Mont d'Or Cheese: The Seasonal Wonder That Tantalizes Your Tastebuds

As if you didn’t have enough reason to take a trip our way over the cold season, we’ve got news for you. A cheese experience like none other exists in France during the off season. That’s right. Mont d’Or - otherwise known as Vacherin Haut-Doubs or Vacherin Mont d’Or - is a raw milk cheese available across the French countryside during a limited window in the autumn and winter seasons. The cheese gets its name from Mont d’Or, the 1461 meter mountain on the French/Swiss border. 

While cheese production has been largely streamlined and many varieties are available year-round because of access to warehouses and bigger packing facilities, Mont d’Or comes with a hyper-specific development process. This type of cheese is made with the milk of a winter cow, so the production begins long before you even get to experience the cheese. (As so many amazing cheeses must, while we get to enjoy their decadent flavor and scent profiles as though they appeared by magic.) There is an established rule by the Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée dictating that you cannot even begin the process of making the cheese until at least August 15th. Because of this - and the year-long fermentation process and maturation of at least three weeks - Mont d’Or is truly only available from September until the supply runs out, usually by January or February. 

Records of cheeses produced while enclosed in wood date back to the 13th century. Mont d’Or is washed in a salt mixture (sourced in the Franche-Comte salt mines) and ripens inside spruce bark (sourced in the Alps) for 15 days, creating an additional layer of wintertime frivolity to experience in the taste and scent. After the washing process, the cheese is inserted into a spruce box and aged for another 21 days or more. Using the milk of wintertime cows actually adds fat to the cheese itself, as their lactation wanes during this time of year. Because they are lactating less, there is less opportunity to make the cheese, which makes it a limited, yearly indulgence. 

You can enjoy Mont d’Or cold, as it has almost the consistency of a brie and its rind is edible. A crowd favorite is what we like to call “Big Melty”. To do this, punch holes in the wood carton the cheese comes in. Add garlic cloves and shallots through the holes, and insert sprigs of rosemary. Pour some white wine on it and throw it in the oven until it’s runny . When it comes out, you can dip gherkins, boiled small potatoes, veggies, breadsticks, and other fun snacks in it.  Our favorite is locally sourced sausage and crusty bread.

While there are close equivalents to Mont d’Or in the states, it is made from unpasteurized milks from traditional Montbéliarde ou French Simmental cows, so you cannot get it in the states. A very unique experience to the French countryside, you may just want to visit to get a taste. 

And that’s as good a reason as any. (We all love cheese!)