Le Gruyère AOC renews European curling sponsorship

The Scottish Curler team has become rather partial to Le Gruyère cheese (for evidence see below). So we were more than pleased to learn today that the World Curling Federation has announced that Le Gruyère AOC has renewed its title sponsorship of the European Curling Championships. The two-year agreement confirms that the 2007 and 2008 events will continue as the Le Gruyère European Curling Championships.

"We are delighted to have Le Gruyère AOC continue its strong partnership with the world's fastest-growing winter sport," said WCF President Les Harrison. "The Le Gruyère European Championships are a highlight of Europe's sporting calendar."

"This is a great day for curling," said Malcolm Richardson, President of the European Curling Federation (ECF). "We have seen the men's and women's Le Gruyère European Championships grow with astonishing speed, with upwards of 30 countries participating in what is now two pools of competition. The partnership of Le Gruyère and this critical championship also grows in strength each year, and we are most pleased with this announcement."

The 2007 Le Gruyère European Championships take place from December 1-8 in Füssen, Germany, with the 2008 event scheduled for December 6-13 in Örnsköldsvik, Sweden.

The 2009 championships are scheduled for Aberdeen. The title sponsorship then has not been announced, today's news only covering the next two championships.

Andy Kapp, 2007 silver medallist at last March's Ford World Curling Championship in Edmonton, will serve double-duty in Füssen. Kapp is the vice-chair of the organizing committee and will also represent Germany on the ice during the men's side of the Championship.

"We are pleased to renew our association with this great sport and these great Championships," said Pierre Dubois, President of Le Gruyère AOC. "As curling athletes strive for Olympic and World Championship success it is our pleasure to support their efforts, and accompany them on their road to victory."

Le Gruyère AOC is a hard cheese produced in the Western part of Switzerland, with a characteristic taste obtained from the best quality of "not pasteurized" milk, coming straight from cows fed on grass. Depending on the age of the cheese (maturation of five to 18 months) it has more or less character. Le Gruyère AOC has won numerous global awards for its product including World Champion of "all Categories" at the World Cheese Awards in London in 1992, 2002, 2005 and most recently in March of 2007. The website is here.

Photo of John Brown at Basel in 2006 is by Alan Stanfield. Could this be the first caption competition to run on Curling Today?