Little River cheese wins big!

The Tasman-based cheesemaker won the New World Champion of Champions Cheese – Mid-sized and the IXOM Champion European Style Cheese Award.

“We’re still in a wee state of shock but also immensely proud,” says owner David Barrett.

“It’s the second year running that Little River Estate Mt Richmond has won the trophy for best European style cheese, which is amazing on its own,” he told Dairy News.

“But then it won the Supreme Champion Cheese for mid-sized producers which is a major achievement and one of the whole production team can take credit for,” says Barrett.

He says Little River has been entering the awards for five years, since 2017, and had won numerous medals and trophies during that time, however this marks their first supreme award.

“We enter to see how we compare with our peers. There are some amazing cheesemakers in New Zealand across the board, from large household name producers to the very small operators.

“The awards are a way to gauge your progress and to take stock of our processes and when necessary, make adjustments to keep improving,” Barrett says, “We have to keep pushing boundaries in pursuit of perfection.”

The cheesemaker has two brands – Thorvald, their sheep milk range, and Little River Estate, their cow’s milk range. The milk supplied for Little River cheeses comes from Raine Farms (Oakland Milk) in Nelson and all of it is A2.

“The quality of milk supplied by Raine is superb and their on-farm practices and animal welfare policies are in line with our own beliefs so it was a natural fit,” Barrett says.

“We were originally 100% sheep milk only, partly driven by the digestive benefits of sheep milk for lactose intolerant consumers.”

Barrett says when the opportunity arose to work with cow’s milk containing only A2 milk, similarly associated with benefits for those with a lactose intolerance, it was a great fit.

“But just as importantly, it’s the sheer quality of their milk which drove our decision,” he says.

Also important to Little River Estate’s cheese is that they don’t use thickeners, stabilisers, added sugar or preservatives – only using whole milk direct from the farm so it hasn’t been homogenised or stabilised.

“We pasteurise it and that’s all. Because of this, we get seasonal variation in the milk and it’s the skill of our cheesemakers to adjust for this.

“We believe by keeping our intervention of the milk to a minimum, it lets the quality of the milk shine through and produces superior flavour and texture. That said, as the milk changes through the year, it also adds to the challenge of maintaining consistency.”

Other Winners

Some big names made it into the winner’s circle at this year’s NZ Champions of Cheese Awards.

Fonterra’s Cathy Lang was named Milk- TestNZ Champion Cheesemaker.

Lang has been a cheesemaker since 2005 and is Lead Cheesemaker at Fonterra’s Bridge Street site in Eltham, Taranaki.

“Three fantastic cheeses showing the diverse skill of the cheesemaker. Cathy (and her team) have produced three world-class cheeses that are still uniquely Kapiti. The Kahurangi Blue especially takes me back to a place in New Zealand where blue cheese history was once and continues to be made,” said master judge Jason Tarrant.

Open Country Dairy’s Young Cheddar, which has been aged for fewer than 6 months, was given the Countdown Champion of Champions Cheese Award – Commercial.

The final supreme winner was Craggy Range Sheep which won the Puhoi Valley Cheese Champion of Champions Cheese Award – Boutique for its Maraetotara Manchageo.

Run by James and Kate Clairmon at Tuki Tuki Valley outside of Napier, Craggy Range Sheep Dairy says they follow pasture-fed farming practices to create sheep milk cheese products.

“For a boutique producer to deliver such a high quality cheese shows our small scale industry is in great hands,” said Tarrant of the cheese.