American Cheese Month celebrates a great Wisconsin industry

You gotta love Wisconsin... It's a state that knows how to put its best product forward. And when it comes to Wisconsin, that best product is ... CHEESE!

Called America's Dairyland, Wisconsin goes all out in promoting its cheese. For May 2021, the state devoted an entire month to in-store, restaurant and online promotions culminating on Wed., May 26th in a virtual event featuring award-winning cheesemakers, surprise guests, musical performances (expect lots of polkas) plus the chance to win one of 180 prizes from the State of Cheese®! 

Grand Prize - Towering Cheese Wheel Cake

Prizes include:

• Grand Towering Cheese Wheel Cake – designed and delivered for your next grand event
• World Champion Roth Grand Cru® Surchoix – an entire wheel of this championship cheese
• Exclusive, first taste of Hook's 15-year aged cheddar before its Fall 2021 release
• Quarterly Curd Drops – seasonal shipments of fresh cheese curds from four different makers

Wisconsin's Favorite Snack - Cheese Curds

• Assorted Gift Baskets – featuring cheeses inspired by Wisconsin's European roots, the best blues, a cheddar flight or spicy favorites!
• Too Gouda to Be True – quarter wheel of award-winning Marieke Gouda
• Limited Edition Cheese Lover's Box – featuring an exclusive, curated selection of fun Wisconsin Cheese swag and a $50 gift card to shop for Wisconsin Cheese

Quarter wheels of Marieke Gouda

But to win, you must enter. Registration for The Great Wisconsin Cheese Giveaway closes on Tuesday, May 25th at 12pm CT / 1pm ET. Registration is free and unlimited for this event.

World Champion Roth Grand Cru® Surchoix

Then tune into the Wisconsin Cheese Facebook or YouTube pages on May 26th at 7pm CT / 8pm ET to watch the event live and win prizes

Should cheese lust inspire you to further exploration, the Travel Wisconsin website provides not one, not two, not three, but four different itineraries to spark your cheese-loving appetite. The farmlands of the state are fecund with cheese producers with a history of innovation in the field. Brick and Colby cheese were invented here, as was the world's stinkiest cheese - Limburger - produced only in the Wisconsin town of Monroe. Charlie Chaplin used Limburger's uniquely pungent property to beat the Germans in one of his films.

Hook's 15-year aged cheddar

Today Wisconsin produces over 600 different varieties of cheese. For help identifying them all, plus recipes and more, visit the Wisconsin Cheese website.

To get maximum cheese exposure in the least possible time, consider stopping by one of the state's festivals devoted to its favorite product: 

Green County Cheese Days, next scheduled for September, 2022.

Ellsworth Cheese Curd Festival, held annually in June.

Evan Williams Winter Sour

At the 2019 ABA convention held in Charlotte, the Evan Williams folks hosted the week's best party. "Whiskey Jean" Michalak, the EW Visitor Center Sales Manager, shared this recipe for a great warmer-upper:


Evan's Winter Sour

1.5 oz Evan Williams Black Label
2 oz Apple Cider
.5 oz lemon juice
.5 oz simple syrup

Evan Williams is reputed to be Kentucky's first commercial distiller, and the Black Label, their most popular Bourbon, continues to be distilled just a few blocks from where Evan himself built his distillery in 1783. 

Can't wait to visit the Evan Williams Bourbon Experience on downtown Louisville's historic "Whiskey Row." Hear they have an artisanal distillery on-site, guided tours... and tastings! 

Louisville is one of the official gateway cities of the Bourbon Trail. In addition to the Evan Williams Experience, it's also home to the Trail's official Welcome Center. Don't forget to try a Mint Julep while you're in town... it's a Kentucky tradition.

One of my favorite roadtrips follows the Bourbon Trail through Kentucky. Stops include 18 major distilleries plus 20 or so smaller craft distilleries. You can download a map, itineraries and other info on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail website. 

For additional information, visit the Louisville Tourism website.