Morbier

The cheese

Recognizable among all for its central black line, AOP Morbier is a Jura cheese with an uncooked pressed paste, made from raw milk of Montbéliarde cows. Tradition tells that farmers, not producing enough milk in the morning for a full wheel, covered the curd with a thin layer of chimney soot before adding the evening milk, hence this visual signature (today replaced with vegetable charcoal). Aged at least 45 days, it develops a supple melting paste, ivory to pale yellow, with soft hazelnut, cooked milk, cream and fresh hay aromas. The centre can show more pronounced notes. Great on a cheeseboard with a Savagnin du Jura or a Vin Jaune, it also lends itself to a Morbiflette (a Morbier version of tartiflette).