{"title":"Swiss Cheese","description":"\u003cp\u003eSwiss cheese, the category, has almost nothing to do with the sandwich slices that borrowed the name. This is alpine cheesemaking: big mountain wheels washed and aged until they taste like brown butter and broth.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eChallerhocker — the name means “sitting in the cellar” — is cheesemaker Walter Rass’s richer, denser take on the Appenzeller style, and one of the cheeses our counter reaches for most. Appenzeller itself comes in Silver and extra-aged Black Label, washed in an herbal brine the producers famously keep secret. There’s cave-aged Gruyère AOP from Fribourg — months in humid caves, the rind washed until the paste goes brothy and crystalline — Tête de Moine from the Jura, shaved into rosettes on a girolle so the aroma opens up, true Emmentaler (yes, the holes), and Raclette from the Valais that exists to be melted over potatoes.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIf fondue is the plan, ask us. The right blend is usually two or three of these, and we’ll talk you through it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCut fresh in Beverly Hills and shipped cold to 48 states.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"appenzeller-black-label-extra-aged","title":"Appenzeller - Black Label (Extra Aged)","description":"\u003cp\u003eExtra Aged Appenzeller, Black Label, comes from the Appenzellerland region of northeast Switzerland, where about 75 dairies have been making this cheese with their own secret brine recipes for at least 700 years. Black Label is the longest-aged tier of the three, sitting above the Silver (Classic) and Gold (Surchoix) labels.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt's a thermized cow's milk Alpine, semi-hard to hard depending on how it sits with you, with a firm body, a slightly crumbly edge, and tiny \"eyes\" scattered through a straw-colored paste. The character of this cheese is the herbal brine wash that gets brushed on the wheels throughout aging, sometimes carrying a little wine or cider in the recipe. That brine builds the golden rind and pulls a real piquancy into the paste. Aged six months or more, the Black Label leans deeply nutty and aromatic, with a tangy bite up front and a finish that hangs on with hay, herbs, and a whisper of sharpness.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eShave it over warm potatoes and it does the same thing in a hot dish, that herbal sharpness coming right through.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gourmet Foods International","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45682867601577,"sku":"10001060","price":45.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0667\/6027\/8185\/files\/https_cdn.shopify.comsfiles1066760278185filescomingsoon_4304e527-7319-4c38-9db7-45c2869328c1.png_v_1736254329.jpg?v=1755183065"},{"product_id":"appenzeller-silver-label-classic","title":"Appenzeller - Silver Label (Classic)","description":"\u003cp\u003eAppenzeller comes out of the Appenzellerland in northeastern Switzerland, where dairies have been making cheese under this name for at least 700 years. The Silver Label is the youngest of the three official tiers, aged three to four months and the most approachable of the family.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe paste is a clean straw color, semi-hard but supple, dotted with tiny \"eyes\" and slicing cleanly off the wheel. Each dairy guards its own herbal brine recipe, often built around wine or cider and a private blend of local herbs, brushed onto the wheels during curing to build the golden rind. That wash drives the flavor: a nutty, lightly fruity Alpine base with a brine-washed savory lift and a gentle peppery tickle on the back of the palate. The Surchoix (gold) and Extra (black) labels push that spice further with longer aging; the Silver keeps it polite.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt's a melting cheese as much as a board cheese, classic for fondue and gratins, and the Silver Label took a spot among the top 20 cheeses at the 2024 World Championship Cheese Contest.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"World's Best Cheese West","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45682869960873,"sku":"10001061","price":35.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0667\/6027\/8185\/files\/https_cdn.shopify.comsfiles1066760278185filescomingsoon_4304e527-7319-4c38-9db7-45c2869328c1.png_v_17362543292.jpg?v=1755182846"},{"product_id":"emmentaler","title":"Emmenthaler","description":"\u003cp\u003eEmmentaler comes from the Emmental valley in Switzerland, the original 'Swiss cheese' and the one every other holey cheese is trying to be. Made from raw cow's milk and aged on its natural rind, this is the real Alpine recipe, not the deli-counter imitation.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe paste is pale yellow, semi-hard, and dotted with those big round 'eyes' that come from propionic fermentation during aging. It cuts cleanly, with a buttery give that turns smooth on the tongue. The flavor leads with hazelnut and toasted almond, sits on a soft brown-butter sweetness, and finishes with a quiet pull of meadow grass and fresh cream. Mild, yes, but mild the way good Alpine cheese is mild, with layers underneath if you slow down for them.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis is the cheese to reach for when you want something everyone at the table will eat and the cheese person will still respect. Melts beautifully, slices clean for a sandwich, and shines on a board with a little honey and a glass of Riesling.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Peacock","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45673225781417,"sku":"10001175","price":30.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0667\/6027\/8185\/files\/cheese-emmenthaler.jpg?v=1744804099"},{"product_id":"gruyere","title":"Young Gruyere","description":"\u003cp\u003eYoung Gruyère is a raw cow's milk Alpine cheese from the town of Gruyères in the Fribourg canton of Switzerland, a recipe that has been made in the same valleys since the 12th century. It carries the AOP designation, which pins the milk, the make, and the cave to that one region.