Snowdrop by Cote Hill named British Cheese Awards Supreme Champion

Held at the Bath & West Showground in Somerset, as part of the new Bath & West Food & Drink Festival, the awards saw Cote Hill take the top prize in a field of more than 600 entries from across the UK and Ireland.

Launched just over a year ago, Snowdrop is made by Mary and Michael Davenport at Cote Hill Dairy. The cheese was named in honour of Cynthia

Davenport, who started the dairy at Cote Hill, as snowdrops were her favourite flower found growing around the farm.

Soft, smooth and velvety, Snowdrop is a raw cow’s milk cheese, similar in style to a French St Felicien, and will vary throughout the seasons as the pastures change.

Mary said: “As a small producer, we are delighted and honoured to be recognised with this prestigious award. It was a huge surprise and totally unexpected as winning Supreme Champion at the British Cheese Awards is a cheesemaker’s dream. Here at Cote Hill we are amazed that such a small cheese should achieve such a prestigious award.”

Organised by The Royal Bath & West Society, the British Cheese Awards saw a 63-strong judging panel made up of cheesemakers, cheesemongers, cheese experts, buyers and commentators assessing entries in their individual classes during the morning session, awarding Bronze, Silver and Gold

accolades. During the second round, all Gold award winners from each category were judged alongside one another to identify the category winners, before all category winners were judged in the final round to find this year’s Supreme Champion and Reserve Champion.

Julius Longman, chairman of the British Cheese Awards, said: “It was fantastic to be back at the Bath & West Showground, and to have another

Supreme Champion to share with the world. Snowdrop is a perfect example of the innovation and excellence in cheesemaking that is thriving in Britain

and Ireland right now, alongside our world class traditional cheeses.

"The British Cheese Awards is a wonderful coming together of the nation’s cheese community and we were delighted to welcome the public into the judging hall over the course of the new Food & Drink Festival. Having showcased hundreds of diverse cheeses from across the UK and Ireland, we hope to have inspired some of the cheesemakers and mongers of tomorrow.”