Garden & Gun Names Belle Chevre One of Best in South

Nov. 28, 2011 - PRLog -- Garden & Gun magazine has named Belle Chevre the runner up in the Food category of the 2011 Made in the South Awards. Belle Chevre’s breakfast cheeses were chosen out of dozens of products, outstanding for their delicious flavor and handmade artisan quality. The article sang the praises of this product, unique to the market: “Alabama’s Belle Chevre creamery is bringing foodies a reason to get up in the morning: sweet spreads made from mild and creamy chèvre blended with fresh figs, cinnamon, honey, or coffee.” The Made in the South Awards were created by Garden & Gun editors as a platform to celebrate the rich cultural tradition of Southern craft, design, and ingenuity.

Each fall, G&G editors gather a who’s who lineup of guest judges to pore through the hundreds of entries of Southern-made products.  The awards cover four categories: Sporting, Home, Fashion, and Food.  James Beard Award—winning chef Sean Brock was the guest judge this year for Food, and chose Belle Chevre’s breakfast cheese as an outstanding Southern food product.

“The quality and number of this year's Made in the South Awards entries prove once again that some of the best things made are made in Dixie.  And Garden & Gun is delighted to give these artisans a platform to show off their talents. The entrepreneurial spirit of the South is not only alive—it's thriving,” says David DiBenedetto, editor in chief of Garden & Gun.

Winners and runners-ups are presented in the December 2011/January 2012 issue of Garden & Gun, on newsstands November 21.  In addition to a feature in the magazine and a cash prize, finalists and winners and their items can be purchased through the holidays on noted e-commerce site Taigan.com.   Taigan, retail partner to Garden & Gun, is an online shopping site featuring a highly curated collection of boutiques, designers, and purveyors.

Belle Chevre has produced a variety of internationally acclaimed chevres since 1989 using time-tested European farmstead techniques.  The company is purposefully small, and each chevre is hand made in Alabama by its passionate cheese makers. Belle Chèvre cheeses have received numerous national awards from the American Cheese Society and the American Dairy Goat Association, and have been featured by Martha Stewart, Oprah, and everyone in between.