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Label Rouge — PGI — Franche-Comté
Nine hundred litres of milk for a single wheel — Emmental Est-Central is a cheese of patience, collective spirit and mountains, born of the solidarity of the fruitières and the bounty of the Jura pastures.
Cooked pressed cheese from Franche-Comté, PGI (IGP) since 1996.
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The history of large cooked pressed cheeses in eastern France is documented as early as the 12th century. In 1185, the Abbot of Saint-Oyand (Jura) claimed a cheese levy from the Abbot of Granvaux — a written record attesting to organised cheese-making in these mountains. Thirteenth-century texts (compiled in the cartulary of Hugues Ier de Chalon-Arlay, 1317 and 1319) reveal the term 'vachelin', a large wheel of cheese, and the word 'fructerie', the forerunner of the fruitière — a cheese-making workshop belonging to a community association of milk producers. These informal dairy cooperatives enabled mountain farmers to pool their milk to produce large cheeses — the only way to collectively turn an abundant seasonal yield, which was individually insufficient, to account.
From the 16th century onwards, these cheeses ceased to be merely a winter food reserve and began to be exported towards densely populated areas, as transport links improved between producing regions. The cooked pressed cheese method — which guarantees long preservation, indispensable for journeys lasting several weeks — became a decisive commercial advantage. The three mountain massifs of eastern France (the Jura, the Vosges and the Northern Alps) each developed their own cheeses for keeping, with distinctive profiles shaped by their respective terroirs.
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The blueprint for Emmental as it is known today — a large round wheel, springy paste, round eyes — has its historical cradle in an area straddling modern French and Swiss territories, whose borders shifted considerably over the centuries. It was in the 19th century that Emmental proper emerged, almost simultaneously in Switzerland and east-central France, driven by advances in the cheese-making techniques of the era. The same period saw the selective breeding of local dairy breeds in the Jura, Vosges and Northern Alps massifs, including the Jura Montbéliarde, to which producers have remained faithful ever since.
It was in the 19th century that production truly became structured. Fruitières multiplied throughout the villages of Doubs, Jura and Vosges. The wheels reached formidable weights — up to 130 kg — each requiring as much as 900 litres of milk. This cooperative organisation gave rise to a unique collective cheese-making culture, founded on trust and the fair sharing of the fruits of labour.
Emmental français Est-Central was awarded a Label Rouge as early as 1979, in recognition of its superior quality among industrial emmentals. European PGI status was granted in 1996. Its production area initially covered three administrative regions, stretching to the borders of Rhône and Savoie; an amendment to the specifications approved in February 2023 narrowed it back to its historical heartland. It now exclusively covers six départements: Doubs, Jura, Haute-Saône, Territoire de Belfort, Vosges and Haute-Marne. Its fundamental distinctive feature: unlike most emmentals sold in supermarkets — made with pasteurised milk, particularly in the Grand Ouest of France — Emmental Est-Central is strictly made with raw milk, both for the PGI and for the associated Label Rouge.
Appearance
Cylindrical wheel 70 to 100 cm in diameter, 14 cm in height, weighing 60 to 130 kg. Natural rind, clean and dry, pale yellow to golden in colour. Ivory to yellow paste, supple, with round eyes ranging from the size of a cherry to that of a walnut.
Aroma
Subtle, slightly sweet, with notes of fresh walnut and hay.
Taste
Clean and fruity, with hazelnut notes — the long maturation period (minimum 12 weeks, compared to 6 for standard emmental) yields a more intense, fruitier flavour than thermised emmentals produced outside the region.
Texture
Supple and melting. More advanced proteolysis than in thermised emmentals produced outside the Est-Central region gives it a paste texture perceived as more supple by sensory analysis panels.
At a temperature between 31 and 33°C.
In a large cylindrical mould, wrapped in white cloth
Minimum four hours, at a room temperature between 18°C and 35°C.
In a brine bath, 24 to 90 hours, at a temperature between 10°C and 18°C.
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Emmental Est-Central is enjoyed just as readily sliced at the table as melted in cooking — and it is in this culinary role that it reveals all its generosity. Melting smoothly without lumps, it is the ideal partner for quiche, fondue, gratin dauphinois, and croque. On a cheeseboard, it sits alongside Comté and Morbier, its Comtois neighbours with which it forms a Haut-Doubs cheese trinity.
To drink, an Arbois Chardonnay or a white Bugey pair elegantly. In Alsatian or Franc-Comtois cuisine, it naturally complements choucroute garnie and Munster-based tartes flambées. For sweet pairings, a black cherry jam or acacia honey reveals its gentlest milky notes.
Since: 1979
Area covered: Bourgogne-Franche-Comté (Doubs, Jura, Haute-Saône, Territoire de Belfort) and Grand Est (Vosges, Haute-Marne)
Key requirements: Raw milk, organoleptic checks
Since: 1996
Area covered: Bourgogne-Franche-Comté (Doubs, Jura, Haute-Saône, Territoire de Belfort) and Grand Est (Vosges, Haute-Marne)
Key requirements: Raw milk, grass and hay feed, minimum 12 weeks' maturation
Trade association / ODG
Dairy cooperative
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Monts & Terroirs presents itself as a cheese company born from the parallel paths of two maturing cooperative unions founded in 1945 — the Cave Coopérative Centrale d'Affinage de Poligny (which became Juramonts Comté in 1970) and the Union des coopératives d'affinage de Franche-Comté. Since 1983, several cheesemaking families have joined it: Reybier in 1983, Entremont in 1988, Grosjean with Juragruyère in 1992, Fromagerie Mercier in Savoie in 2000, Jura Courlaoux and Fromageries du Colombier in 2006, then the Grillot family in 2014. In 2012, the company — previously called Juragruyère — was renamed Monts & Terroirs.
The enterprise describes itself as a dual-shareholding structure, majority-owned by dairy farmers, with the mission of preserving the cheesemaking terroirs of Franche-Comté and Savoie. Its range includes Comté PDO (AOP), traditionally warm-cured for a minimum of 6 to 18 months, Beaufort PDO, Morbier PDO, Emmental Grand Cru and Gruyère PGI (IGP) matured for at least 4 months on spruce boards, as well as two tommes made artisanally in Savoie and the Jura. Its registered office is based in Poligny, in the Jura.
Lyon
| Address | 587 Rte de Bletterans, 39570 Courlaoux, France |
| 03 84 35 30 56 | |
| montsetterroirs.com | |
| Facebook page | |
| Visits | By appointment |
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Part of the production is certified organic, since 2008. |
