Cave Aged Emmental, Have I Mentioned Age Matters?

Well it does, and today we are so fortunate as to have another example of why. 

Emmental, also Emmentaler or Emmenthaler, is the cheese everyone thinks of when they 

1) imagine Swiss cheese

2) imagine any cartoon-stylized cheese at all.

Some dork ruined my shot

Full of holes and looking almost as yellow as it does in the cartoons, Emmental is a cheese both reliable and versatile, and here we see how age comes into play. The gargantuan wheels are rolled down (or maybe carried down, but what kind of image is that?) from the mountains where a good deal go straight to the plates of the people, young, fresh, fully of sweet and fruity notes and of course that tart high mountain nuttiness. This is a perfectly acceptable cheese and the good people of Germany, Austria, and Switzerland go wild for it. Go to any big Volksfest and you'll see wheels and wheels of the stuff on display to be eaten with fresh baked pretzels and washed down with a liter of beer. Or apple juice, though that'll cost you extra. 

Though they buy this cheese by the 100s of grams with every pretzel they are fully aware that it's not the most flavor-packed cheese, and so they will typically add (I'd estimate) about 10g of salt for every 100g of cheese, just right on top. Seasoning cheese is not my preferred method of consumption so I'll usually brush most of it off, but though you can ask for it not to be salted the result of that would be almost worse; an overly mild cheese. 

Now, Emmental of any age is as honest and worthy a cheese as comes from the Alps, and the beer and pretzels may have something to do with the flavor getting lost, but no one would claim that young Emmental is a party cheese, a display cheese, even a table cheese. You either slice it up and give it to hard-partying Bavarians with salted pretzels and more salt or you ship it abroad so it can be sliced up and put in sandwiches. 

However. 

Today's review is titled "Cave Aged Emmental", and so let's get on to that. As the name so eloquently puts it, this variety has been aged. In caves. Whelp! Let's have a picture!

Origin: Bern, Switzerland

Milk: Cow, unpasteurized

Rennet: Animal

Affinage: I'd estimate around the 1 year mark

Notes: There is some confusion over the name Emmental, understandable given its different spellings, pronunciations, and also that the French make their own variety. This one is name controlled within Switzerland, so we'll see who's left after the great cheese naming war to come.

Thoughts: The first flavors to hit the palate are very grassy and light, and as the taste develops there is a hint of meatiness. The whole experience, though complex with definite fruity and nutty notes, remains very light-handed and never really gives the punch of the typical aged cheese, especially made from raw milk. The raw characteristics are definitely there, showcased mostly towards the end of the taste, and the texture, while good, borders on grainy towards the end with a mild creaminess. A grassy-neutral aftertaste finishes things up, and while the aging process here didn't give the sharpness that one might seek in an aged cheddar it did give it a more grounded and fully formed, if reserved, flavor.


Caution
Dorkers going to dork.