Abondance AOP

Abondance is the great cheese of the Chablais. A medium wheel with a characteristic concave heel, an amber to brown rind, a supple, fruity paste that smells of hazelnut and butter. More characterful than reblochon, it is a cheese with personality, and the base of the local speciality, berthoud. It has held an AOC since 1990, which became an AOP in 1996.

A cheese born at the abbey

Abondance owes its name to the village, the valley and the Chablais cattle breed all at once. Its history goes back to the Middle Ages, around the Abbey of Abondance. From the 13th century, the abbey’s canons organised cheese production in a valley isolated in the mountains. The cheese became the wealth of the place and a currency of exchange. This monastic lineage explains the keeping form of the cheese: a paste that holds and travels, designed to last the winter and move around.

Raw milk, semi-cooked paste, copper vat

Abondance is made from raw whole milk, in a copper vat. The milk comes only from Abondance, Tarentaise (Tarine) or Montbéliarde cattle. It is a pressed, semi-cooked paste: the curd is heated moderately before being pressed, which gives a firmer paste than reblochon but softer than beaufort.

Ageing lasts at least 100 days, on spruce boards, where the wheel is turned and rubbed every two days. It is this long ageing that develops the rind and concentrates the aromas. The older the wheel, the stronger the taste.

The Abondance breed, a local cow

Behind the cheese there is a cow: the Abondance breed, with its mahogany coat and white-ringed eyes, perfectly suited to the slopes and long transhumances. It gives a rich milk well suited to pressed pastes. You also find it in the rules for reblochon, beaufort and Tomme de Savoie. See the Cheeses of Savoie page to place abondance among the other AOP and IGP cheeses.

Tasting and cooking it

At the table, abondance is served at room temperature, at the end of a meal or on a board. Its paste melts well, which makes it a good cooking cheese. Its main use is berthoud, where it is doused with white wine and baked. It also goes into some fondues. For wine, a dry Savoie white or a roussette suits it well, on the Savoie wines page.

Discovering it in the Abondance valley

The cheese is best discovered in its valley, between Abondance, La Chapelle-d’Abondance and Châtel. Several farms and cooperatives open their ageing cellars and offer tastings and visits. To see it made and tasted on the spot, see also the dedicated activity abondance cheese on the Abondance destination, which details the farm and alpine-pasture visits.