Imagine the World Cup, except instead of soccer balls, everyone’s bringing cheese to the stadium.

France shows up with centuries of cheesemaking tradition. Italy arrives with its legendary Parmesan. Switzerland is ready to defend its Gruyère reputation, Spain has plenty to prove, and the world’s most accomplished cheesemakers are prepared to battle it out for international bragging rights.

And then there’s Oregon.

Not an entire country. Not some ancient European cheesemaking dynasty. Just a little creamery from Central Point, a town of roughly 20,000 people in Southern Oregon.

Nobody’s expecting the Americans to take home the trophy, right?

Well, somebody probably should’ve warned Europe.

Because when the final votes were counted at the 2019 World Cheese Awards in Bergamo, Italy, Oregon had just won the whole damn thing.

At a Glance

• The champion: Rogue River Blue, made by Rogue Creamery
• Hometown: Central Point, Oregon
• The tournament: 2019 World Cheese Awards in Bergamo, Italy
• The competition: 3,804 cheeses from 42 countries
• The final showdown: Oregon vs. Italy, decided by a tiebreaking vote
• The result: First American-made cheese to win World Champion Cheese
• The encore: Another major international award in Spain in 2026
• Where to purchase the swag: Rogue Creamery Cheese Shop, 311 N. Front Street, Central Point, Oregon

The World Cup of Cheese, and Oregon Came to Play

The 2019 World Cheese Awards weren’t some little county fair where the grand prize was a blue ribbon and a handshake.

This was the big leagues.

Held in Bergamo, Italy, the competition brought together 3,804 cheeses from 42 countries, with approximately 260 experts evaluating everything from flavor and aroma to texture and appearance.

Think of it as the World Cup of cheese, except every competitor showed up with a knife, a tasting spoon, and generations of family pride on the line.

The European heavyweights had history on their side. Countries like France, Italy, and Switzerland have been producing extraordinary cheeses for hundreds of years. Their names alone are enough to make food lovers go weak in the knees.

Oregon, meanwhile, brought Rogue River Blue.

A blue-veined cheese wrapped in grape leaves and aged in a creamery near Medford. No flashy international reputation on the scale of Parmigiano Reggiano. No centuries-old European pedigree.

Just one exceptionally good cheese with a fighting chance.

And as the judges worked their way through the massive field, Rogue River Blue kept advancing.

Until suddenly, the little creamery from Oregon was standing in the championship round.

The Championship Final: Oregon vs. Italy

Now this is where the story gets really good.

After thousands of cheeses had been evaluated, the title came down to two finalists: Rogue River Blue from Oregon and a 24-month-aged Parmigiano Reggiano from Italy.

Talk about a championship matchup.

On one side, you’ve got Italy, playing on home turf advantage with one of the most famous cheeses on Earth. On the other, a relatively small American creamery from the Rogue Valley.

The judges awarded both cheeses a perfect 100 points.

A tie. In the championship round.

Imagine the World Cup final, the score locked, the stadium holding its breath, and everything riding on one last decision.

That’s essentially what happened, minus the cleats and screaming soccer fans.

The chairman of the judging panel had to cast the deciding vote.

And he picked Oregon.

Game over. Trophy secured. Europe stunned.

For the first time since the competition began in 1988, an American-made cheese had been named World Champion Cheese.

And the winner wasn’t from Wisconsin, Vermont, or some other place Americans typically associate with cheesemaking.

It was from Oregon.

Somewhere, a 17-generations-deep French cheesemaker probably needed a minute.

The Secret Weapon? Grape Leaves, Pear Spirits, and a Whole Lot of Patience

So what exactly did Rogue Creamery bring to the championship that could go toe-to-toe with Italy’s finest?

For starters, Rogue River Blue isn’t your ordinary supermarket cheese.

It’s made with organic cow’s milk from Southern Oregon, produced seasonally in the fall, and aged for approximately nine to eleven months.

Then comes the really interesting part.

Each wheel is hand-wrapped in individually selected Syrah grape leaves soaked in pear spirits, bringing together the region’s dairy, wine, and fruit-growing traditions in one spectacularly Oregon creation.

The result is a rich, creamy blue cheese with complex notes of vanilla, toffee, fig, truffle, and pear, alongside that unmistakable blue cheese bite.

