Dairy
Reblochon
Reblochon is a soft, washed-rind cow’s-milk cheese from the Haute-Savoie and Savoie Alps, made historically from “re-bloche” milk—a second, richer milking after the landlord’s share. The paste is ivory, creamy, and supple under an orange-yellow washed rind; flavour is mild-mushroomy, milky, and slightly nutty, becoming more aromatic with age. It is the essential melting cheese for tartiflette and is also eaten at room temperature with bread and local white wines. PDO rules require raw milk from Abondance, Tarine, and Montbéliarde cows in defined alpine communes; farmhouse (fermier) wheels carry a green casein mark, fruitière wheels a red one.
Also known as: Reblochon de Savoie AOP, Reblochon Fermier
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Grading systems
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History
Alpine tenants in the Thônes valley withheld a second milking to make richer private cheese—the folk origin of reblochon.
Small washed-rind farmhouse cheeses from Haute-Savoie were established local table and market goods.
AOC protection defined Reblochon’s geography, breeds, and traditional washed-rind methods.
Tartiflette, popularised in ski resorts, made Reblochon a national melting cheese beyond its valleys.
EU PDO status confirmed Reblochon as a raw-milk Savoie specialty.
Fermier versus fruitière distinctions and raw-milk rules remained central to quality debates and export limits.