Mont d'Or Cheese and the Fromagerie du Mont d'Or

About Mont d'Or

Mont d'Or AOP, also called Vacherin du Haut-Doubs, is made only in the Haut-Doubs above 700 metres. It became an AOC in 1981 and an AOP in 1996. Spruce runs through it: each cheese is bound with a strap of spruce bark, ripened on spruce boards and sold in a spruce box, which gives it its resinous taste. It is a seasonal cheese, made from 15 August to 15 March and sold from 10 September to 10 May. Ten dairies make it.

The Fromagerie du Mont d'Or

The Sancey-Richard family has made cheese in Métabief since 1961, and in 1989 built what was the first dairy in the Haut-Doubs designed for visitors. It turns about 3 million litres of milk a year, around 7,000 litres a day from ten or so local farms, all from Montbéliarde cows, into Comté, Morbier and Mont d'Or, plus its own Metsi, P'tit Sancey, Cernois and Tomme du Mont d'Or. Everything is aged on site.

The Visit

The self-guided visit is free and open every day from 9am. A big screen tells the story of the dairy's cheeses, then a glass balcony looks down on two production rooms, followed by a small museum and an interactive gallery with a hologram. It ends with a free taste of Comté in the shop. Only groups need to book. Come in the morning and between September and March if you want to see Mont d'Or being made.

Shop Hours

Monday to Saturday 9am to 12:15pm and 3 to 7pm; Sundays and public holidays 9am to noon. Closed 25 December, 1 January and 1 May. The family also runs La Grange aux Fromages at 14 route des Alpes in Jougne, open Monday to Saturday with the same hours.

La Coulée du Mont d'Or

The start of the selling season is celebrated in Pontarlier. In 2026 La Coulée du Mont d'Or was on Saturday 12 September on the Place d'Arçon, with sales and old-style cheesemaking from the Friday afternoon. On the Saturday the Confrérie du Mont d'Or opened the day at 10:15am, a parade with vintage tractors and the town band left at 10:45am, the ten dairies offered tastings at 11:15am and a giant Mont d'Or lunch followed. There were demonstrations of making the spruce straps and activities for children. The 2027 date has not been announced.

Nearby

The Mont d'Or itself rises to 1,463 metres above Métabief, with a ridge path looking over the Swiss plain and the Alps. Below it, the Fort Saint-Antoine ages Comté and takes booked visitors; see the Route du Comté.