Description
Vacherin Mont d’Or AOP Baby Cheese
About Vacherin Mont d’Or AOP Baby
Vacherin Mont d’Or AOP Baby is all the joy of one of Switzerland’s great seasonal cheeses, just in a much more manageable size.
Soft, creamy, wrapped in spruce bark and tucked into its little wooden box, this is proper cold-weather cheese. It’s the Swiss Mont d’Or, made in the Vallée de Joux in the canton of Vaud, and it’s only produced during the cooler months of the year.
The Baby is perfect if you want a whole Vacherin but don’t necessarily have enough people around to tackle one of the larger versions. Although, once you’ve tasted it perfectly ripe and spoonable, you may decide sharing was overrated anyway.
A Proper Seasonal Cheese
Vacherin Mont d’Or grew out of the traditional Alpine farming calendar.
During summer, when the cows produced plenty of milk, cheesemakers could make enormous wheels such as Le Gruyère AOP. Once the cows came down from the high pastures and milk production reduced, smaller cheeses made much more sense.
Vacherin Mont d’Or was the delicious result.
What began as a practical way of working with the seasons became a cheese that people actively wait for each year. Even today, the beginning of Vacherin season is celebrated in the Vallée de Joux.
And I rather love that. There aren’t many foods left that we genuinely have to wait for.
Protected By Its AOP Status
Vacherin Mont d’Or has held Swiss AOP status since 2003, protecting where and how the cheese is produced.
One of its most distinctive features is the strip of spruce bark wrapped around every cheese. As the Vacherin matures and its centre becomes increasingly soft, the bark helps hold everything together while also contributing subtle woody, resinous aromas.
The cheeses are washed and turned during maturation before being placed into their characteristic wooden boxes.
The Baby might be smaller, but it is still the real thing — a whole Vacherin Mont d’Or AOP with all the wonderful seasonal character of its larger sibling.
Vacherin Mont d’Or Baby – Jen’s Tasting Notes
Don’t be fooled by its size. There is an awful lot going on inside that little wooden box.
When younger, the cheese is soft and supple, but as it ripens the texture becomes wonderfully creamy and eventually almost spoonable. For me, that’s when it gets really exciting.
The flavour begins with warm milk, cream and butter, followed by gentle nutty and earthy notes. Then you get that lovely hint of woodland from the spruce bark — slightly woody and resinous without ever taking over.
Despite being a washed-rind cheese, it isn’t particularly fierce. It’s rich and savoury, certainly, but also wonderfully gentle and comforting.
And because the Baby is a whole cheese, you get a little bit of everything in every serving: creamy centre, rippled rind and that distinctive spruce edge.
How to Serve and Pair Vacherin Mont d’Or Baby
- Make sure you take it out of the fridge a good hour before you want to eat it. A ripe Vacherin should be beautifully soft, so don’t worry if a spoon seems more appropriate than a cheese knife.
- Classic pairings: Keep it Swiss with a crisp Chasselas. The freshness of the wine is a lovely contrast to all that richness.
- Something a little different: Dry cider works brilliantly too, with enough apple acidity to freshen everything up.
- On the plate: Crusty bread, boiled potatoes and a few cornichons. That’s really all you need.
- In the kitchen: The Baby is absolutely perfect for boîte chaude. Warm it gently in its wooden box, perhaps adding a little white wine and garlic, until the inside is gloriously molten. Then simply put it in the middle of the table and start dipping.
Jen’s note: The Baby Vacherin is perfect if there are only a couple of you — although I’m not going to judge if you decide one Baby counts as a single serving. It’s seasonal, it’s ridiculously creamy and it comes in its own little wooden box. What more could you want?
Buying Vacherin Mont d’Or Baby
- Brand or Producer: Auberson Cheese Dairy
- Product name: Vacherin Mont d’Or Baby AOP
- Milk: Cow
- Country: Switzerland
- Region: Jura
- Strength: Medium
- Vegetarian: No
- Suitable for pregnancy: No
- Allergens: MILK
Sizes and Prices
- Whole little cheese (approx. 450g), £20.00
Storage Advice
- Keep refrigerated
- Wrap in waxed paper or cling film
- Remove from the fridge before serving
- Consume within 10 to 14 days of opening
Delivery and Collection
- UK wide courier delivery
- Click and collect from our Pangbourne shop
- Free local delivery available for selected postcodes
Ingredients (Allergens are listed in capitals)
MILK, rennet, salt, ferments
