The production

Tête de Moine AOC, Bellelay cheese is a first-class product crafted in small cheese dairies according to traditional methods which have to comply with the requirements of the AOC specifications. Milk producers, cheese-makers and ripening experts use modern procedures, but they work according to traditional and more time-consuming methods than those used for industrialized cheese production.

Did you know that 1 kg of Tête de Moine AOC, Bellelay cheese requires 10 litres of high-quality milk? The cheese matures on pine boards in the region of origin for at least 3 months. It has to pass stringent quality testing before it is bestowed with the designation Tête de Moine AOC, Bellelay cheese.

Milk production

In summer, the cows graze on rich herbal pastures, in winter they are fed on hay, never on silage. Tête de Moine AOC, Bellelay cheese is produced on a daily basis with fresh mountain milk from the region of origin - the Swiss Jura.

The roughage for the milk production has to come from the geographical AOC region. Due to its negative impact on the cheese quality, silage fodder may not be used at any time of the year. During the green feeding period the dairy cows are supposed to graze on the meadows. In winter they are primarily fed on hay. Since the milk produced should be as natural as possible the use of animal meal and hormones, genetically modified organisms or products of that kind are strictly prohibited.