Two western Wisconsin cheesemakers took top honors at the biennial U.S. Cheese Championships in Milwaukee earlier this spring. The Eau Galle Cheese Factory once again earned a first-place gold, this time for its aged Asiago. In 2013, Eau Galle won first place for its Parmesan. The factory, located in the rolling hills near Durand, has been owned by the Buhlman family since 1945. While it once made Swiss and then Cheddar cheese, the plant now specializes in the niche of Italian hard cheeses: Asiago, Romano, and Parmesan. Companies such as Sargento buy and market Eau Galle’s cheeses under their own brand names. “The winning wheel of cheese scored 99.5 out of 100 points and was aged for a year,” said to Bob Grundvig, Eau Galle’s business manager. “We get our milk for the cheese from more than 60 local dairy farms, many of them second- and third-generation. Quality milk helps to produce quality cheese.” You can get this award-winning cheese at the Eau Galle Cheese Factory store, the Menomonie Market Food Co-op, Just Local Foods in Eau Claire, or online at eaugallecheese.com. Holland’s Family Cheese of Thorp also came home from Milwaukee with first-place awards in the Smoked Gouda and the Edam and Gouda categories, as well as with several second- and third-place honors for its other authentic Dutch-style cheeses. Holland’s Family Cheese’s mature Gouda was the overall U.S. champion in 2013. Cheeses made by Marieke Penterman and her team are available all over the Midwest as well as nationwide, but you can buy them where they’re made at 200 W. Liberty Drive in Thorp or via www.mariekegouda.com.