Hautes-Vosges Vosgienne Breed Cheeses

In the Vosges mountains, the Vosgienne cattle breed lies at the heart of an ancestral agro-pastoral system. Hardy, robust, and perfectly adapted to steep slopes and the mountain climate, it is recognizable by its black- or red-speckled coat and the white line running along its back. Once widespread (125,000 animals in 1914), the breed declined sharply throughout the 20th century due to wars and competition from more productive breeds. Today, around 10,000 animals remain, thanks mainly to the dedication of a handful of passionate farmers.
Some of these farmers still practice transhumance, leading their herds up to high-altitude pastures in spring (900–1,400 m) and bringing them back down in autumn. These meadows, rich in biodiversity — blueberries, arnica, gentian — provide raw milk of outstanding quality, aromatic and deeply linked to the terroir.
From this milk, farmers produce several traditional farmhouse cheeses, using artisanal, unpasteurized methods:
• Munster fermier: a soft cheese with a washed rind, usually matured on spruce boards for at least 21 days, sometimes flavored with caraway seeds.
• Bargkass: a pressed cheese, traditionally made in summer to preserve surplus milk. It can be aged for a long time and sometimes smoked.
• Siaskass: a sweet preparation of very fresh Munster (unstrained), served as a dessert with cream, sugar, and kirsch.
These cheeses fully express the richness of the landscapes and the seasons. Produced in small quantities (herds of 20–30 cows), they are mainly consumed locally and rely on preserved traditional know-how.