Australia crowns its dairy champions

The Australian Grand Dairy Awards has announced its 2017 champions, revealing the nation’s 20 finest dairy products out of a record 470 entries.

In a rigorous judging process, a panel of 24 expert judges tasted their way through the hundreds of gold medal-winning dairy foods — including cheese, ice-cream, milk, butter, cream, yoghurt, dips and gelato — assessing flavour, aroma, texture, body and appearance.

The 2017 Grand Champion Dairy Product was awarded to Queensland-based gelataria Milani House of Gelato for its smooth and creamy Dark Chocolate Gelato.

Tasmania’s Heidi Farm once again impressed the judging panel, taking out the 2017 Grand Champion Cheese with its robust Raclette — a semihard melting cheese with a sweet and nutty mid palate and some lingering umami savoury characters.

For the first time, the Australian public was given the opportunity to play judge to determine the champion cheese in the new People’s Choice category. More than 3500 consumers cast their vote to reveal King Island Dairy’s Black Label Double Brie as the inaugural People’s Choice Award.

Flavours from across the globe were represented in the coveted list of champions, with locally produced European- and Indian-style dairy products such as Montefiore’s Trecce, That’s Amore Cheese’s Diavoletti, House of Riz’s Traditional Greek Rice Pudding and Sharma’s Kitchen’s Mango Lassi all taking out the top spots in their categories.

Created in 1999, the Australian Grand Dairy Awards are the highest accolade for Australian dairy producers.