Farms, dairies, cooperatives and affineurs in Alsace that you can visit or buy from.
A guide to cheese farms in Alsace.
Dairy making Munster AOP in Gunsbach, with production visible through viewing windows. It shares its site with the Maison du Fromage, a visitor centre, shop and restaurant.
Cheeses: Munster
Visiting: shop, viewing windows onto production, commented tasting of Munster AOP, self-guided visit with cowshed at the Maison du Fromage (timed slots, book online), restaurant
Farm-inn on the Route des Crêtes run by a marcaire family for seven generations, making Munster and Bargkass from its own cows' milk. Open mid-April to mid-October for cheese sales and marcaire meals.
Visiting: farm shop for Munster and Bargkass, marcaire meals in the farm-inn
High-pasture farm-inn on the Route des Crêtes at 1,180 m, turning the milk of its dairy herd into Bargkass, Cœur de Massif, Cendré des Chaumes, flavoured tommes, butter and fresh cheese. Open Easter to 1 November.
Cheeses: Bargkass, Cœur de Massif, Cendré des Chaumes, Tommes aromatisées
Visiting: farm-inn meals, farm cheese and butter to buy
Transhumance farm of the Barb family, run father to son since 1907 on the Petit Ballon slopes. Munster is made on the farm; the inn opens May to October, with Munster coiffé in the evening on advance order.
Cheeses: Munster
Visiting: farm-inn meals, Munster coiffé in the evening, ordered ahead
Cheese affineur whose Beblenheim cave matures Munster for at least 21 days at 12 to 15 C; the house dates from 1926. A second cave at Orbey, in the Vosges, ages pressed cheeses and tommes.
Cheeses: Munster
Visiting: shop
Charcutiers and cheesemakers for three generations, with a shop on the Grand'Rue in Munster. The family makes Munster fermier AOP by traditional farmhouse methods and sells it with regional charcuterie.
Cheeses: Munster
Visiting: shop, Munster fermier AOP and regional charcuterie on sale
Dare to go beyond traditional pairings! Discover three local cheeses, including the must-have Munster, and experiment with six gourmet pairings with organic Alsatian w...
Enjoy a tasting break with wine and cheese for a fun and informative moment of relaxation!
You'll start with a video on how the Alsatian wines are made, then discover the cellar and the film on the family history, projected onto barrels. Finally, you'll enjo...
INAO describes a powerful, ammonia-tinged smell, while Le Guide du Fromage describes a supple, unctuous, mild paste with dairy, hay and nut notes.
Gewurztraminer is the classic answer: French Wikipedia says Munster goes with Riesling and above all Gewurztraminer, including late-harvest and noble-rot bottlings. A regional guide, Je Visite Alsace, calls Gewurztraminer the royal match, Pinot Gris a more discreet one, and advises against tannic reds.
Yes. Le Guide du Fromage lists one appellation, Munster or Munster-Géromé, with the two names coming from the Alsace side (Munster) and the Lorraine side (Géromé, from Gérardmer) of the Vosges.
It can. Le Guide du Fromage says caraway seeds are optionally added to the curd, and French Wikipedia says the cheese may be eaten with caraway; the cheese is otherwise the same.
No. Wikipedia says it has no protected designation because each farm has its own recipe, and Château Landsberg's guide also lists it as outside the AOP, AOC and IGP schemes.
Wikipedia gives the Alemannic roots: barg means mountain and käss means cheese, so mountain cheese.
Le Guide du Fromage says it is a spin-off of Munster: a cheese made to keep, produced in the same farms when milk is abundant and Munster sales are slow.
A cheese made since 2015 mainly from Vosgienne cow milk, created by breeders in the Vosges massif to support the breed, per ici (formerly France Bleu) and Le Guide du Fromage.