A few words from Sonia & Wayne Kent, owners of Main Ridge Dairy.

What this recognition means to you and your team

Winning Australian Cheese of the Year for our Capriole is an incredible honour and something our whole team is immensely proud of.

We started as a very small team, and this award is the culmination of more than four years of hard work, commitment and belief in what we do. Capriole’s success is truly a whole-team achievement. From caring for and milking our goats, through to the cheesemaking, ageing, packaging and sharing our cheeses with customers, there are many hands and many hours behind every wheel we produce.

To have Capriole recognised at this level is a wonderful acknowledgement of that collective effort. It is particularly special because it celebrates not only the cheese itself, but the patience, craftsmanship and commitment that have gone into building Main Ridge Dairy and producing artisan cheese here on the Mornington Peninsula.

We are also incredibly proud of the broader range of beautiful, award-winning cheeses we produce, and we see this award as recognition of the quality and care that sits behind the whole Main Ridge Dairy range.

What sets Capriole apart

For us, Capriole begins with provenance. We have the privilege of being involved in the process from the paddock through to the finished cheese, and that connection to the land, our goats and the milk is incredibly important to what we do.

Capriole isn’t made to be rushed. Artisan cheesemaking is a combination of beautiful milk, careful craftsmanship, patience and knowing when to let the cheese develop naturally. We believe that attention to every stage of the process is what gives Capriole its distinctive character.

It is also a wonderful example of just how exceptional goat’s milk cheese can be. One of the things we are passionate about at Main Ridge Dairy is increasing awareness of the incredible variety of cheeses that can be made from goat’s milk. Goat cheese is so much broader than many people realise, and Capriole is a stunning example of what can be achieved when the milk, the cheesemaking and the maturation all come together beautifully.

Ultimately, a cheese has to taste wonderful, and Capriole does. When you get a cheese like this right, the result can be absolutely delicious, complex and memorable — and we are incredibly proud that the judges recognised those qualities.

What the award means for Main Ridge Dairy moving forward

This award gives us enormous confidence in what we are doing, but it also reinforces why we started Main Ridge Dairy in the first place.

We want to continue championing artisan cheesemaking and helping the community understand the skill, time and care that goes into making cheese by hand. We also want to continue increasing awareness of the extraordinary range and quality of cheeses that can be produced from goat’s milk.

We don’t want recognition like this to mean changing who we are. If anything, it strengthens our commitment to remaining hands-on, protecting the quality of our milk, focusing on craftsmanship and continuing to make cheeses with integrity.

We hope Australian Cheese of the Year introduces Capriole and Main Ridge Dairy to people who may never have discovered us otherwise, but we also hope it encourages people to explore our broader range of award-winning cheeses and perhaps reconsider what they think they know about goat cheese.

For our team, it is an incredibly exciting milestone after more than four years of hard work, but it also feels like the beginning of the next chapter for Main Ridge Dairy — continuing to make beautiful cheese, supporting Australian artisan cheesemaking and showing people just how exceptional Australian goat’s milk cheese can be.