Champion cheese maker has blue in his veins

Eltham cheese maker Dave Newton has got blue in his veins - and he showed it by scoring a perfect 100 for three of his blue cheeses at this year's Cuisine New Zealand Champion of Cheese Awards.
The triple gold, announced at the Cuisine New Zealand Champion of Cheese Awards gala dinner held in Auckland on March 6, was "quite remarkable" said lead judge and US cheese connoisseur John Greeley who believed it was a world first.
Dave Newton won the Hospitality Magazine Champion Cheese Maker award for one of his perfect trio - Galaxy Creamy Blue.
"This is the first award I have received for cheese making and it's an overwhelming experience for a shy country boy," said Newton, whose other top-scoring cheeses were Mainland Special Reserve Creamy Blue and Ferndale Shades of Blue.
Dave Newton joined the Eltham blue cheese making team of 12 just three years ago, after an earlier 13-year career as a shearer. The inspiration to switch jobs came from his brother Howie, who was already on the team. Rounding off the family involvement, sister Karen is also on the same cheese making team.
"There's less brawn, but more brain needed," said Newton of the difference in career.
Although they work for a large dairy producer such as Fonterra Brands, the Newtons take an up close and personal approach to cheese making. Dave handcrafts each cheese and it's then cared for and matured by team members for four to eight weeks, before it's ready to be packaged by Karen.
"Blue Vein cheese makers tend to work together more than other types of cheese makers," said Newton. "We're all in the same boat trying to get the best quality product to the consumer. I put the same effort into all our cheeses whether they are award winners or not."
John Greeley says the ability to make three different perfect-scoring cheeses was a real testament to the cheese maker's skills. He said it also reflected the high standard of New Zealand's blue cheeses.
"For the past four years I've been championing the wonderful quality of blue cheeses in New Zealand and I comment on it everywhere I go."
Fonterra Brands General Manager (Marketing) Andrew Smith said the dairy producer was thrilled by the success of its blue cheese making team.
Fonterra Brands Hautapu Cheddar was named as New Zealand Trade and Enterprise Champion Export Cheese, Fonterra Brands cheddar from Waitoa was awarded the Hally Labels Champion Cheddar Cheese and its Ferndale Raclette won the Foodtown Champion European Style cheese, rounding off a great night for the company.
"All our cheese makers are dedicated to producing quality, world-class products so we are delighted their skills and talents have been recognised by the cheese award judges," said Smith.
And that's something John Greeley agrees with. While many award-winning cheeses were coming from small, artisan cheese makers, large producers such as Fonterra Brands were also producing world-beating cheese, he said.
The Cuisine NZ Champions of Cheese Awards was launched in 2004 by the New Zealand Specialist Cheese Makers Association Inc.