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe paste is firm and dense, a pale straw color that still holds plenty of moisture at this stage. You see it in the way the cheese curls under the shaver instead of cracking, the sign of a fresh wheel that hasn't dried out. On the palate it leads with gentle hazelnut and a soft brown-butter sweetness, with a fresh-cream note still hanging on from the youth of the wheel. There's a quiet pasture pull underneath but none of the sharp savory bite a longer-aged Gruyère develops, and no crystal crunch yet.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis is the friendly end of the Gruyère spectrum, the wheel you reach for when you want the recipe in its sweeter, more approachable form. It melts beautifully, which is why it's been the backbone of fondue and gratin kitchens for centuries, and it eats just as well shaved off the block at room temperature.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"World's Best Cheese West","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45673225879721,"sku":"10001215","price":36.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0667\/6027\/8185\/files\/cheese-swiss-young-gruyere.jpg?v=1744804100"},{"product_id":"swiss-raclette","title":"Swiss Raclette","description":"\u003cp\u003eFrom the Canton of Valais in Switzerland, this is a young cow's milk alpine built for one thing above all: melting. Higher in fat than most of its alpine cousins, which is exactly what gives it that glossy, spoonable pool when it hits heat.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe paste is semi-soft and supple, a pale straw color under a washed orange-tinged rind. Eaten cold off the knife it's buttery and savory with a light tang, a soft mushroomy note off the rind, and a gentle toasted-hazelnut pull through the middle. Put it under a broiler or over a raclette grill and the whole thing changes character: the fat releases, the milk sweetens, and the savory side deepens into something earthy and warm.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eScrape it over boiled potatoes, melt it onto roast vegetables, or thin-slice it onto a sandwich. It's a communal cheese, the kind you pull out when people are standing around the kitchen waiting for the next portion to bubble.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Peacock Cheese","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45673226993833,"sku":"10001332","price":35.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0667\/6027\/8185\/files\/cheese-swiss-raclette.jpg?v=1744804125"},{"product_id":"vacherin-fribourgeois","title":"Vacherin Fribourgeois","description":"\u003cp\u003eVacherin Fribourgeois is a raw cow's milk Alpine cheese from the canton of Fribourg in Switzerland, brushed and washed through aging until the rind turns tacky and pungent. It is one of the foundational cheeses of Swiss fondue, going back nearly a thousand years.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe paste is semi-soft and supple, deep cream in color, dotted with the occasional small \"eyes\" and breaking into soft slabs under the knife. This is not a quiet cheese. The washed rind drives a strong, aromatic character, cellar and roasted onion off the nose, that carries straight into the paste. On the palate it leads with a robust savory pull, toasted hazelnut and brown butter through the middle, and a meaty, faintly funky depth from the rind that holds long past the swallow.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt melts beautifully, which is why it anchors a moitié-moitié fondue and sits at the center of so many Swiss melted-cheese dishes, but it earns its spot on a board on its own. A real mountain cheese, made the old way, by only a handful of producers left.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Fromi USA","offers":[{"title":"Default","offer_id":45673228894377,"sku":"12348","price":50.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0667\/6027\/8185\/files\/vacherin_fribourgeois.jpg?v=1744804136"},{"product_id":"tete-de-moine-lbs","title":"Tete de Moine","description":"\u003cp\u003eTête de Moine is a raw cow's milk cheese from the Bernese Jura in Switzerland, made in small cylindrical wheels and aged on spruce boards under a brushed, brine-washed rind. The name translates literally to \"monk's head,\" a nod to both the Bellelay monastery where it was first made in the 12th century and to the way the wheel is served. You don't cut Tête de Moine. You shave it on a girolle, the little hand-cranked blade that turns the paste into thin ruffled rosettes.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe paste is dense and straw-yellow, semi-hard but supple, never dry. Shaved thin and aerated by the girolle, it opens up into something much bigger than the small wheel suggests, buttery and fruity on the front of the palate, with a toasted hazelnut and brown butter middle that comes from the raw milk and the time on spruce. Underneath that sits a gentle washed-rind savoriness. The finish carries well past the swallow.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis is an AOP cheese, protected to the Jura region, and the girolle ritual is half the point. The rosettes melt on the tongue in a way a slice of the same cheese never would. Around the holidays a wheel of Tête de Moine on the table with the girolle next to it does a lot of the work for you.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Peacock Cheese","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45673230139561,"sku":"10001379","price":50.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0667\/6027\/8185\/files\/https_cdn.shopify.comsfiles1066760278185filescomingsoon_e881a4f2-1851-48ca-978f-55fb81c02341_1_.png_v_1736263601.jpg?v=1755797535"},{"product_id":"challerhocker-lbs","title":"Challerhocker","description":"\u003cp\u003eChallerhocker is a thermized cow's milk Swiss Alpine from eastern Switzerland, aged at least 10 to 12 months and washed in brine and a proprietary spice blend as it ages in the cellar. It sits in the same family as Gruyère and Comté, but pushed a step further.