was a cheesemaker for six years and has worked in a conversion plant evaluating, cutting and packaging various cheeses since 2013. 

To become a judge is a daunting task, according to McCarthy. Even with his years of experience in the industry, McCarthy said he doesn’t have the credentials to judge and volunteered for the “B-Team” alongside Romero.

But what does it take to become a judge? 

“A lot of experience, really, to keep trying as many different products as possible and to try different varieties,” McCarthy said. “Good cheese, bad cheese, it's all important.”

Say cheese!

McCarthy said he began his career specializing in mozzarella and blue cheese. However, he ventured into making cheddar and Swiss cheese through his industry connections. 

“Years and years and years ago, cheesemakers made a variety of cheeses every day. But now, everybody's a lot more specialized,” McCarthy said. “[If] you pick one thing and do it really well, you're gonna get a lot further than making a bunch of different things and doing them all halfway.”

Despite specializing in different cheeses, McCarthy said parmesan cheese was his favorite cheese because it is low in fat. However, his guilty pleasure is blue cheese.

“I used to hate it. I started making it for a living, and after a couple of years of doing that, you realize you start to appreciate it,” McCarthy said.

Romero said preferences often depend on individual taste. He prefers an alpine cheese, such as Gruyère. 

The WCCC was open to the public during the first two days of preliminary judging, allowing spectators to watch the judging process and sample losing cheeses from previous rounds.

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