Fromagerie du Presbytère’s Laliberté Crowned Grand Champion Cheese

Dairy Farmers of Canada announced Fromagerie du Presbytère’s Laliberté as the Grand Champion at the ninth edition of the Canadian Cheese Grand Prix Gala of Champions in Toronto. 

The prestigious winner, which was entered in the cream-enriched soft cheese with bloomy rind category, was selected by a jury of top Canadian food industry experts from 27 impressive category winners.

Sponsored and hosted every two years by Dairy Farmers of Canada, the Canadian Cheese Grand Prix celebrates the quality, versatility and taste of Canadian cheese made from 100 percent Canadian milk. 

“From all the excellent cheeses the jury tasted, we found Laliberté to be the standout. This cheese truly distinguished itself in texture, taste and overall appearance. Its exquisite aromatic triple cream with its tender bloomy rind encases an unctuous well-balanced flavor with hints of mushroom, pastures and root vegetables,” said Phil Bélanger, Canadian Cheese Grand Prix jury chairman.

Named after Alfred Laliberté, the famous sculptor born in St. Elizabeth de Warwick, Quebec, the farmstead cheese took a year-and-a-half to develop and is made from  Canadian cows’ milk. Fromagerie du Presbytère manufactures, distributes and retails specialty cheeses that are among the best in Canada; its Louis d’Or was notably named Grand Champion at the Canadian Cheese Grand Prix in 2011 and the Fromagerie has won numerous other national and provincial awards.

The Grand Champion and 27 category winners were selected from a record-setting 268 cheese entries submitted by cheesemakers from Prince Edward Island to British Columbia. The submissions were then narrowed to 81 finalists by the jury in February.

This year, nine new categories were added to the competition, including three individual Gouda categories based on cheese age and a stand-alone category for Smoked Cheese. Canadian Cheese Grand Prix jury members tasted, touched and smelled each cheese, evaluating them for appearance, flavor, color, texture and body, and salt content before determining the winners.