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe paste is dense and smooth with the satiny pull of a properly aged Alpine. It breaks in clean slabs under the knife. Flavor is the whole reason to buy this one: brown butter and toasted hazelnut up front, then roasted onion and caramel through the middle, with a savory finish that lingers on the palate. The brine and spice wash is doing real work here, building that depth and complexity.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIf you already love Gruyère and Comté and you want to see what the next gear looks like, this is it. It's made in very limited production. And yes, this is the cheese from Curb Your Enthusiasm, also known as \"Vonderdonk\"!\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gourmet Foods International","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45834800169129,"sku":"10001125","price":50.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0667\/6027\/8185\/files\/cheese-challerhocker.jpg?v=1744804727"},{"product_id":"old-witch-13lb","title":"Old Witch","description":"\u003cp\u003eOld Witch is a thermized cow's milk Swiss Alpine from the Toggenburg valley, aged 10 to 12 months and washed during affinage in brine and a proprietary spice mix. The paste is dense and smooth, breaking into clean slabs under the knife with the fine granular pull you get from a properly aged Alpine.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOn the palate it leads with brown butter and toasted hazelnut, then opens up into roasted onion and a deep savory pull through the middle, and finishes long with a quiet caramel sweetness underneath. The brine-and-spice wash is doing real work here, layering that roasted-onion note right into the paste so the cheese reads bigger and more savory than its size would suggest.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Peacock Cheese","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45833200173225,"sku":"11671","price":38.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0667\/6027\/8185\/files\/cheese-old-witch.jpg?v=1744804767"},{"product_id":"swiss-gruyere-cave-aged","title":"Swiss AOP Gruyere Cave Aged","description":"\u003cp\u003eCave-aged Gruyère AOP from Switzerland, aged in natural caves where the cool, humid air slowly draws out a deeper version of what makes Gruyère great in the first place.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe paste is firm and dense, pale straw in color, and breaks into clean slabs under the knife with small crystalline pockets scattered through. On the palate it leads with toasted hazelnut and brown butter and finishes long with a quiet sweetness underneath. The extra time in the cave is what you taste, more concentration, more savory pull, a little more crunch from the crystals as the paste tightens.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis is the version of Gruyère for someone who already knows the style and wants the aged-up tier, where the nuttiness deepens and the finish stretches out well past the swallow.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gourmet Imports","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45833136177321,"sku":"10001216","price":42.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0667\/6027\/8185\/files\/cheese-swiss-gruyere-cave-aged.jpg?v=1744804787"},{"product_id":"red-witch-rote-hexe-lbs","title":"Red Witch (Rote Hexe)","description":"\u003cp\u003eRed Witch, or Rote Hexe, is a raw cow's milk Swiss semi-hard cheese, easy to spot by the paprika-rubbed rind that gives the wheel its deep red color and its name. Aged for about five months, this is a properly Alpine recipe with a washed-rind twist that pushes it well past the usual semi-hard territory.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe paste is firm and dense, breaks in clean slabs under the knife, and still keeps a buttery, creamy feel on the tongue. On the palate it leads with brown butter and toasted hazelnut, the kind of nutty Alpine pull you'd expect from a five-month wheel, then opens up into a slightly funky, pungent finish coming off the paprika rind. There's a gentle warmth on the back end, more rub than heat, that lingers and pulls you back for another slice.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis one sits in a class of its own among Swiss semi-hards. It's a serious snacking cheese with real character, the kind of wheel that disappears fast once it's on the counter.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Peacock Cheese","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45986041233577,"sku":"10001340","price":35.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0667\/6027\/8185\/files\/RedWitch.jpg?v=1763330401"},{"product_id":"appenzeller-black-label-extra-aged-1","title":"Appenzeller - Black Label (Extra Aged)","description":"\u003cp\u003eThis is a semi-hard cow's milk cheese aged in the caves for a minimum of six months, earning it the Black Label. The paste is straw-colored and dense, dotted with small \"eyes\", and breaks into clean slabs under the knife. The flavor is nutty through the middle with a real piquant tingle on the back of the palate, the herbal-brine signature lifted by the extra time in the cellar. The rind is golden-orange, washed, and aromatic right up to the edge of the paste.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIf you already love a long-aged Alpine, the Black Label is where Appenzeller starts to flex. The brine wash gives it a unique character, and at this age the herbs, the salt, and the toasted-hazelnut depth all sit in balance.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gourmet Foods International","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46497883324585,"sku":"10001060","price":45.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0667\/6027\/8185\/files\/AgedAppenzeller.jpg?v=1763001944"}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0667\/6027\/8185\/collections\/collection-switzerland-country-only.png?v=1781109127","url":"https:\/\/cheesestore.com\/collections\/swiss-cheese.oembed","provider":"The Cheese Store of Beverly Hills | Domenico's Foods","version":"1.0","type":"link"}