Cheese & Snow - Discovering France’s Alpine Cheese Villages

Nov 24 2025

The Alps stretches around 1200 kilometres across eight different countries and is the highest and most extensive mountain range in Europe. The portion sitting in France is located in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur regions. And at 4808 metres, Mont Blanc, sitting on the France-Italian border, is the highest mountain in the Alps range and in Western Europe as a whole. There are notable towns in the French Alps, such as Grenoble, Chamonix and Albertville, but it is the smaller villages with a long tradition of cheesemaking which really give the region its identity.
There was a huge scheme of deforestation in the Mont Blanc region of the Alps during the 14th and 15th centuries, prompted by the local lords and church authorities, and which converted the vast areas of mountainside to pasture, thus enabling dairy farming to thrive. The farmers were at the mercy of nature and had to battle with harsh weather and challenging terrain, but the methods developed have stood the test of time and have been fiercely upheld to ensure unique cheeses are still produced today using methods which are dictated by the seasonal changes.

Savoie – the main cheesemaking region of the Alps

Savoie is the most popular cheesemaking region of the French Alps, producing famous cheeses such as Abondance, Beaufort, Emmental de Savoie, Raclette de Savoie, Reblochon and Tomme de Savoie. These all benefit from the long summer weather that may feel uncharacteristic to many people who only know the Alps as a region famous for winter sports. But the snowy Alpine peaks are what really identify the region for cheese lovers and are where the heart of the cheesemaking traditions are.

The historic centre of Savoie is in the valleys, and villages such as La Roche-sur-Foron, Albertville, Montmélian, Abondance, Chamonix, Megève, Moûtiers and Bourg Saint-Maurice. And the main cheesemaking traditions are found in the more obvious sounding locations:

Abondance – The village of Abondance has named the valley, a breed of cow and of course a famous cheese. The cheese was first made by monks at the Sainte Marie d’Abondance Monastery, located near the Swiss border. The same cheese is now produced in 60 farms and 15 dairies in the area. Annual production of Abondance totals 1500 tonnes. AOC status dictates that only the Tarine, Montbéliarde and the Abondance breeds of cow can be used for Abondance, and the area in which it can be produced is exclusively in the Val d’Abondance, in the north of Haute Savoie and extending to the Swiss border.
Beaufort – The controlled designation of origin (AOC) for Beaufort covers around 450,000 hectares in the Beaufortain, Tarentaise and Maurienne valleys, plus part of the Val d’Arly. Around 11,000 cows graze in these pastures producing the 10 litres of milk required for 1Kg of Beaufort cheese. These herds stay in winter quarters until June and then take a long journey into the mountains during which herdsmen milk them twice a day using mobile milking parlours. The cheese produced from the lush summer pastures benefits from the cows grazing at an altitude of 1500metres. At the end of September the herds will descend into the valleys again for winter.

Where to learn more about cheese in the Alpine region

Other places in the Alpine region where you can visit and learn much more about the cheesemaking process include:

Cooperative Laitiere de Haute-Maurienne Vanoise – a collection of fromageries.
Beaufortain Cooperative Dairy – an interactive museum with tastings and a sales outlet close to the resort of Arêches-Beaufort.
Ladroit farm, Saint-Michel de Maurienne – a working farm open to visitors where you can view the entire cheesemaking process.
Pré Clos farm, Valloire – a similar working farm.

Alpine cheeses will always be synonymous with the snow and the quintessential mountain conditions which make melted Raclette so warm and comforting, and the nutty flavour of Abondance so delicious. And with the delicate aroma of Beaufort and the complex flavours of Tomme de Savoie too, you have a wide range of Alpine cheeses which will hit the spot with every cheese lover the world over.