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Île-de-France
"Also known as Ville-Saint-Jacques, Brie de Montereau is the forgotten child of the Brie family — resembling Coulommiers in size, Brie de Melun in taste, and claiming a nobility that only the great market of Montereau long succeeded in having recognised."
Bloomy-rind cheese from Île-de-France.
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Brie de Montereau takes its name from the town of Montereau-Fault-Yonne, a major trading crossroads at the confluence of the Seine and the Yonne in the south of Seine-et-Marne — rather than from its actual place of manufacture. The cheese is also known by the name of "Ville-Saint-Jacques".
It was the market of Montereau, renowned for selling cheeses of the terroir, that gave it its fame and commercial identity: the name of the town where it was sold ultimately won out over that of where it was made — a common phenomenon in the cheese geography of the Brie region.
Brie de Montereau belongs to the rich cheese constellation of the Brie region, that vast agricultural tract extending between the Marne, the Seine, and the Yonne. It was within this family that the most famous episode in Brie's history unfolded: in 1815, at the Congress of Vienna, the diplomat Talleyrand, in a delicate diplomatic position following the fall of Napoleon, had a perfectly matured Brie de Meaux served at a dinner debating the superiority of European cheeses — pitted against English Stilton, Dutch Gouda, and Italian Gorgonzola. Upon tasting it, the diplomats bowed: Brie de Meaux was proclaimed "prince of cheeses and king of desserts".
Whilst it was Brie de Meaux that carried off this historic honour, Brie de Montereau belongs to the same centuries-old tradition, crafted with the same peasant gestures — hand moulding, natural draining, dry salting — handed down from generation to generation in the farms and cheese dairies of Seine-et-Marne.
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Brie de Montereau endured a wilderness period in the 20th century. Like many local artisan cheeses eclipsed by the rise of the major PDOs, its production became increasingly scarce, almost to the point of extinction. It was in the 2000s that the Société Fromagère de la Brie, on the initiative of M. Jego, then mayor of Montereau, and MM. Sarrazin and Lambert, officially relaunched its production. This family-owned company, founded in 1929 in Saint-Siméon, uses raw milk for its entire traditional range of Bries.
The second revival is even more recent: in 2023, the cheesemaker Ottman Beirouk, a dairy specialist for over twenty years, opened a third dairy in Saint-Germain-Laval (in the Pays de Montereau) with his partner Omar Ahjour, following the Ferme de Sigy (2014) and the cheese dairy of the Bergerie de Rambouillet (2016). There he revived not only Brie de Montereau, but also Tomme du Pays de Montereau. Distributed in local supermarkets, catering establishments, and via a vending machine installed outside the dairy, Beirouk's production embodies the resolutely local roots of a cheese that has always belonged to its terroir — at this site, the milk is pasteurised before processing, unlike the traditional raw-milk recipe.
Appearance
Flat disc 18 cm in diameter, 2.5 cm thick, weighing 1.1 kg. Downy white rind speckled with small reddish pigments, the sign of well-mastered maturation (4 to 6 weeks). Creamy, pale yellow paste, luscious and supple without ever running.
Aroma
Scents of warm milk, fresh mushrooms, and damp undergrowth. More pronounced character than Coulommiers, which it resembles in size.
Taste
Cheese with an assertive character — aromas of butter, hazelnut, and terroir that express themselves frankly. Strength between 4 and 5 out of 7 — balanced to distinctive. Aromatic richness distinct from pasteurised versions, thanks to the raw milk.
Texture
Melting and rich, coating the palate without overpowering it. Firmer than Brie de Meaux when ripe, the paste does not run.
Brie de Montereau is part of the cheese constellation of the Brie region, alongside Brie de Meaux and Brie de Melun, both protected by a PDO — Brie de Montereau itself has never obtained this recognition. Its 18 cm size aligns it closely with Coulommiers, likewise unprotected, forming a Briard quartet of complementary characters. Made from 10 litres of partially skimmed raw milk for each cheese, it retains an aromatic richness that pasteurised versions cannot replicate. Hand moulding, natural draining, dry salting: ancestral practices shared across the entire family. In 2023, the town of Montereau-Fault-Yonne — owner of the name — granted its use under a trademark licence to the Laiterie du Pays de Montereau, alongside a Confrérie des Chevaliers du Brie de Montereau tasked with promoting it: a local initiative to protect the name, distinct from PGI recognition.
partially skimmed cow's milk from farms in Seine-et-Marne (10 litres per cheese).
slow coagulation at low temperature to preserve the aromas of the raw milk.
with a pelle à brie, in successive layers, as for all traditional Bries.
unpressed, by gravity alone over several hours, for a supple and creamy paste.
applied to both sides, promoting rind formation.
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Brie de Montereau is ideally enjoyed at room temperature, removed from the refrigerator one hour before serving. Its peak season runs from September to March, when autumn and winter milks deliver their fullest richness.
It pairs remarkably well with a Quincy or a Sancerre blanc — the tangy freshness of the Loire balancing the rich roundness of the cheese. For red wine lovers, a Santenay Premier Cru or a light Sancerre rouge, served at 14 °C, complements its power without overpowering it. At the table, it finds its rightful place on sourdough country bread or a baguette de tradition, simply buttered or melted over warm potatoes.
Brie de Montereau currently holds no official designation (neither PDO (AOP) nor PGI (IGP)). Its name is nonetheless protected at local level: the town of Montereau-Fault-Yonne, owner of the denomination, governs its use through a trademark licence, alongside a Confrérie des Chevaliers du Brie de Montereau established to promote the cheese.
Artisanal cheese dairy (family business)
Artisanal dairy and cheese dairy
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Ottman Beirouk, a dairyman for over twenty years, runs several cheese-making sites in the Île-de-France region with his business partner Omar Ahjour: the Ferme de Sigy and the fromagerie at the Bergerie de Rambouillet (Yvelines), before embarking on a third venture in 2023, the Laiterie du Pays de Montereau, in Saint-Germain-Laval. The plot was sold at cost price by the Communauté de communes du Pays de Montereau, and an agreement was signed with the town of Montereau-Fault-Yonne to support the launch.
Inaugurated on 5 June 2023, the dairy employs three staff members and processes the surplus milk produced by the other sites, notably the Ferme de Sigy. It is here that Brie de Montereau was revived — a soft cheese about 20 cm in diameter, matured for around ten days and then stabilised for two weeks in a cold room — as well as the Tomme du Pays de Montereau. Unlike other Île-de-France bries with an Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée, Brie de Montereau is not produced here under an AOC: the town of Montereau itself owns the trademark and oversees its production. The dairy produces around 20 tonnes of cheese a year and plans to expand its range to mozzarella and Bleu de Brie.
The cheeses are distributed in supermarkets around Montereau, in institutional catering, and via a vending machine installed outside the fromagerie.
| Address | Saint-Germain-Laval — 77130 |
| Facebook page | |
| Visits | Yes — vending machine on site |
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Part of the production is certified organic, since 2014. |