Definition: Vacherin

It is only produced from September to March, as it is a cheese that does not like the summer heat. Vacherin Mont d'Or is made in the Joux Valley and at the foot of the Vaud Jura using traditional methods where human touch still plays an important role. This cheese, imbued with the flavours of the forests and pastures, is enjoyed with hot potatoes or on bread. When autumn arrives, everyone looks forward to finding this speciality with its delicious woody flavour on their table.

Vacherin Mont-d'Or AOC is inseparable from its famous spruce strap that surrounds the cheese inside its box. This attribute, like the barrel that enriches the aromas of wine, brings a characteristic woody flavour. The straps are taken eight months a year from trees aged between 250 and 300 years old by strap collectors, also known as sangliers.

The origin of the strap stems primarily from the need to keep this soft cheese in shape. Artisan cheesemakers originally had the ingenious idea of encircling it using a raw material from the production region, which is now specified in the AOC specifications. The straps are harvested directly in the forest after the tree has been felled. The wild boar first removes the bark to reveal the bast, which is then harvested using a "spoon". The soft, supple strips are gathered into batches and hung in the dryer for 15 days to a month.

A few metres of bark: the needs of the Vacherin Mont-d'Or industry – 600,000 m/year. Daily production of a wild boar – 800 m.

The birthplace of Gruyère cheese, whose ancestral recipe dates back to the early Middle Ages, Gruyère is also famous for its cream and Vacherin Fribourgeois cheese. The region's flora includes many aromatic species that give the milk a distinctive flavour. The experience and expertise of the cheesemakers enable them to transform this milk into a creamy product, wrapped in a band of gauze or a spruce wood belt. A Vacherin Fribourgeois weighs between 5 and 9 kilos. It is matured for at least a month to allow it to develop its full aroma and a slight bitterness that is typical of this product. Vacherin Fribourgeois is mainly eaten in fondue, but it can also be enjoyed sliced.

Vacherin Fribourgeois Village is distinguished by its very distinctive character. Its fine, melt-in-the-mouth, subtly refined and fragrant texture gives Vacherin Fribourgeois a prominent place in cheese gastronomy. It is used in the preparation of fondue moitié-moitié, together with Gruyère. These original cheeses are an exquisite accompaniment to our local white wines.