🧀 Beaufort

Beaufort is a French hard cheese with a Protected Designation of Origin (PDO, registered in 1996). According to the specification, it is made only from whole raw cow's milk from herds of the local Tarine and Abondance breeds, in the high-mountain part of Savoie (the Beaufortain, Val d'Arly, Tarentaise and Maurienne areas) and two adjoining sectors of Haute-Savoie.

How it is made. It is a cooked pressed cheese. The milk is renneted at 32–35 °C in a copper vat and the curd is heated to 53–56 °C. The curd is moulded in a special wooden “Beaufort hoop” with a circular bulge inside, which gives the wheel its concave heel, and pressed for at least 15 hours. The cheese is then brined for 20 to 24 hours.

Ripening. At least 5 months from the day of making, at 6–12 °C. The rind is rubbed with “morge”, a bacterial coating that gives it its colour.

Look and taste. The wheel is flat with a concave heel, weighs 20 to 70 kg, measures 35–75 cm across and 11–16 cm high at the heel. The rind is yellow to brown. The paste is supple and unctuous, ivory to pale yellow, sometimes with a few fine horizontal cracks and small “partridge-eye” holes. It has at least 48% fat in dry matter. The specification describes the paste as firm at first, then melting.

Why the mountains decide everything. The cheese follows a system known since the 17th century: the herd climbs after the grass from the valley to alpine pastures at 1,500–2,500 m. These pastures are extensive and rich in aromatic plants, and in summer cows are milked right on the mountain. Most milk is still collected by valley dairies: 85–90 %. ³

Why Tarine. The specification describes this local breed as hardy: it gives acceptable yields even on coarse feed in a harsh climate. The herd's feed comes mainly from the production area; silage is forbidden, and the herd's average yield must not exceed 5,000 kg of milk per cow per year. ³

Why it matters to you. “Été” is reserved for cheese made from June to October. “Chalet d'alpage” is for cheese made in the same months, twice a day, in an alpine chalet above 1,500 m with the milk of at most one herd. Pre-packed pieces must include part of the rind, and grated cheese cannot be sold as Beaufort. The label shows the name and the EU PDO symbol. ³