It’s bold. It’s funky. It’s sophisticated.

It’s basically the cheese equivalent of an underdog athlete who shows up to the championship wearing muddy boots and somehow delivers the performance of a lifetime.

And unlike mass-produced cheeses you can buy whenever you feel like it, Rogue River Blue is released as a limited seasonal vintage. You can’t simply crank out another batch because the world suddenly wants more.

Good things take time, and apparently, beating Italy takes about a year.

Oregon Didn’t Just Get Lucky. It Came Back for Another Trophy.

If you think that magical day in Italy was a one-time Cinderella story, there’s more.

In June 2026, Rogue River Blue earned another major international distinction at Spain’s Cincho Cheese Awards, competing in a field of approximately 1,300 cheeses from 18 countries.

This time, it received one of three Gran Cincho de Oro honors, among the highest awards given at the competition.

It wasn’t a repeat of the single World Champion title from 2019, but it was another extraordinary achievement against international competition.

Seven years after that first unforgettable victory in Italy, Oregon’s cheese was still showing up on the world’s biggest stages and collecting hardware.

At this point, Europe might want to start scouting Central Point a little more seriously.

The Champion Is Currently Sold Out Online, But Oregon’s Cheese Team Still Has Some Serious Talent

There’s one small catch if you’re hoping to get your hands on the cheese that conquered the world: Rogue River Blue is currently sold out online.

Apparently, when you beat Italy on its home turf and become the first American cheese to win a world championship, people start paying attention.

But don’t hang up your cleats just yet. Rogue Creamery has an entire lineup of handcrafted cheeses worth exploring, and some of them have impressive credentials of their own.

Take Oregon Blue, the creamery’s original classic, first created in the 1950s. It’s creamy, fruity, and a little more approachable than some of its stronger blue-cheese relatives. Then there’s Smokey Blue, which gets its distinctive flavor from being cold-smoked over Oregon hazelnut shells. Yes, hazelnut (ahem….Filbert) shells. Leave it to Oregon to find a way to make cheese taste even more like home.

For something with a bigger personality, Crater Lake Blue brings a bold, creamy flavor with hints of pear and blackberry, while Caveman Blue offers an earthy, buttery character that cheese enthusiasts love.

Blue Cheese isn’t the only offering here, though. The creamery also offers an array of hard cheeses in the form of cheddar that comes in super-innovative varieties like Chocolate Stout (made in partnership with Hopworks Urban Brewery) and LaDiDa Lavender (blended with Southern Oregon lavender blossoms).

And if you’re traveling through Southern Oregon, the Rogue Creamery Cheese Shop at 311 North Front Street in Central Point is worth a stop. You can explore their cheeses, pick up some local goodies, and grab a grilled cheese sandwich made fresh to order. The shop is generally open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., with some holiday closures.

As for Rogue River Blue, keep an eye on the creamery’s website for future availability. The award-winning cheese is made seasonally, so it’s not something they can simply whip up whenever demand gets crazy.

And really, isn’t that part of what makes this story so great?

A little creamery from Southern Oregon went up against the most respected cheesemakers on the planet, battled Italy to a perfect-score tie, and walked away with the championship.

France had its traditions. Italy had its Parmesan. Switzerland had its centuries of experience.

Oregon had a wheel of blue cheese wrapped in grape leaves.

And that was enough to bring home the trophy.

From Tillamook to the Rogue Valley, Oregon Knows Cheese

Of course, anyone who’s spent much time in Oregon already knows we’ve got a pretty impressive dairy scene.

Just look at Tillamook.

For generations, Tillamook has helped put Oregon cheese on the map with its famous cheddar, and its creamery on the Oregon Coast has become a must-visit destination for tourists and locals alike.

Our Tillamook Cheese Factory guide covers one of the state’s most beloved stops, and our Oregon Coast guide is full of other places worth exploring while you’re out that way.

But Rogue Creamery has carved out an entirely different kind of reputation. While Tillamook is a familiar name in refrigerators across America, Rogue has been quietly proving that Oregon can compete with the finest specialty cheeses anywhere on Earth.

One state. Two very different cheesemaking traditions. Plenty of reasons to be proud.