Cheese of the week: Grand Cru Gruyere  

This week's cheese is the Grand Cru Gruyere from Roth Käse that I mentioned the other day; I actually had a chance to try both the regular offering and the Surchoix, their top label. I don't feel entirely comfortable comparing the two, since I ate them at different times and acquired them in different places. But it's easy enough to say that they were very similar; if anything the Surchoix may not have been quite as strong as the regular Grand Cru. I recommend them both happily, and I will seek them out again myself, both to eat and to turn into quiche. They were at least as good as any Swiss Gruyere I've had occasion to eat (although to be fair I've never looked much further than my local Dominick's).

An aside: if you're planning to eat these cheeses by themselves (or with a bit of wine), I think it's worth letting them warm up to near room temperature first, because they get more flavorful. This is probably good advice for cheese in general, but I think it's especially true for this Grand Cru Gruyere.