A cheesemaker and a mead-maker from Northern Ontario win big at the Royal Winter Agricultural Fair

An artisanal cheesemaker from northern Ontario now has an award-winning goat cheese at the Royal Winter Agricultural Fair in Toronto.

Fromagerie Kapuskoise won first prize in the fresh unripened cheese - natural category.

Denis Nadeau, who's in charge of marketing for the family-owned cheesemaker, says it was a spreadable goat cheese that won his company the top prize.

"It's an explosive, tangy flavour that goes well with just about anything," he said.

"You can put it in omelets, pasta, bread, crepes, you name it."

Nadeau says getting the recognition is a big deal because his company is still recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic.

"We lost the business of restaurants in the South and that has not picked up yet again," he said.

Nadeau says he's currently too busy to celebrate much.  He says Fromagerie Kapuskoise produces around 20 tonnes of cheese a year, and will need to wait until after the Christmas season to enjoy the win at the fair.

"A lot of cheese. Factories sell 60 per cent of their inventories in the Christmas season," he said.

Award-winning mead

Fromagerie Kapuskoise isn't the only northern Ontario producer to come away with awards from the Royal Winter Agricultural Fair.

Liam Bursey, an amateur wine and mead-maker from Sudbury, won two prizes for the product he worked on with his  brother.

Mead is an alcoholic beverage made with fermented honey, instead of grapes, as would be found in wine.

Bursey says he started making mead and wine during the COVID-19 pandemic when he started helping his father, who is a hobby winemaker.

"I kind of just love the experimental aspect of it," he said.

"I love conceptualizing your own recipes, finding recipes online and tweaking them."

As a hobbyist, Bursey can't sell his mead, but he's given bottles away to friends and family, and has hosted tasting events.

He says it was his mother who convinced him to apply to the competition with the Royal Winter Agricultural Fair. 

"She was more aware of the fair than I was, and knew that there was a mead category," he said.

His brother submitted a spiced mead called Château Bursey, and he submitted one flavoured with freshly picked blueberries, called Good Enough Wine.

Château Bursey won first place in its category and Good Enough placed second.  

Bursey says maybe one day he'll get the certifications needed to sell his mead, but says that could be a long way off.