Cheese Madness 2019
Cheese Madness FAQ
Directions
- Fill out our Cheese Madness bracket (available in the store or download one HERE)
- Turn in completed bracket to the MFC Cheese Counter by March 17 for a chance to win
- Sample & vote in the store (dates below)
- One entry per person
- No purchase necessary – FREE to enter!
Grand Prize
- A private cheese tasting with wine/beer pairings!
Important dates
- Sampling & voting will happening weekly:
- Mondays, 3:30-5:30 p.m. (March 18, March 25, April 1)
- Thursdays, 3:30-5:30 p.m. (March 21, March 28)
- Saturdays, 1-3 p.m. (March 23, March 30)
- Follow us on social media for regular updates as the competition unfolds
- The Grand Prize winner will be announced on April 2 and must claim their prize no later than April 9
All participating cheeses will start off on sale, and will be eliminated from the sale when eliminated from the competition. Want your favorite cheese on sale longer? Make sure to VOTE!”
The Lineup
Blue Division:
Maytag: Acclaimed by cheese experts and food editors as America’s finest blue cheese, Maytag Blue ranks among the world’s great. The process for making Maytag was discovered and patented by two Iowa State University microbiologists in the 1930s after many failed attempts by others at to create a cheese similar to European-style Roquefort. After rounds of Maytag are made by hand at the Maytag Dairy Farms outside of Newton, Iowa, this cheese is then aged in specially designed caves where they are exposed to high humidity and cool temperatures, creating a uniform color, flavor, and texture.
Blue Jay: Made using a Quintuple Crème Blue recipe, The Blue Jay is rich in texture with strong buttery notes. Juniper berries are then crushed to release their perfume and are infused throughout to complement the Blue strain’s unique botanical essence. The result is a bold, yet utterly creamy Blue with a delicately piney bouquet that blooms in your mouth.
Hard Division:
Barber’s English Cheddar: The vintage reserve cheddar retails a distinctive smooth and creamy background with the occasional crystalline crunch. Made on Barber’s 1833 family farm, the cheese is aged for a minimum of 20 months for an unrivaled complexity and depth of flavor.
BellaVitano Balsamic: The sweet, nutty, fruity flavors of our most-sought-after BellaVitano become even more desirable when blessed with a few prized drops of Modena balsamic vinegar. By gently bathing BellaVitano Gold in balsamic, cheesemaker Mike Matucheski has given it a sweet coating that burnishes the legend of BellaVitano with yet another honor from the World Cheese Awards.
Soft Division:
Delice de Bourgogne: Délice de Bourgogne was created in 1975 by Jean Lincet at Fromagerie Lincet. This famous cheese is exclusively produced by Fromagerie Lincet for 40 years. Délice de Bourgogne is a French cow’s milk cheese from the Burgundy region of France. The cheese is rich and creamy due to the cheese-making process where cream is added to the milk during the cheese process
St. Angel Triple Cream: Saint Angel is plump and pillow-like and covered with a fluffy, white rind. Beneath its rind lies an ivory paste with the texture of chilled, whipped butter. Its flavor is buttery, too, with the right amount of salt, a somewhat strong tang (especially by the rind), and a hint of earth and white mushroom.
Semi Soft Division:
Red Dragon: This English Cheddar is buttery and spicy. It has plenty of bite, but is not too hot. The whole mustard seeds provide a marvelous taste and texture and the brown ale makes it moist and tangy. This cheese, made from pasteurized cow’s milk, is aged 3 months and coated in red wax (hence the name).
Prairie Breeze: Four-time Blue Ribbon winner, this Iowa cheddar is tasty, tangy, and crumbly. Made by the Musser Family from the milk of their her and their Amish neighbors, you can taste the farmer dedication. The herds never top 65 and the cows graze every season but winter. Delicious all year long.