Over thirty years analysing cheese — from the judging table at international competitions to private tastings where you learn to use all five senses.
The Super Jury is around sixteen tasters out of the two hundred–plus who judge the competition.
A tasting begins by looking. Here is the record: the qualifications, the competitions, and the thirty years behind them.
Ruth Lozano is an agricultural engineer with master’s degrees in Food Safety and Quality and in Viticulture and Enology. She began in sensory analysis in 1993, running the tasting committee of a wine denomination of origin in Tenerife.
That background in wine explains how she works: with method, precise vocabulary and repeatable criteria. Since then she has tasted thousands of cheeses from around the world, has been a World Cheese Awards Super Judge four times, and teaches sensory analysis to producers, restaurateurs and university students.
Professional profile on LinkedInCompetitions she has judged.
17 competitions as a judge
Recent tastings, competitions and courses. Keep scrolling to move along the row.
On the jury of the contest that gathers cheeses from all seven islands each year, from fresh goat’s cheeses to aged mixed-milk wheels.
A fourth designation as Super Judge — sixteen tasters chosen from some two hundred and fifty to decide the best cheese in the world.
One of Spain’s benchmark cheese contests, with hundreds of samples tasted blind by international judging panels.
Speaking on “Women in training within the sector”, part of the Planeta Queso programme.
Invited speaker at the Chilean cheese congress, on tasting methodology and applied sensory analysis.
Lecturer responsible for the Canarian Cheeses module at the Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.
1993
Consejo Regulador DOP Ycoden Daute Isora
Seven years at a wine denomination of origin in Tenerife. This is where the method comes from: panels, score sheets, vocabulary and repeatable criteria.
2000
Gobierno de Canarias
Agrifood promotion, quality schemes and technical training, with a particular focus on cheese. Begins judging at national and international competitions. Since 2022 she has coordinated ICASEL training in Santa Cruz de Tenerife.
2021
Her own programmes in sensory analysis, tasting methodology, attributes and defects, pairing and product valorisation, for professionals and producers.
2024
Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
Head of the Canarian Cheeses module on the Diploma in Canarian Gastronomic Studies. Sensory analysis of cheeses and of sea salts.
2024
World Cheese Awards
Viseu, Portugal. The Super Jury brings together around sixteen tasters from the competition’s two hundred–plus judges.
Tasting is not opining. It is a method — with phases, a vocabulary and criteria that can be learned.
01
Sight
You look before you touch. The rind, the colour of the paste, the eyes, how the cut behaves.
02
Aroma
The wedge comes up slowly, whole first and then broken open. Aroma is read before flavour covers everything.
03
Taste
The five basic tastes, in the order they appear. This is where liking something is separated from it being well made — which are not always the same.
04
Touch
Texture is judged with the fingers and in the mouth. How it yields, how it breaks down, what it leaves behind.
05
Finish
What remains once the cheese has gone. In a great cheese the finish lasts and evolves; in an ordinary one it simply stops.
Private tastings, corporate events, pairings and professional training. Each one adapts to the group and the venue.
Blind tasting. With the cheese out of sight, all that is left is describing what you perceive.
A tasting table set up for a promotion day.
The olfactory phase. The wedge comes up slowly — aroma is read before anything is tasted.
The notes, the aroma jars, and the green apple for clearing the palate.
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At your home, or wherever you choose
A properly guided tasting: blindfolds for the olfactory phase, a score sheet in hand and apple to clear the palate between cheeses. You taste blind, take notes, and only then find out what each one was. You leave understanding why you like what you like.
Team building people actually remember
Blind tasting works remarkably well with a group: it forces people to describe, to reach agreement and to defend what they perceive. It adapts to the number of people, the space and the time available — from a short tasting in the office to a client-facing event.
Cheese and wine, from both sides
Before cheese, Ruth spent seven years running the tasting committee of a wine denomination of origin, and holds a master’s in Viticulture and Enology. Pairing here is not an add-on: it is analysing both products with the same method, and understanding why one match works and another fights.
For producers, hospitality and technical teams
Sensory-analysis programmes designed and delivered since 2021, and since 2024 on the ULPGC’s Diploma in Canarian Gastronomic Studies. Tasting methodology, attributes and defects, standardised vocabulary, panel tasting and product valorisation. Calibrated to the team’s level and to the product they work with.
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