You are cosy and a little exclusive. You show up when the days get short and make everyone feel at home.
Cheese profile
- MildBold
- SoftFirm
- HomebodyExplorer
- SoloFondue crowd
- ClassicWild
The real cheese facts
- Origin
- Vallée de Joux, canton of Vaud
- Milk
- Thermised cow’s milk (62 °C for 15 seconds)
- Type
- Soft cheese in a spruce bark band and a spruce box
- Season
- Made 15 August to 31 March, sold September to April
- Best for
- With a spoon, or warm from the oven
Source: cheesesfromswitzerland.com, vacherin-montdor.ch · Last checked 28.10.2026
Taste and texture
Mild, lightly salty and very creamy, almost runny when it is ripe. The spruce band and the box give it a woody, resinous note.
How to eat it
At room temperature, straight from the box with a spoon. Or warm: put the whole box in the oven and serve it with new potatoes or crusty bread. The wooden box is part of the deal, so it stays on.
Did you know?
The short season goes back to the times when the summer milk went into Gruyère, and only the smaller winter supply was left for Vacherin. The cheese has been made by hand in the Vallée de Joux for more than 100 years.
Vacherin Mont-d’Or or Vacherin Fribourgeois?
The names are easy to mix up. Vacherin Mont-d’Or is a soft cheese from the Vallée de Joux in Vaud, made from thermised milk and eaten with a spoon. Vacherin Fribourgeois AOP is a semi-hard cheese from the canton of Fribourg, and it goes into fondue moitié-moitié together with Gruyère.
More about Vacherin Fribourgeois AOP →How to keep it
Keep it in its box in the fridge; the producers store it at 0 to 5 °C. Take it out well before eating so it turns creamy again, and once it is open, finish it within a few days.
Questions about Vacherin Mont-d’Or AOP
When can I buy Vacherin Mont-d’Or?
From September to April. It is made only between 15 August and 31 March.
Is Vacherin Mont-d’Or made from raw milk?
No. The milk is thermised, heated gently to 62 °C for 15 seconds.