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AOC — PDO — Franche-Comté
A line of black ash runs through the centre of its paste like a signature: Morbier bears the history of Jura cheesemakers etched into its flesh — peasant ingenuity made cheese.
Uncooked pressed cheese from Franche-Comté, PDO (AOP) since 2002.
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Morbier is a cheese born of salvage — and therein lies all its nobility. It was born in secret at the end of the 18th century, on the farms of the Jura massif, at a time when peasant farmers delivered their milk to the village fruitière for the making of Comté. Yet milk yields were then often too low to produce a wheel of Comté. Rather than let the first block of curd, obtained from the evening milking, spoil before the next day, cheesemakers had a simple, ingenious idea: they coated it with soot taken 'from the bottom of the cauldron', to protect it from outside contamination. The following morning, fresh curd from the new milking was added on top to complete the cheese and achieve a larger size. The result was a small cheese crossed through its centre by a black line — not a defect, but the visible mark of a daily gesture repeated for centuries.
The village of Morbier, in the Jura, gave the cheese its definitive name at the end of the 19th century. The technique evolved: cauldron ash gave way to food-grade vegetable carbon — harmless, stable, and offering a visual result that is perfectly controlled. Today, this central black line, unbroken across the entire slice, is obtained exclusively by coating one of the two blocks of curd with vegetable carbon before pressing — one of the most recognisable visual signatures in the cheese world.
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Despite its venerable age, Morbier had to wait until the year 2000 to obtain an AOC, and 2002 to enter the European register of PDO (AOP). Today, some fifty producers and around ten affineurs produce approximately 5,000 tonnes of Morbier a year, across an area covering Doubs, almost all of Jura, and communes in Ain and Saône-et-Loire — the same Jura terroir as Comté, but for a cheese with a much gentler, more approachable character.
Morbier comes in the form of a flat cylindrical wheel 30 to 40 cm in diameter and 5 to 8 cm in height, weighing between 5 and 8 kg. Its natural rind, obtained by dry-salting or brining throughout maturation, ranges from grey to orangey in colour. When cut, the wheel reveals an even paste ranging from ivory to pale yellow, frequently showing a few scattered openings — and that continuous, bonded line of black vegetable carbon dividing the cheese into two symmetrical layers. The milk used is exclusively raw, from Montbéliarde or, more rarely, Simmental française cows. Maturation is carried out for a minimum duration of 45 days, without interruption, during which the wheels rest on spruce wood boards.
Appearance
Cylindrical wheel, grey to orangey rind, uniform ivory to pale-yellow paste traversed by a continuous central black line.
Aroma
Fresh milk, hay, a light note of damp cellar, grassy.
Flavour
Clean, with lactic, caramel, vanilla and fruit nuances.
Texture
Supple, melting, slightly elastic — never grainy.
Morbier is deliberately less powerful than Comté or Époisses. It is a cheese of balance, whose aromatic palette is enriched with maturation by roasted, spicy and vegetal nuances.
Morbier comes in several expressions depending on the length of maturation:
Morbier 45 days — the classic, matured for the regulatory minimum: mild, milky, thin rind, supple texture. Ideal for cheeseboards.
Morbier 60–90 days — matured: an aromatic palette enriched with roasted, spicy and vegetal nuances. The rind takes on a more pronounced orangey hue.
Morbier fermier — rare, made and matured on the farm itself (and not in a cooperative fruitière): a more pronounced character, a more irregular paste, a direct reflection of the terroir and the season.
Raw milk from Montbéliarde or, more rarely, Simmental française cows.
The milk is curdled exclusively with rennet, yielding an uncooked pressed paste, suppler than a cooked paste.
The first layer of curd is placed in the mould and lightly pressed.
Vegetable carbon is applied by hand to the surface of this first block of curd.
Dry-salting or brining to form the rind.
A minimum duration of 45 days, without interruption, on spruce wood boards.
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Morbier is best appreciated at room temperature, taken out of the refrigerator around 30 minutes before serving. Its mild, milky character makes it a perfect introductory cheese, equally suited to family cheeseboards and gourmet selections. It melts harmoniously on toast or in a light fondue. For wine pairings, the Jura is the natural choice: a Savagnin ouillé or a white Arbois softens its acidity whilst enhancing its buttery notes. Red wine lovers will opt for a Poulsard or a Trousseau from Arbois-Pupillin, light and fruity wines that will not overpower it. A Crémant du Jura as an aperitif also makes a lovely introduction.
Since: 2000
Area covered: Doubs, almost all of Jura (+ communes in Ain and Saône-et-Loire)
Key requirements: First official recognition
Since: 2002
Area covered: Doubs, almost all of Jura (+ communes in Ain and Saône-et-Loire)
Key requirements: Raw milk from Montbéliarde or Simmental cows, min. 45 days maturation, mandatory line of vegetable carbon running through the entire wheel, made in a cooperative fruitière or on the farm (Morbier fermier)
Major artisanal cheese house
Dairy cooperative
Cheese co-operative
Dairy co-operative
Cooperative
Large artisan cheese dairy
Artisan
Dairy cooperative
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Request a listingDairy cooperative
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. |
Large artisan cheese dairy
It was in 1965 that Jean Perrin and his wife founded their cheese dairy in the heart of the Massif du Jura, in Cléron in the Doubs, choosing to devote themselves to Morbier. Six decades later, his sons have made this uncooked pressed cheese a benchmark, carrying on the family business in the spirit of its beginnings: respect for tradition, high standards of quality, and a drive to innovate.
Today, the dairy produces Morbier PDO (AOP) and Comté PDO, alongside a range of cheeses for raclette-style meals and a selection of cheese specialities, including a certified organic line awarded the AB label by Ecocert. The workshop is located in an artisan business park in Cléron, a small village in the Doubs known for its château overlooking the Loue — a mid-mountain area where raw-milk maturing remains at the centre of the know-how passed down from generation to generation.
Mondial du Fromage et des Produits Laitiers · Tours
| Address | Zone Artisanale — 25330 Cléron |
| 03 81 62 41 41 | |
| jean-perrin.com | |
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Part of the production is certified organic, since 1999. |
