Description
This Gruyère AOP Classic is the youngest of our Gruyères on offer. But rest assured, it still comes with all the Gruyère AOP characteristics: raw milk, quality and terroir. This Gruyère is brilliant for everyday eating or for cooking.
Quality raw milk
The cows giving milk destined to the production of Le Gruyère AOP feed exclusively on natural silage-free fodder without any additives. They are fed fresh grass in the summer and hay in the winter.
At the dairy
In copper vats, the milk from the morning’s milking is added to that from the previous evening’s milking. The cheese maker adds the lactic acid bacteria that will mature the milk and rennet that will cause the milk to coagulate. Since the milk isn’t heated before coagulating, it retains all its aromas – a unique characteristic of raw milk cheese.
Maturation in the cheese cellar
After three months of storage in the cheese maker’s cellar, the wheels are transported to an ripening cellar. There they complete their slow maturation 6 months at a temperature of 15°C and humidity of 90%. During this phase, the cheese wheels are regularly turned and rubbed with a salt water solution.
For more details head to www.gruyere.com
How we wrap your cheese
Freshness of your cheese is important to us. That’s why – unless noted differently in the description – we package all of our cheese in vacuum bags to help minimize travel impacts. However, we understand that some of you prefer cheese being wrapped in cheese wrap. This option is available to you for a small fee (it takes more time to package the cheese this way, that’s why we charge you a little bit more). Unless specifically noted in the description, all cheese will generally have a best before date of at least 14 days, vacuum packed cheese generally about 2 months. Please note that with cheese this is often only a guidance date and does not necessarily mean the cheese will be of lesser quality beyond that date. In fact many soft(er) cheeses are best kept close to or until after that date for maximum ripeness.
How the cheese gets to you
All Alpine Express cheese are shipped in environmentally friendlier, insulated cardboard boxes. The cheese is bolstered with recycled packing paper & kept cold with food grade ice gel pack(s). It is shipped the fastest possible service, usually Australia Post Express. See Australia Post’s Express Delivery Estimator (origin is ‘Brisbane Metro’). From time to time we may choose a different shipping provider depending on speed of service, costs and other factors.
Unless noted otherwise, all cheese boxes are sent on Mondays with an order cut-off time at 8pm (Sydney time) that day before. You will receive a tracking number to follow your parcel’s progress.
Do you have any other questions? Check our FAQs for additional information or write to us via our contact form.
Rowena Naufal Alpage VIP (verified owner) –
Lovely gruyere flavour. Mild and interesting.