It might be St Valentine’s Day in many places around the world but for us in Pangbourne it is Gruyère Day! We are welcoming the wonderful Trish from Le Gruyère AOP into the shop to do some cheese tasting. If you are out and about in Pangbourne pop in and have a chat with Trish whilst tasting some exquisite cheese!

Le Gruyère itself is protected by a Swiss AOP. This means it has to be made within certain areas of the Swiss Alps surrounding the village of Gruyère.  It is produced using milk from cattle which have grazed on the finest pastures or naturally dried hay. The milk must be unpasteurised and come from farms within 20km of the dairy. It takes 400 litres of milk to make just one 35kg wheel of Le Gruyère cheese!

But back to the wider world away from Pangbourne…

Saint Valentine is one of those characters whose story is a bit of a muddle, with plenty of romance thrown in for good measure. As you might expect from someone living in the third century, the details are a bit foggy, but the gist is that he was around during the reign of Emperor Claudius II in the Roman Empire. Apparently, Claudius decided that young men made better soldiers if they weren’t married, so he put a stop to weddings for them. Valentine, who was either a priest or a bishop (depending on which story you hear), thought this was rather unfair and carried on marrying couples in secret. Unsurprisingly, he was eventually caught and, sadly, executed for his troubles around 269 AD.

Over the years, Valentine’s story has grown into something much bigger, and he’s now the go-to symbol for love and devotion. One of my favourite bits is the tale where, while in prison, he befriended his jailer’s daughter and even restored her sight. Just before he was executed, he supposedly wrote her a note signed ‘From your Valentine’, a phrase that’s still popping up in cards and messages every February.

Why do we celebrate Valentine’s Day on 14 February? It might have something to do with the old Roman festival of Lupercalia, held in mid-February to welcome spring. Later, in medieval England and France, people began associating this date with romance, apparently because they believed it was when birds began to pair up and nest. I quite like the idea that the start of spring and the promise of new beginnings got mixed up with love.

These days, Valentine’s Day is marked all over the world, with cards, flowers, chocolates and (of course) cheese, swapped between loved ones, friends and family. Even though the real details of Saint Valentine’s life are a bit lost in the mists of time, his story is still a lovely reminder of love, kindness and a bit of bravery thrown in for good measure.

On a slightly different note…

We’ve got 4 tickets available for our cheese & wine tasting on the 20th February – click here to find out more!