Fourme de Montbrison

Fourme de Montbrison is an unpressed, uncooked blue-veined cow's milk cheese produced within a defined area of the Forez mountains across 33 communes in the Loire and Puy-de-Dôme departments. Its orange-coloured rind, salting of the curd in the mould, and draining on resinous wooden racks distinguish it from other blue cheeses.

About this designation

Fourme de Montbrison is produced from renneted cow's milk and takes the form of a cylinder between 17 and 21 cm in height and between 11.5 and 14.5 cm in diameter, weighing between 2.1 and 2.7 kg. The cheese is unpressed, uncooked, fermented, and salted by adding salt to the curd when placed in the mould. The rind is dry and orange-coloured, with a bloom in which white, yellow, and red mould may also be present. The interior is cream-coloured with slight cracks and a marbling of light blue veins. Fat content must be at least 52 % after total desiccation, and dry matter content of the matured cheese must be at least 52 %. The geographical area covers 33 communes along the Forez mountains in the Loire and Puy-de-Dôme departments. Milk must be produced and the cheese made, matured, and conserved for 32 days following renneting within that area. After removal from the mould, the cheese is lightly salted on the outside and placed on resinous wooden racks for at least six days at a temperature kept between 18 and 22 °C. From the 10th day following renneting, holes are made in the cheese, which is then matured at a constant temperature of 6 °C to 12 °C for at least 15 days. The label must bear the name Fourme de Montbrison and the words 'Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée'. Oversight is exercised by the I.N.A.O. and the D.G.C.C.R.F. The designation is registered as a PDO under file number PDO-FR-0542, eAmbrosia identifier EUGI00000013928.

Source: The register document this entry was written from · retrieved August 26, 2026

Distinctive facts

• Registered as a PDO on 2 July 1996 under file number PDO-FR-0542, eAmbrosia identifier EUGI00000013928.
• The curd is salted in the mass and drained on resinous wooden racks — techniques the specification identifies as characteristic of this designation.
• The geographical area is confined to 33 communes along the Forez mountains in the Loire and Puy-de-Dôme departments; no milk or cheese production outside this area may carry the designation.
• Farm-produced Fourme de Montbrison must be made from unpasteurised whole milk, non-standardised in terms of fat and protein.

Tasting notes

Forez cow's milk blue cheese (close relative of Fourme d'Ambert in cylindrical shape), aged minimum 32 days, traditional gouttière-aged on pine planks. Pale ivory paste, slightly drier and firmer than Ambert, with characteristic blue-green veining and pine-resin influence from gouttière aging — slightly more pronounced flavor than Ambert.

HoReCa use

Plateau de fromages; preferred by Forez-region restaurants.

Packaging

• wheel-full-2.1-2.7kg
• wheel-half-vacuum-1.2kg
• wedge-vacuum-300g