Mont d'Or Cheese: The Spruce-Banded Winter Cheese from the Haut-Doubs

It is also sold as Vacherin du Haut-Doubs, it carries an AOP, and it is made only from August 15 to March 15.

Its character comes from the wood as much as the milk. The paste is white and creamy, the rind is washed and slightly flowery, and the taste is mushrooms and cream lifted by a touch of spruce. The Swiss cheese called Vacherin Mont-d'Or is a close cousin with different rules; that comparison sorts out the names.

Mont d'Or cheese at a glance

This table gives Mont d'Or cheese at a glance, based on the French quality institute's product sheet and the AOP specification.

What Mont d'Or cheese is

Mont d'Or cheese is named for the highest point of the Haut-Doubs, a 1,461 meter (4,793 foot) summit on the Swiss border, and the INAO says the milk comes from mountain meadows above 700 meters on its slopes and the Jura plateaus. The old nickname was fromage de boëte, the "box cheese," which tells you where the cheese puts its identity.

The AOP specification describes a soft, uncooked, lightly pressed cheese with an ivory-white, lightly salted paste and a pleated washed rind that runs from pale yellow to pinkish brown. Its aroma mixes spruce, straw, mushroom and something animal; the taste is cream or butter with spruce and mushroom. It must hold at least 45 grams of fat per 100 grams of dry cheese, and the specification forbids silage on the farms that supply the milk.

Farmers and monks have made cheese in this plateau country for centuries. The official dossier dates the cheese in the region to the 12th century, when the abbeys of Saint-Claude and Montbenoît cleared the high pastures, and says village dairies, the fruitières, grew up from the 14th century.

The spruce band and the box

The spruce band on Mont d'Or cheese goes around the cheese as soon as it is made, and the cheese then ripens in a round spruce box. The AOP rules treat band and box as part of the appellation, not packaging.

Two jobs follow. The band holds a cheese too soft to stand on its own, and it seasons the rind with resin and wood. The box is cut slightly smaller than the cheese, so the top ripples into the wrinkled surface you see on a ripe round. The people who collect the bark in the forest are called sangliers. The band is not food; peel it away and leave it as a wall while you spoon.

The Mont d'Or cheese season

The Mont d'Or cheese season runs on two clocks: production from August 15 to March 15 and sale from September 10 to May 10. The gap between them is the ripening time, which means the first boxes reach shops in September, the last in spring, and nothing comes out of the Haut-Doubs in summer.

The season follows the herd. Cows are in the barn for the winter, producing less milk that is richer in fat, which suits a small, moist cheese. The calendar also gives a buyer an edge: a box bought in October or November is usually freshly ripe, while one still on a shelf in May has been waiting.

How to eat and bake Mont d'Or cheese

Eat Mont d'Or cheese one of two ways: at room temperature with a spoon, or baked in its own box. For the spoon, leave the box out for an hour, cut away the top rind if you like, and scoop the creamy center onto bread.

To bake it, unwrap the cheese, keep it in its box, poke holes in the top, add slivers of garlic and a splash of dry white wine, then bake at 375°F (190°C) for 15 to 25 minutes until the center is molten. The full steps are in the vacherin comparison. Serve with boiled potatoes, crusty bread, cornichons and cured ham.

Mont d'Or goes well with white wines of the Jura, including the nutty vin jaune, and with crisp white wines and light reds.

Mont d'Or cheese in the US

Mont d'Or cheese is hard to find in the US at its usual age, because it is a raw-milk cheese ripened for a short time, and the FDA's 60-day aging rule for raw-milk cheese blocks most young ones. The raw-milk cheese guide explains the rule, and the same comparison covers how the Swiss twin fares.

Check the label for "Mont d'Or" or "Vacherin du Haut-Doubs" and the AOP seal (PDO and PGI labels explained). Pregnant shoppers should skip raw-milk soft cheese; the FDA and CDC give guidance.

Mont d'Or cheese substitutes

Mont d'Or cheese substitutes are other soft cheeses that can be spooned or baked in their own boxes. The easiest stand-in is a ripe Camembert in a wooden box, baked the same way as Brie. For a stronger, washed-rind option, try Époisses, and Reblochon gives a similar creamy, savory bite. The Swiss Vacherin Mont-d'Or is the nearest relative.

Cheeses with no box, such as Brie, work if you wrap them in a small ovenproof dish, though they lack the spruce.

Mont d'Or cheese mistakes that cost you flavor

Most Mont d'Or cheese mistakes involve the box and the oven.

Baking Mont d'Or cheese without protecting the box

Baking Mont d'Or cheese without foil around the box can scorch the wood. Wrap the box in foil and leave the top open.

Serving Mont d'Or cheese cold

Serving Mont d'Or cheese cold hides the spruce. Give it an hour out of the fridge, or bake it.

Eating the band

Eating the band is a mistake because it is bark, not food. Peel it before eating.

Questions about Mont d'Or cheese

These are the questions about Mont d'Or cheese that come up most.

Why is Mont d'Or cheese only available in winter?

Mont d'Or cheese is made only from August 15 to March 15 and sold from September 10 to May 10, according to the AOP specification.

Why is Mont d'Or cheese wrapped in spruce?

Mont d'Or cheese is wrapped in spruce because the band holds the soft cheese together and adds a woody, resinous note; the band and box are part of the AOP.

Is Mont d'Or the same as Vacherin du Haut-Doubs?

Mont d'Or is the same cheese as Vacherin du Haut-Doubs, since the AOP covers both names.

Is Mont d'Or cheese made from raw milk?

Mont d'Or cheese is made from raw whole cow's milk, according to the specification, unlike the Swiss version, which is not required to be raw.

Can you eat the rind of Mont d'Or cheese?

You can eat the rind of Mont d'Or cheese; it is a washed rind with a mild, slightly funky taste. Leave the spruce band.

Your first Mont d'Or cheese

For your first Mont d'Or cheese, buy a small box in autumn, bake it with garlic and white wine, and eat it with potatoes, bread and cornichons. Next time, spoon one cold to taste the spruce on its own.