L'Etivaz: 24,000 wheels of cheese

After a fun (and exhausting!) morning of cross-country skiing, we headed to Le Maison de L'Etivaz, an authentic alpine cheese house. Although I've toured cheese houses before, I sort of fell in love with L'Etivaz.

Unlike Gruyere, which can sometimes be a bit touristy, L'Etivaz was very low key. We were given a private tour by a lady who had spent her entire life in the valley, working with and depending on the wonderful cheese. She emphasized that L'Etivaz cheese was very family-oriented, with each family working together through the alpine summer to produce their own, slightly unique version of the fantastic cheese.

Every May, around 160 families move themselves and their cows from the valleys surrounding to the town of Leysin to alpine chalets in the mountains high above.  Although the early summer mountains are beautiful, the chalets are without electricity or running water, and can experience snowstorms even in the middle of July.

Each morning, the family wakes at dawn to retrieve the cow's milk, an begins the process of transforming the milk into cheese. The process is time-consuming and difficult, and all members of a family take on a role. Although some larger families produce more, on average, each family produces about four wheels of cheese per day. Once a week, these wheels are taken down to the village below where they are soaked in salty brine and stored in cellars for anywhere from a few months to several years.

One of the things that impressed me the most about the cheesemaking was the care each family took in where the cows grazed. As different varieties of wildflowers bloomed, the family would direct their cows into different pasteurs, always monitoring the soil, flora, and quality of light. Our tour guide told us that it was often possible to tell, simply by smelling and tasting a cheese, whether the cows whose milk it came from grazed on the north side or south side of a mountain. Although my palate isn't quite that refined, it was still very impressive and made us all appreciate what an art cheesemaking really is.

so many cowbells! 

the cheese cellar contains 24,000 wheels of cheese, each weighing
between 15 and 30 kg.

this machine removes a cheese wheel from the shelf, dips it into the salty
brine, and then places in back onto the shelf. pretty nifty!

the careful salt treatments are what allow cheese to
develop its distinctive and protective rind. 

the stamped numbers indicate the date that the cheese was made. the
seal indicates the family which made it. 

in the attic, several smaller cheese wheels are stored for up to seven years.
as they dry, they achieve a parmesan-like texture.  

amy and me!

the best part of the tour? cheese tasting! our tasting platter allowed us to
sample cheese at different stages in the ages process- it was very
interesting and very, very delicious!