1655 Le Cret Gruyere AOP

Wholesome flavors of toasted seeds and buttered toast with an umami finish; Dense and serious; The good-natured mountain king.

The Flavor Experience

You could run out of breath imagining sun-warmed meadows when you taste the toasted sesame and dryer-warm linen of this cheese. Your mind just won’t stop running! Gruyere AOP is the hallmark specimen of Gruyere, being both representative of the style and an outstanding example of how good it can be.

The Story

The village environment of Le Crêt, nestled at an elevation of 900 meters, stands as one of the highest production regions for the famed Gruyère cheese. Its luscious meadows benefit from an abundance of sunshine throughout the year and fertile grounds. These meadows, combined with exceptionally rich soil, yield the perfect grass for the cows that play a crucial role in crafting the exquisite Gruyere cheese.

Ripening of this exceptional cheese, is executed exlusively by Fromage Gruyère S.A. for over 12 months, enabling all its richest mineral and floral flavors to develop. Full-bodied and fruity, it has a firm a slightly crumbly texture. With an average score of over 19 points over 5 years at the monthly taxation, this Gruyère is nearly perfect. The excellence of these cheese is achieved sublimely by maturation, using a very rare mountain salt produced in the 500-year-old Salt Mines of Bex. It’s probably the best Gruyère you can have. Gruyère from Gruyère…

Fromage Gruyere S.A. is the smallest public Gruyere affineur and the only one in the canton of Fribourg, the birthplace of Gruyere, Fromage Gruyere SA was founded by the landowners of the Alpine pasture in 1916 and remains dedicated to intensive selection and aging of Gruyere in its ancestral homeland.

Usage Tips

Top this champion Gruyere with the sweet and caramelized Eat This Onion Cabernet Preserves for one of our favorite bites—French (well, Swiss) onion soup. To evoke a traditional Alpine snack, alternate bites of Gruyere AOP with apple schnitz, or melt it atop a ham sandwich with a daub of Edmond Fallot Dijon Mustard. Now the hills are alive.

Quick Facts

Country of Origin: Switzerland
Milk Type/Treatment: Raw Cow
Rennet Type: Animal