Affineur of the Year, Unwrapped: The Experts’ Take

Affineur of the Year 2025 Review

 

Host: Tracey Colley

Panel Moderator: Matthew Luke (Events & Courses Coordinator, Academy of Cheese)

Judging Panel: Svein-Erik Backlund, Kanako Mathys, Patrick McGuigan, Patricia Michelson, Ned Palmer, Patrick Spinazza, Sue Sturman

 

Tracey Colley:

Good evening, everyone! Welcome to our Affineur of the Year review webinar. It’s fantastic to see so many people joining us on this very hot evening in the UK.

Please do use the chat to share any questions you have during the session, and I’ll relay those to our amazing panel. Also, let us know where you’re joining from—we love seeing our global community in action!

I’m joined tonight by a great team. Matthew Luke, our new recruit and Events & Courses Coordinator at the Academy of Cheese, is here with me. He’s been working closely with Patrick (McGuigan), and they’ve just finished teaching day one of a Level Two course. Well earned pints for both of them tonight—lager and cider, I believe!

Matthew Luke:

Thanks, Tracey. It’s amazing to be part of this.

Tracey Colley:

Let’s take a quick look at where people are tuning in from: Florida, Norfolk, Pennsylvania, South Wales, Canada, Brighton, Leicester, Luton, and even Sheena from California—currently in London—who I met at the International Cheese and Dairy Awards. Welcome, everyone!

Please make sure your chat is set to “Everyone” so we can all enjoy the conversation. I see questions already coming in, including from Malta and Texas. Incredible to have such an international crowd.

We’ve just had Martin join the panel as well. Great to have you here.

Blue Category – Shropshire Blue (Cropwell Bishop)

Judges: Kanako Mathys & Patrick Spinazza

Tracey:

Next, let’s move to the blue category, where this year we judged Shropshire Blue from Cropwell Bishop instead of Stilton. Kanako and Patrick, welcome. Where are you joining from, Patrick?

Patrick Spinazza:

I’m in Cala Millor, Mallorca. Beautiful weather here.

Matthew:

So, you judged the Shropshire Blue entries. What stood out in terms of innovation?

Patrick Spinazza:

It was actually quite a conservative bunch—no flowers, no charcoal, no big twists. But there was one clothbound cheese that really stood out. It retained a good level of bluing despite being wrapped. Most of the entries focused on traditional profiles. A lot of them had blue in the core, but not around the rind, which suggested uneven moisture and airflow.

Kanako Mathys:

Yes, this year the entries were very purist. Some even described their approach as “classic” or “traditional.” One had butter rubbed on the rind, which was interesting but didn’t quite balance with the blue. The texture in some cheeses was still quite young—like Wensleydale—rather than fully matured.

Matthew:

Did the lack of innovation make judging easier?

Kanako:

Yes, in a way. Everyone was trying to do the same thing, so we judged on maturity and complexity. Two entries were neck and neck, and although we didn’t pick the winner ourselves, it was still very close.

Patrick:

The one we preferred had a more developed complexity, even if it wasn’t the official winner.

Tracey:

And the winner was White Lake in this category, with the People’s Choice going to a cheese matured near Fuller’s Brewery, surrounded by beer pints!

Kanako:

That entry was fascinating—three cheeses in one! Creamy, fruity, biscuity flavours in the middle; cranberry acidity toward the rind. A really dynamic entry.

Patrick McGuigan:

Yes, having judged this category over the years, this was the best showing of blueing yet. Competitors really took on feedback from previous years and focused on getting better blue development across the board.

 

Cheddar Category – Cheddar

Judges: Patricia Michelson & Laurent Mons

Tracey:
Now on to the Cheddar category. This year it was judged by Patricia Michelson and Laurent Mons. Patricia, what were you looking for in terms of flavour?

Patricia Michelson:
It’s all down to appearance, aroma, and how the taste evolves. A great cheddar should retain its character but also bring something unexpected to the table. We asked ourselves, “What have they done to take this cheddar to another level?”

One standout had a defined flavour—still cheddar—but developed into something more complex. Another had a Swiss-style wash and was much tighter and firmer.

Laurent was a fantastic judging partner. We worked with an open mind—closing our eyes at times just to focus on taste and ignore all preconceptions.

Tracey:
And you also read the notes and statements of intent, right?

Patricia:
Absolutely. Some competitors wrote very detailed notes, clearly experimenting and learning. Others gave little context. That matters because we want to judge whether they achieved their aims.

We had cheeses that evoked landscape and season—one even inspired by a road trip through Wales. It wasn’t perfect, but I admired the ambition.

Ultimately, the winner delivered complexity, refinement, and a process that showed real care and knowledge.

Tracey:
And we’re lucky to have the winner here with us—Perry Wakeman from Rennet & Rind. Perry, congratulations!

