Vacherin Mont d'Or Season: How to Buy, Bake and Serve It

One cheese, two countries

Vacherin Mont d'Or is made on both sides of the Jura mountains, which divide France from Switzerland. Both versions are soft, washed-rind cow's milk cheeses. Both are girdled with a strip of spruce bark and sold in a spruce box. Both are seasonal, so they appear in autumn and disappear in spring. They are still two separate cheeses, each with its own protected designation and its own rules.

Mont d'Or (France)

• Also called: Vacherin du Haut-Doubs
• Origin: Haut-Doubs, in Franche-Comté
• Milk: raw cow's milk
• Status: AOP
• Size: from 480 g to 3.2 kg, box included
• Fat: at least 45% in dry matter
• Season: sales run from 10 September to 10 May.

In France, look for the name Mont d'Or on the label. There, the word "vacherin" alone can mean other cheeses, including ones ripened in large hoops. French sales for the 2026–27 season opened on 10 September. About ten dairies in the Haut-Doubs make it.

Vacherin Mont-d'Or (Switzerland)

• Origin: Vallée de Joux, canton of Vaud
• Milk: thermised cow's milk. It is gently heat-treated, below pasteurisation temperatures, so it is neither raw nor pasteurised.
• Status: AOP
• Season: made from September to the end of winter, when the cows no longer give enough milk for the big alpine cheeses. It is on sale from mid-September until spring.

Both cheeses mature for at least 21 days. During that time they take on the resinous, woodsy note of their spruce. In general, the raw-milk French cheese tastes a little wilder and more farmyard. The Swiss one is often a touch milder and creamier. The gap between individual boxes can be as large as the gap between countries, so taste both over the season.

How to choose a ripe box

You can't cut into a boxed cheese, so buying one comes down to your hands, your nose and the label. If you buy from a cheese counter, ask the cheesemonger to choose one for the day you plan to eat it.

• Press gently on the top. A ripe cheese gives under your fingertip like a soft pillow. If it feels firm all over, it needs more time. If it feels sunken and liquid at the edges, it is very far along. That is fine for baking tonight, but it won't keep.
• Look at the rind. You want a pale golden to pinkish crust with soft ripples and wrinkles. A smooth, tight, pale top usually means a young cheese.
• Smell it. Expect a savoury, milky, slightly woody smell. A sharp ammonia smell means the cheese is past its best.
• Check the box. It should be intact and not stained with seeping liquid. Check the date on the label too, and plan around it.
• Pick the size. For baking, the smallest boxes (around 450–500 g) are the most practical. One makes a generous supper for two or a starter for four. The large wheels are best for a cheese counter or a big gathering.

Storing it at home

Keep the cheese in its box, loosely wrapped, in the fridge. Use the vegetable drawer or the least cold shelf, and keep it away from strong-smelling foods. Eat it by the date on the label. Once you open it, finish it within a few days. Cover the cut surface with paper rather than cling film so it can breathe.

How to bake Vacherin Mont d'Or

The Swiss producers' own oven-baked Vacherin recipe is the simplest method, and the one to start with.

1. Heat the oven to 200°C (180°C fan).
2. Unwrap. Take off the lid and any plastic film. Leave the cheese in its spruce box, which holds everything together as the cheese melts.
3. Wrap the box. Wrap the outside in foil, or stand it in a small ovenproof dish, to catch drips and stop the wood from scorching.
4. Pierce the top several times with a fork or the tip of a knife. If you like, slip one or two slivers of garlic into the slits.
5. Add wine. Pour about 1 dl (100 ml) of dry white wine over the top and let it run into the holes.
6. Bake for about 25 minutes, until the centre trembles and the inside is completely molten when you dip in a spoon.

Recipes from cheesemongers and magazines range from 180°C to 220°C, mostly for 20 to 25 minutes. A larger or colder cheese needs a little longer. Some cooks stud the top with rosemary or add a knob of butter and some sliced shallot. For a lightly browned top, open the foil for the last five minutes.

Serving the baked cheese

Put the hot box straight on the table on a board and pull back the top crust with a spoon. Then treat it like a fondue that comes in its own pot:

• Small boiled or baked potatoes in their skins, for spooning the cheese over
• Torn baguette or crusty country bread for dipping
• Cornichons and pickled onions to cut through the richness
• Cured ham, air-dried beef or a few slices of saucisson
• A simple green salad with a sharp mustard dressing

To drink, choose a dry white with good acidity. Jura Chardonnay is a natural partner for the French cheese, and a crisp Swiss Chasselas suits the Vaud version. Use the same bottle you poured into the box.

Eating it unbaked

Baking is the famous way to eat it, but a ripe box is also excellent cold. Take it out of the fridge about an hour before serving. Cut a lid from the rind and serve the soft paste with a spoon, straight from the box, with bread and the same pickles. You will taste the spruce more clearly this way, which makes it a good way to compare a French box with a Swiss one side by side.