Grading
Judging cheeses in the store by look, smell, texture and taste to decide their quality and how long to age them.
Also: cheese grading, grader
Grading is the inspection of young and ageing cheeses by a trained grader, who usually works with a cheese iron. Each wheel or block is sampled, and the plug is judged for body, texture, colour, aroma and flavour, then scored against a standard. In cheddar, grading at a few months decides whether a cheese will be sold mild or kept to become mature or vintage. In the Jura, Comté is scored out of twenty, and wheels below a threshold may not be sold with the green label. Graders also catch faults such as cracks, uneven eyes or off flavours. Good grading is skilled work that takes years to learn and matters to price.