Cheese Prodigy Honored

It appears Wisconsin will be maintaining its hammerlock on cheesemaking supremacy for the next couple generations.

Hanna Lee, a seasonal assistant at Uplands Cheese Company in Dodgeville, was recently named Young Cheesemonger of the Year at the 2025 World Cheese Awards in Bern, Switzerland.

She’s the first American to be singled out for the honor, which seems hard to believe. You’ve gotta figure Wisconsin, the Hollywood of Cheesemaking, must have had dozens of precocious prodigies worthy of global recognition come up through its ranks over the years.

But the Young Cheesemonger of the Year at the World Cheese Awards is traditionally just as much about politics as it is about mongering actual cheese. (We assume)

Anyhoo, they got it right this year, with no evidence of corruption or payola schemes.

Hanna has been honing her craft at Cheese State University, a program from the Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin, which nurtures future cheese professionals through education and mentorship.

You gotta figure CSU has more up-and-coming cheesemongers in the pipeline, so she won’t be the last Young Cheesemonger of the Year from America’s Dairyland now that the corruption (that we are speculating has been holding Wisconsin back in past years) has finally been rooted out of the voting process.

In addition to Hanna’s hardware, seven Wisconsin cheesemakers were honored at this year’s awards. Sartori Company, Deer Creek Cheese, Marieke Gouda, Carr Valley Cheese, Schuman Cheese, Widmer’s Cheese Cellars, and Emmi Roth walked away with medals.

So congratulations to them, and Hanna Lee, a rising star in the cheese game. Watch this space next year when we are sure to be honoring another young Wisconsin cheesemonger. This feels like the start of a dynasty.