The Best Cheese in the U.S. is Still Just A Short Drive From Rochester
After winning a prestigious national award in 2019, this cheese is still the reigning champion here in 2022, and you can find it not too far away from Rochester.
I'll confess right now that I'm a big-time cheese-lover. I'm guessing it's because I was born and raised in Wisconsin-- America's Dairyland, mind you-- but I LOVE me some cheese. Doesn't matter what kind, I love it-- and the more the better.
Which is why it was cool to find out a few years ago that the BEST cheese here in the U.S. of A. is just a hop, skip, and a jump away from Minnesota's Med City. All you have to do is drive east to near Durand, Wisconsin to find Eau Galle (which is pronounced, 'Oh GALLEY' btw) Cheese Factory.
That's because this Volume One magazine story pointed out to me that Eau Galle Cheese Factory makes the best asiago cheese in the entire country. At the U.S. Championship Cheese Contest in Green Bay back in 2019 (the last year the contest was held), Eau Galle Cheese Factory won Best of Class awards for both fresh Asiago and aged Asiago. Both kinds of cheese scored 99 points out of 100 to win the awards.
So, yeah, that's some pretty good cheese. And even though it's now 2022, Eau Galle's Asiago is STILL the reigning cheese champion. That's because the U.S. Championship Cheese Contest normally holds it competition every other year, but due to the pandemic, the next event isn't scheduled again until February of 2023 (though entries will open this October 19th.)
So, that means the winners from 2019 are STILL the best in the U.S. Here's the thing, though: Even if you're a cheese lover, like me, perhaps you haven't heard of Eau Galle Cheese Factory. (Which, I'll sheepishly admit I hadn't.) That's because while they MAKE that award-winning cheese, they then sell it to other brands, appearing on store shelves across the country under a different name. "If you’ve eaten Sargento Parmesan, for example, you’ve likely eaten Eau Galle cheese," the story noted.
You can still buy Eau Galle Cheese Factory cheese, though, if you head to their factory shop, on Wisconsin Highway-85 over in Durand. (Which is about an hour and twenty minutes away from Rochester.) And while you're in the land across the Mississippi, you might wonder what those Wisconsinites are thinking when they see you roll up in your vehicle with the 'Land of 10,000 Lakes' license plates on it. Keep scrolling to see 10 Things Every Person From Wisconsin Secretly Thinks About Minnesota.
Listen to Curt St. John in the Morning
Weekdays from 6 to 10 am on Quick Country 96.5