Division 4.5 Method of production

The milk must be produced and the cheese manufactured and matured within the geographical area.

The milk used to produce Bleu du Vercors-Sassenage must be from dairy herds made up of cows of the Montbéliard, Abondance and Villard breeds only. The animals must be fed on fodder originating in the defined geographical area. The milk used is whole cow’s milk, which may be partly skimmed. It must come from the four most recent milkings only. The cheese is made from milk heated to a maximum temperature of 76 °C and inoculated with Pénicillium roqueforti. The milk must be curdled using rennet at a temperature between 31 °C and 35 °C. The curd is stirred and poured into moulds in several layers without pressing. The cheeses are salted in their individual moulds. They must not be salted for more than three days. The cheeses mature in the ripening chamber for at least 21 days from the date of curdling; this allows them to develop in a balanced way.