text: Learn About Gruyère Cheese and Similar Alpine-Styles | Wisconsin Cheese
  The greatness of gruyère cheese
  Gruyère is one truly great cheese. There are bigger, bolder, and sharper varieties to be sure. But where other heavy-hitting cheeses shout their presence from the rooftop, gruyère cheese is content to make its mark with nuance and complexity. When you savor a taste of gruyère cheese, you'll find a symphony of fruity tones, nutty notes, and earthy flavors in this VIP of the cheese world.
  In Wisconsin, we're such enormous fans of gruyère that we invented our own alpine-style variety using old-world techniques and traditional copper vats. And, with all due respect to the original, we'll put our alpine-style products up against gruyère cheese any day. That's how our cheesemakers roll – when they find something great, they'll work obsessively to make it even better.
  Come meet our alpine-style cheeses on our website, along with all the other Wisconsin masterpieces our cheesemakers have created. Find a recipe for a great au gratin or baked mac and cheese. Or scroll down for tips on pairing gruyère cheese or Wisconsin alpine-style cheese with food and beverages.
  Pairing alpine-style and gruyère cheese
  Gruyère and alpine-style cheese are classic melters, making them great for cheese fondue, quiches, soufflés, and even crock pot mac and cheese. On a wine and cheese board, you can pair your gruyère cheese or alpine-style cheese with whole-grain crusty bread, smoked meats and fish, pickled vegetables, and oil-cured mushrooms for a hearty meal.
  Gruyère cheese likes big, rustic drinks with a hint of sweetness. For beer, bocks, stouts, brown and amber ales or Belgian-style ales will show gruyère a good time. Fruit-forward wines like zinfandel, beaujolais, riesling, or grüner veltliner go down well with gruyère cheese. And if it's time for a higher proof pour, try madeira, Scotch, rye whiskey, or port.
  FAQs: What is gruyère cheese?
  A classic, traditional swiss cheese, gruyère is a semi-hard cheese made from cow's milk that was first made in the town of Gruyère, Switzerland. Gruyère cheese has a firm texture, a rich, slightly nutty taste, and a pale yellow color. Gruyère is riddled with cracks, though they're smaller than the "eyes" that are common to other swiss cheeses; they're the result of gas bubbles created by bacteria as the cheese is made. Gruyère melts beautifully – it's one of the two classic cheeses used in fondue – but it can also be sliced or grated easily.
  Alpine-style cheese is a cheese that's made in the fashion of classic mountain cheeses like gruyère, emmental, fontina, and comté, but is not produced in one of the alpine countries. Wisconsin cheesemakers make alpine-style cheese using the same old-world techniques, including copper vats.
  How is alpine-style or gruyère cheese made?
  Alpine-style or gruyère cheese is made with cow's milk that is coagulated with natural culture and rennet in large copper cauldrons to form a firm curd. The curd is cut and drained, then poured into molds, compressed for hours, and soaked in brine. Stored in wheels in an aging room, the cheese is hand-washed and rotated regularly to prevent unwanted bacterial growth. Gruyère is then aged 5 to 18 months.
  Why you'll go wild for alpine-style cheese from Wisconsin
  In a head-to-head matchup of Wisconsin vs. Switzerland, certain things are obvious. Switzerland has better mountains. Wisconsin, better beer. Switzerland has banks and trains that run on time. Wisconsin is home to Harleys and the best football culture on earth. And though Switzerland has amazing gruyère cheese, we'll take Wisconsin's alpine-style variety any day.
  Our alpine-style cheese is made with the same dedication and detail that has helped our cheesemakers win more awards than any other state or country - including cheesemakers in Switzerland. Sure, Switzerland has one of only two master cheesemaker programs in the world. You know what? Wisconsin has the other one.
  So, next time you're considering gruyère, give our alpine-style cheese a try. We're pretty sure that, in a head-to-head matchup, you'll find Wisconsin can hold its own with any cheese in the world.