Alexandrina continues McCaul family's 112-year cheese-making success THE McCaul family from Alexandrina Cheese at Mount Compass has lived by the motto that you need to use the best milk to make the best cheese. It proved it has the best milk when it won the grand champion milk award at the Australian Grand Champion Dairy Awards last year. And it proved the motto was right when that milk produced the Champion Cheddar-Style Cheese at the Australian Grand Champion Dairy Awards in Melbourne on Monday. Cheesemaker Dan McCaul said three generations and more than 100 years of cheese making knowledge went into producing the champion cheddar cheese. "Everything went right last spring as it rained at the right time and provided lovely pastures that produced outstanding milk," Mr McCaul said. We have changed little in the cheesemaking process, basically it's the same methodology where we're still making cheese and cheddaring the curd as dad and his father did for many years. The award continued a string of international, national and state awards since the McCaul family started manufacturing the milk from its herd of 80 jersey cows in April 2001. "It is really the fruition of years of hard work and toil, the realisation of a dream come true, so it's a lovely outcome and testament to what we are doing," Mr McCaul's wife Krystyna said. The cheddar range is our most important product and it is what we always wanted to be known and recognised for. Mrs McCaul said its jersey milk is perfect for making cheese because it has a high protein percentage and high butterfat content, providing a "beautiful buttery melt in the mouth flavour." "Some people like a mild cheddar at three months, a mature cheddar at six to nine months or vintage at more than 12 months of age, we generally sell the vintage cheddar at between 12 to 15 months," she said. The McCaul's success stems from a long history of cheesemaking started with grandfather Jerry McCaul who started making cheese in Queensland in 1902. His knowledge was passed on to son Kevin, a prominent cheese maker in Queensland for many years before coming to South Australia as superintendent of cheese factories for the Southern Farmers" Cooperative which became National Foods. His knowledge was in turn passed to his son Dan McCaul when he decided to extend the family's dairy farming business to include manufacturing in 2001, helping out for the first 16 months. "We were very blessed and pleased to have that knowledge because Kevin was awarded many champion cheese awards during his career," Mrs McCaul said. Alexandrina's many awards have included the Champion Cheese and Gold Medal with the vintage cheddar at the World Jersey Milk Award Show in New Zealand in 2011. It has also won the champion cream of Australia award at the Australian Grand Dairy Awards in 2004. Despite initially being extremely unsure about making the move into processing, the McCaul's are now convinced that the decision was the right one. "It's been pretty awesome for a little business to win all those awards in the past 14 years," Mrs McCaul said. The business is still growing through sales from our farm shop, the Adelaide Showgrounds Farmers Market, the Willunga Farmers Market and specialty delicatessens and cafes that are looking for high quality products. The result is a better outcome than just producing milk and selling it to someone else. Mrs McCaul said that until now its single origin herd of jerseys has produced enough milk for its needs, but concedes that the family may have to consider increasing the herd with more cows in future.