Mont d'Or cheese, 100% Jura | Montagnes du Jura

Mont d'Or, one of the stars of the Jura cheeseboard, is the result of a longstanding tradition of cheesemaking on the mountain farms. Winter after winter, hot or cold, you never get tired of it. Under the double protection of an AOC and an AOP, it continues to be crafted in the traditional way in Upper Doubs, much to our endless delight. A mouthful of Mont d'Or brings you the very essence of Jura, the taste of milk from mountain pastures, vast spruce forests and wide open spaces... this is Jura on a plate!

As a point of interest

Craftsmanship first and foremost!

Sealed in its wooden box, a smooth, creamy and slightly runny Mont d’Or makes winter mealtimes a real delight.

Its story is closely linked to that of Comté, another of Jura's iconic cheeses. Indeed, when the cows' yield decreased in winter, the farmers didn't have enough milk to make the enormous wheels of Comté and had to find an alternative. They came up with a smaller cheese requiring less milk... and Mont d'Or was born!

Ever since, this 100% Jura product has continued to melt our hearts... Even Louis XV was mad about it!

AOP and AOC

A well-protected cheese

Also known as "Vacherin du Haut-Doubs", this cheese is now protected by an AOC and an AOP (protected designations of origin). It is the pride and joy of Jura's cheesemakers, whose craftsmanship ensures that the ancestral traditions are observed and perpetuated on the basis of some rather strict requirements.

This is a winter cheese and its production is allowed only between 15th August and 15th March!
Spruce, a typical local wood, plays an important part in its lifecycle: it matures on sprucewood boards, it is encircled by a strip of spruce bark that gives it a distinctive flavour, and it comes in a sprucewood box.
It can be made only with raw milk produced by cows of the Montbéliard and French Simmental breeds fed only on grass and hay!
It can be produced only in the Upper Doubs region

Quelques chiffres

10 Cheese dairies

400 Dairy farmers

1 hectare of grass per cow

5,500 tonnes of Mont d'Or sold per year

Traditional expertise still very much alive

Cheese ring makers of Jura

Found only in the forests of the Jura mountains, cheese ring makers are increasingly rare since their profession is threatened with extinction.

Their role is to cut the thin strips of bark from Jura's spruce trees to make the rings used for Mont d'Or cheese.

It is this sprucewood strip that gives Mont d'Or its very distinctive woody taste. A delicious ode to the magnificent forests of Jura.

So this craft is part of the gastronomy and of the very identity of the Jura Mountains.

Yet there are only about thirty people who still do this work, because more and more rings are imported from Eastern Europe.

Maud HUMBERT / Bourgogne-Franche-Comte Tourisme

France versus Switzerland

Not to be confused!

Mont d’Or cheese takes its name from a peak in the Jura mountain range, Mont d’Or, which stands on the border between France and Switzerland.

On either side of the border, in both France and Switzerland, they produce a cheese called "Vacherin". At first glance the cheeses are very similar but, make no mistake about it, they are two different products!

- On the Swiss side, a cheese named "Vacherin Mont-d'Or", or simply "Vacherin", is made from pasteurised milk and matured for 17 to 25 days.

- On the French side, "Mont d'Or", or "Vacherin du Haut-Doubs", is made with raw milk (which gives it a taste and creaminess to die for) and matured for 21 days.

A winter delight

A meal of boite chaude and togetherness

Mont d'Or is as creamy as it gets! It can be eaten straight out of the box with a spoon or spread on bread, but it's also delicious baked in its box and served with potatoes and charcuterie - this is the famous "boite chaude"! Share with friends or family for a delicious moment of togetherness!

Discover the recipe

Where to buy it?

Cheese dairies and shops

Treat yourself! Make the most of your stay to stock up on exceptional cheeses and even take a little piece of the Jura Mountains home with you. Our local cheese dairies and shops are your obvious suppliers and some of them even organise tours of their premises!