The Junta de Castilla y León celebrates, from Monday, September 9, the eleventh edition of the Cinch Priceeithera prestigious international competition that aims to recognize the best cheeses in the world and which in 2024 brought together a total of 1,200 samples from 16 different countries.
These prizes, organized by the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Rural Development through ITACyL, will be awarded by a jury composed of 66 professional tasters from a dozen countries, during sessions that will take place between September 9 and 11 in the royal enclosure. Monastery of San Zoilo, located in the town of Carrión de los Condes in Palencia.
The prizes, which will be determined by the data provided by the jury to a computer application after the corresponding blind tastings, will reward the two best (gold and silver belts) in each of the categories stipulated in the regulations based on different forms of presentation. (fresh, soft, semi-hard or hard, blue and spreadable cheeses)) or characteristics (milk-producing animal species, heat treatment, coagulation process or degree of ripening), in addition to the three best cheeses in general (Gran Cincho de Oro), the “Best sheep’s milk cheese in Spain” and the “Best artisanal cheese in Castile and León.
The novelties of this edition include the award for “Best Organic Cheese” and two new categories. The first of them is the “Cincho de Honor”, which aims to recognize relevant people or entities in the cheese sector, establishing two different awards, such as “Professional Career” and “Special Mention”. And the second is related to the “Milk quality”which aims to promote the work of breeders and which will distinguish the best in the sheep, goat and bovine sectors respectively.
Registrations
Of the total of 1,221 participating samples, it should be noted that 6% come from outside Spain and that, among those of national origin, in which practically all the autonomous communities are represented, Castile and Leon It is the one with the largest number of participants, with 361. For its part, if we look at the number of companies responsible for the preparation of the samples that participate in the Cincho 2024 Awards, of the 334 registered, 79 are from Castilla y León and 37 are located in other countries.
