A guide to Mont d'Or — the seasonal French-Swiss cheese so soft you eat it with a spoon. Its spruce wrapping, baking ritual, and short season.
Mont d'Or is one of the most indulgent and eagerly awaited cheeses of the year — a seasonal, spoonably soft cheese wrapped in a band of spruce bark, made only in the colder months. When ripe, it's so molten you scoop it straight from its wooden box, making it the ultimate winter comfort cheese.
What Mont d'Or Is
Mont d'Or is a soft, washed-rind cow's-milk cheese made in the Jura mountains spanning the French-Swiss border. There are two protected versions: the French Vacherin du Haut-Doubs (also called Mont d'Or) and the Swiss Vacherin Mont-d'Or. It's a runny, rich cheese encircled by a band of spruce bark and sold in a round spruce box, both of which shape its flavor and hold the soft cheese together.
A Seasonal Cheese
Mont d'Or is special partly because it's seasonal. It's traditionally made only in autumn and winter — roughly from late summer through winter — when cows come down from high summer pastures and milk yields drop. This limited season makes its arrival a much-anticipated event each year for cheese lovers. Outside its season, you won't find it, which adds to its allure.
The Spruce Wrapping
The band of spruce bark wrapped around Mont d'Or does more than hold the soft cheese in shape. As the cheese ripens, the spruce imparts a subtle resinous, woody, balsamic aroma and flavor that's central to its character. The cheese is also aged and sold in a spruce box, reinforcing that distinctive woodland note. The washed rind adds a gentle savory pungency.
Flavor and Texture
When ripe, Mont d'Or is extraordinarily soft — runny, creamy, and spoonable. The flavor is rich, savory, and milky, with woody, resinous notes from the spruce, a gentle washed-rind tang, and a luscious, buttery decadence. It's an intensely comforting cheese, more about texture and aroma than sharp flavor, and utterly distinctive thanks to the spruce.
The Baking Ritual
A beloved way to enjoy Mont d'Or is to bake it in its box. The cheese is studded with garlic, splashed with white wine, wrapped in foil, and baked until molten, then eaten by dipping crusty bread, boiled potatoes, and charcuterie into the bubbling cheese — a Jura version of a communal fondue-like feast. Served this way or simply scooped at room temperature, it's pure winter indulgence.
Pairings
Mont d'Or pairs beautifully with the white wines of the Jura, including vin jaune, as well as with crisp whites and light reds. Boiled potatoes, crusty bread, charcuterie, and cornichons are the classic accompaniments, especially when the cheese is baked.
Buying and Storing
Mont d'Or is sold in its round spruce box, in season only. Keep it refrigerated in its box and bring it to room temperature before serving, or bake it directly in the box. Eat it within its prime window, as it's a soft, perishable, and fleeting seasonal treat.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is Mont d'Or only available in winter?
It's traditionally made only in autumn and winter, when cows leave summer pastures and milk yields drop, making it a seasonal cheese.
Why is Mont d'Or wrapped in spruce bark?
The spruce band holds the soft cheese together and imparts a distinctive woody, resinous flavor and aroma.
How do you eat Mont d'Or?
At room temperature with a spoon, or baked in its box with garlic and wine, then scooped onto bread and potatoes.