Perry Wakeman:
Thank you! This was my third time competing and third time winning. With my cheddar “Dylon”, I really focused on driving moisture loss beyond the usual plateau by perforating the rind using a dermaroller. That increased evaporation in a controlled way and created a really intense, savory flavour.

Matthew:
Did you get the flavour profile you aimed for?

Perry:
Mostly! I wanted something buttery, spicy, and slightly acidic, with chew and marbling. I’d give it an 8 out of 10 for hitting those notes. And yes, it’s heading into production. Dylon will be our first cheese to go from this competition into full commercial release.

Tracey:
Fantastic. And what advice would you give future competitors?

Perry:
Trial and error. Ask your cheesemonger for an extra young cheese and experiment. Document everything. Be brutally honest. That’s how you grow.

Soft Cheese Category – Baron Bigod

Judges: Sue Sturman & Avril Molloy

Tracey:
On to our soft cheese category, judged by Sue Sturman and Avril Molloy. Sue, welcome!

Sue Sturman:
Thank you. This category was incredibly diverse. Out of five entries, three had added elements—herbs, flowers, lemon curd. Not all of them worked. The lemon curd entry was my personal favourite; it tried to reframe Baron Bigod as a dessert. It didn’t win, but I loved the ambition.

We judged not just flavour, but paste and rind development. One cheese had beautiful rind breakdown. Some looked a bit too pristine—industrial almost.

The winner? A spruce-bound Baron Bigod. The rind broke down beautifully, and the spruce added structure and a vegetal note.

Nick (Affineur):
We wanted the spruce to be more than decorative. We aimed to taste it. We also applied just two washes, mimicking a Mont d’Or-style maturation. Initially we tried wooden boards but had to pivot due to issues with bonding. It was a cheese we kept adapting—wash, dry, adjust humidity, and so on.

Sue:
Exactly! Affinage is about balance—encouraging and inhibiting mould and bacteria at the right moments. You can’t just drench a cheese and expect miracles.

Tracey:
And consistency across all five cheeses submitted was spot on. A real achievement.

Caerphilly Category – Gorwydd Caerphilly

Judges: Sarah Minis & Rory Buchanan

Tracey:
Our final judged category is Caerphilly, with 11 different entries this year! The judges were Sarah Minis and Rory Buchanan.

Nick (Affineur):
Caerphilly was a passion project. We were inspired by cheeses like Sennar from Suar Nectar Farmstead—natural mould rind, initial brine wash, then vodka infused with leeks for flavour. We used rye mats, rubbed the moulds down, and focused on regrowth.

Martin:
This was our first year maturing Caerphilly and it taught us a lot. We already see its influence in how we care for other cheeses.

Tracey:
That’s the heart of this competition—developing new skills and processes that carry over into commercial practice. Amazing work.

Tracey:
We’ve now covered all the judged categories. Before we wrap up, we’ll play a short video message from Laurent Mons, who judged the Cheddar category alongside Patricia Michelson but couldn’t be with us live tonight.

Laurent Mons (pre-recorded video):
Hello everyone. I’ll try to speak in English!

I couldn’t attend the webinar in person, but I wanted to share a few thoughts. First, it was such a pleasure to judge this competition, especially with Patricia. She brought such a sharp eye and thoughtful insight to the process — I learned a lot.

It’s not always easy to judge cheddar — it’s a style I know less intimately — but I did my best to understand what was being aimed for. In particular, we were very torn between two entries. It came down to understanding the objective of the competition.

If the question is: Who is the best affineur of cheddar? — then the winner was clear.
But if the question is: Who took the biggest risks and did the most innovative affinage? — then the answer might have been different.

So I learned something here: we must be clear on the criteria and transparent with competitors. That helps us as judges — and also gives meaning to the award.

And one final note: there are many cheese competitions around the world — but not all are judged by professionals. I truly believe that if you are evaluating the work of professional affineurs, then the judges should also be professionals. Being a cheese lover is wonderful — but for this kind of work, we need technical insight and experience to fairly evaluate the results.

Thank you again, and congratulations to everyone who took part.

Tracey:
Thank you, Laurent, for that thoughtful reflection. And thank you to all of our amazing judges this year — and of course to the competitors, whose care, attention, creativity, and record-keeping have once again raised the bar.

A special thank you also to Matthew, our panel moderator, and to Martin and Nick for giving us such rich insight into their processes.

That brings us to the end of the webinar. We know it’s been a hot evening, so thank you all for staying with us! The full recording will be available to watch back, and we’ll be sharing highlights in due course.

We hope to see many of you again next year — either in the competition, on the judging panel, or simply tuning in to celebrate the incredible art of affinage.

Thank you, and good night!