I once said if a doctor ever tells me I must give up cheese or it will take years off my life, my immediate response would be, “How many years are we talking?”
Cheese is on the same playing field as butter in my world — two things that make life worth living. I’ll eat cheap cheese in a pinch, but I’m a bit of a cheese snob and prefer a gourmet cheese that makes me want to chew slowly with my eyes closed to enjoy every layer of flavor.
Tasting cheese is similar to wine or bourbon tasting. Each one is different, and many kinds of cheese have layers and subtleties that can’t be hurried.
I recently enjoyed two exquisite cheeses from Le Gruyére AOP: a 5-month Gruyere and a 12-month Reserve. Le Gruyére AOP is a raw cow’s milk cheese hand-crafted by skilled makers since the 1100s and continues today in the Gruyères region of Switzerland. Many age-old techniques are still used in producing Le Gruyére AOP cheese. Simplicity mixed with the highest quality ingredients yields the finest results.
AOP stands for Appellation d’Origine Protégée in French. In English, the term is Protected Designation of Origin (PDO). To be awarded the ability to wear AOP on a label, a product must be produced, processed, and refined only in its place of origin.
I was excited and honored to receive this beautiful gourmet cheese from Switzerland. I let them both sit out for an hour since cheese is best eaten at room temperature. I immediately thought of my Mother since she appreciates fine cheese, too, and brought them to her place to share.
Here’s what we found:
The 5-month has a wonderfully soft texture and is sweet on the palate with a slight nuttiness. It was the best Gruyére I have ever tasted, and I have tasted many. It was fabulous on its own, but I am anxious to turn my next Le Gruyére AOP into a delectable fondue.
The 12-month Reserve has more of a grainy, crumbly texture, which I would expect from an aged Gruyere. The taste is still nutty but with more of an earthiness to it. My Mom prefers this one, and I was not surprised since she usually prefers earthy flavors more than I do.
I plan on ordering the 5-month to enjoy as a fondue and a block of the 12-month Reserve so Mom can enjoy it with a glass of wine.
The flavor of the Le Gruyére is perfect; however, it’s more than the flavor I love and appreciate. The production methods are highly respectable. Here are a few of the highlights of how Le Gruyére is produced:
- High-quality cow’s milk from cows that are only fed grass in the summer and hay in the winter. There are no additives in their diets.
- Using raw milk prevents the milk from being heated before the vat curdling process. This creates a cheese with a better aroma.
- After the vat, curdling, cutting, molding, and marking, the cheese is stored in a cellar for three months.
- Finally, after three months, the cheese moves to the caves d’affinage (maturing caves), where it matures for 5 to 18 months.
You don’t have to travel to Switzerland to enjoy gourmet cheese. Le Gruyere AOP is on the shelves at Costco, Trader Joe’s and other stores.
