Coopérative Jeune Montagne, Laguiole

The Visit

A video tells the story of the cheese and its makers, from the stone burons on the summer pastures to the cooperative. A gallery then looks down onto the make room and one of the ageing cellars. In the shop you taste Laguiole aged 6 months and 12 to 24 months, and Laguiole Grand Aubrac, made from summer pasture milk. The shop sells everything made on site: aligot, Laguiole AOP, tome fraîche de l'Aubrac IGP, Buronnier and Écir.

About Laguiole

Laguiole AOP is a pressed, uncooked cheese of raw whole cow's milk, aged at least four months on the Aubrac, in wheels of about 45 to 50 kg. It has been an AOC since 1961 and an AOP since 2001. Its roots go back to the 12th century, when monks at the Aubrac settlement cleared forest for pasture, and for centuries it was made in burons. Today about 80 farmers belong to Jeune Montagne. The unsalted tome fraîche, the first step in making Laguiole, is what makes aligot stretch.

Eating in a Buron

Some old burons on the plateau are now restaurants serving aligot, cheese, charcuterie and Aubrac beef in the middle of the pastures, among them the Buron de Caméjane and the Buron de la Sistre.

The Aubrac Transhumance

Every year around 25 May, farmers walk their Aubrac cows, decorated with broom flowers, up to the summer pastures. On the Sunday, about ten herds pass through the village of Aubrac at 1,300 metres, with a Salon du Terroir of local producers in the village. Events start on the Thursday. The tourist office in Saint-Chély-d'Aubrac has details.

Nearby

Jeune Montagne also runs a dairy at Thérondels in the Carladez. Further south in Aveyron are the Roquefort caves.