Queso Suizo Project: Alp Vals (Seewis)

If you caught my post on Monday, then you know we recently had the pleasure of participating in an Alpkäsedegustation, or Alpine cheese tasting, which involved voting for our top three choices. It was a "blind" competition, that is we had no idea what each cheese was called or from whence it came, so we voted using a number that was assigned to each cheese. Sixteen different alpine cheeses competed for the coveted "Expertenpreis" as well as a "Publikumpreis," which was essentially a people's choice award.

Although none of my top three made it in the expert category, my second choice (#5: Alp Vals from Seewis, host village of the Alp Spektakel) made it in the top three of the people's choice category. In fact, #5 appeared on Isaiah's top three list as well as our two friends' lists. Since this cheese was the only one Isaiah and I both agreed was top-three-worthy, that's the one we chose to take home with us.

Alp Vals cheese is creamy and buttery with a little kick to it. Although a bit funky-smelling, the odor isn't too strong and actually enhances the cheese's rich, distinguished flavor.

Bottomline: Scrumptious enough to please the both of us and make it on the people's choice list -- that's quite an accomplished cheese!