Fourme
de Montbrison
Name of Group of Producers
Syndicat de la Fourme de Montbrison AOC
11 boulevard de la Prèfecture
42600 Montbrison
FRANCE
Tel. +33 477589130
Fax +33 477589130
Institut national de l'origine et de la qualitè (INAO)
51 rue d'Anjou 75008 Paris FRANCE
Tel. +33 153898000
Fax +33 142255797
Direction gènèrale de la concurrence, de la consommation et de la rèpression des fraudes (DGCCRF)
59 Bd V. Auriol 75703 Paris Cedex 13
FRANCE
Tel. +33 144871717
Fax +33 144973037
Fourme de Montbrison is a cheese produced from renneted cow's milk. It is made in the form of a cylinder between 17 and 21 cm in height and 11,5 and 14,5 cm in diameter, weighing between 2,1 and 2,7 kg, has blue veins, is unpressed, uncooked, fermented, and salted by adding salt to the curd when placed in the mould.
There is a bloom on the dry, orange-coloured rind, where white, yellow and red mould may also be present. The inside of the cheese is cream in colour, with some cracks and a marbling of light blue veins. These slight cracks and its limited amount of blue veins give the cheese a certain mildness.
The cheese has a fat content of at least 52 % after total desiccation, and the dry matter content of the matured cheese must be at least 52 %.
The geographical area extends along the Forez mountains which are bordered on the east and west by the two rift valleys that form the Forez plain and the Ambert valley. It covers 33 communes of the Loire and Puy de Dà´me departments
Department of the Loire: communes of Bard, Cervières, Chalmazel, La Chamba, La Chambonie, Champoly, Chà¢telneuf, La Cà´te-en-Couzan, Ecotay-l'Olme, Essertines-en-Chà¢telneuf, Jeansagnière, Lèrigneux, Noirètable, Palogneux, Roche, Saint-Bonnet-le-Courreau, Saint-Didier-sur-Rochefort, Saint- Georges-en-Couzan, Saint-Jean-la-Vàªtre, Saint-Julien-la-Vàªtre, Saint-Just-en-Bas, Saint-Laurent-de- Rochefort, Saint-Priest-la-Vàªtre, Saint-Romain-d'Urfè, Les Salles, Sauvain, La Valla, Verrières-en-Forez.
Department of Puy-de-Dà´me: communes of Brugeron, Job, Saint-Anthème, Saint-Pierre-la-Bourlhonne and Valcivières.
The milk is produced and the cheese made, matured and conserved for 32 days following the date of renneting, within the geographical area.
The milk is produced, and the cheese made, matured and conserved for 32 days following renneting, within the geographical area.
Throughout the year, the staple feed of the dairy cows is fodder from the defined geographical area.
The fodder should consist of hay, grass, wilted grass or silage. When grass is available, grazing is mandatory as soon as the weather allows. After renneting, the coagulated milk is divided by cutting it into pieces of around 0,5 to 1 cm thick. The curd mixture is then repeatedly turned and left to rest.
Next the curd is drained then rested and lightly pressed, before being broken up, salted and placed in moulds.
After draining, when removed from the mould, the cheese is lightly salted on the outside and then placed on resinous wooden racks for at least six days. The temperature of the room is kept between 18 and 22 °C.
As of the 10th day following renneting, holes are made in the cheese, which is then matured in a cellar or ripening room at a constant temperature of 6 °C to 12 °C for at least 15 days. The cheese is then stored in a room at a temperature of between 2 °C and 6 °C until 32 days after renneting.
Farm-produced cheese is made using unpasteurised whole milk, non-standardised in terms of fat and protein.
