Agriculture and Beaufort PDO

At Aussois, agriculture is still very much alive. The milk produced is transformed into Beaufort PDO cheese. Mountain farming requires special know-how. Tending meadows and mountain pastures, milking cows at altitude, making cheese... Come and meet the farmers, see the herds in the mountain pastures and taste the quality products made by passionate mountain people, some of whom are "double-active": farmer and ski instructor, for example.

Maintaining meadows and mountain pastures, milking cows at altitude, making cheese

Farming in Aussois

Milk, cheese, honey...

In the last century, few families did not have animals, cows, goats or sheep. The habitat was built according to the agricultural life, a history to discover at the Arche d'Oé.

Today, agriculture is still very much alive at Aussois and Haute Maurienne Vanoise. Most farmers supply the milk used to make Beaufort cheese, nicknamed "the prince of Gruyères". This cheese has had a Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) since 1968. Local milk is also used to make Bleu de Bonneval sur Arc, butter and yoghurts, all of which can be purchased from the Coopérative laitière sales outlets at Haute Maurienne Vanoise, including Aussois in the heart of the village.

Herds of sheep and cows graze at altitude throughout the summer, helping to maintain the landscape. In summer, you'll come across them hiking along the Rateau d'Aussois. In spring and autumn, the cows are closer to the village, where the meadows benefit from an ancestral irrigation system: for centuries, water has been collected from the torrents and transported to the meadows via canals and wooden pipes. A traditional system that is still used, maintained and renovated.

Among the other local products, you can taste the local honey and even visit the honey factory in summer and winter, but also the beers of the Brasserie d'Oé, brewed in the heart of the village with the water of the Vanoise.

At Haute Maurienne Vanoise, a number of alpine farms welcome you to discover their hard but beautiful lives, and the products they are proud of. Farmers will be happy to tell you all about their work, milking, haymaking, calving, patous, wolves...

The cows

Tarines and Abondances

At Aussois and Haute Maurienne Vanoise, a large proportion of the cows' milk is processed into Beaufort, an exceptional cheese that provides a fair return for the work carried out by the farmers.

The production of Beaufort cheese meets strict specifications. The milk can only come from two breeds of Alpine cows: Tarine and Abondance.

The Tarine has a uniformly tawny brown coat, black mucous membranes, a black muzzle and eye rims. Its lyre-shaped horns are white with black tips. 1,30 m at the withers for 600 to 800 kg. A magnificent cow whose natural "make-up" enhances its beauty.

TheAbondance has a red mahogany dress, matched "glasses", a mask, a belly, a tail and the end of the white legs. 1,30 m at the withers for 600 to 700 kg. With its two colors, it is easy to spot in the middle of a herd of Tarines.

They are hardy breeds and originate from the mountains. The cows spend several months outside in the mountain pastures, without fearing the weather or bad weather. Good walkers, they are solid and robust.

Abondance cow whose milk is used to make Beaufort cheese.
Easily recognizable by its buff-colored coat, the "Alpina" goat, originally from Savoie, offers good dairy qualities, so you're sure to come across it at Aussois !

The goats

The goats you'll come across at Aussois are most often of the Alpina breed, which originated in Savoie. They are easily recognized by their buff-colored coat. A stocky, sturdy animal, Alpina goats have good dairy qualities and a great sense of adaptation to altitude and its sometimes harsh climatic conditions.

Aussois goat cheeses at the Coopérative laitière.

Sheep

Herds and patous: some reflexes to adopt

Sheep at Aussois and Haute Maurienne Vanoise are often of the Thônes and Marthod breeds. Their main quality is their resistance. They spend 3 to 4 months at liberty in the highest pastures, and are the best allies for landscape and alpine pasture maintenance.

With their spiral horns, their white coat, their black muzzle and "glasses", they are simply beautiful. But... don't approach them to take a picture! They are jealously guarded by the patous, dogs of protection charged to take care of their safety. Patous dogs who will bark if they see you coming towards the herd. In this case, stop, stay calm and turn back without making any sudden gesture. In general, when you see a flock of sheep, go around the flock and keep your distance. If you have a dog (they are not allowed in the heart of the Vanoise National Park), keep it on a leash. If you are on a mountain bike, get off the bike and walk alongside.

 

 

Sheep at Aussois and Haute Maurienne Vanoise are often of the Thônes and Marthod breeds.

Passionate men and women

to offer you the best

At Aussois, and on the other stations of Haute Maurienne Vanoise, farmers are often double-active.

Double-active

Your ski instructor may also be a farmer!

At Aussois, and in the other resorts of Haute Maurienne Vanoise, farmers are often double-active. They look after their livestock and their farm, and they also have a second job, often linked to tourism: ski instructor, ski patroller, mountain leader...

This particularity is also reflected in the local school curriculum: the vocational high school in Saint-Michel de Maurienne, the closest high school toAussois, offers dual training courses for high school students (a "winter" job related to tourism and a "summer" job related to the building trades).

The Coop

Dairy cooperative Haute Maurienne Vanoise

A collective system created in 1954, the Lanslebourg Cooperative merged between 1966 and 2008 with the cooperatives of the other villages to form the agricultural unit represented by the Haute-Maurienne Vanoise Dairy Cooperative.

Today, it belongs to 40 farmers. They entrust the professionals of their Cooperative with the collection of milk, its transformation into Beaufort PDO or Bonneval Blue, the maturing and the marketing of the cheeses.

Take advantage of your stay at Aussois to visit the cooperative in Val Cenis-Lanslebourg (20 minutes by car). You can discover the magnificent maturing cellars and watch Beaufort being made in the morning. A sensory experience for all the family!

Reservation for the visit

Take advantage of your stay at Aussois to visit the cooperative.
Terroir de Maurienne logo
On the spot or at home, the Haute Maurienne in your plate!

Do you miss the Haute Maurienne and its culinary wealth? From your home, place your order via the platform Terroir de Maurienne and receive the good products that you enjoyed and tasted during your vacations in our villages!

A real showcase for the valley's farmers and craftsmen, their know-how and their work, Terroir de Maurienne is a way for these producers to promote their products in a short circuit.

An ethical charter common to all the members of the project guarantees a production carried out in the rules and the respect of the environment and the territory.

Your point of sale in Aussois

Access to online sales

The cheese making process includes 9 steps
  • Milk storage limited in time
  • Maturation of milk with ferments to develop lactic bacteria
  • The renneting and curdling process which transforms the milk from a liquid to a solid state
  • Decanting to separate the solid matter from the whey
  • Stirring and heating to drain the curd grains
  • Moulding in a curd form
  • Pressing and turning remove the serum from the cheese
  • Salting in brine or with dry salt
  • Refining, a crucial stage that gives all its character to the products
The cheese making process includes 9 steps

Cheeses

The Beaufort

Also known as the "Prince of Gruyères", Beaufort is produced from raw, whole milk. Since 1968, it benefits from an Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée (AOC) which imposes very strict specifications including regular controls on milk producers as well as a minimum maturing period of 5 months.

It comes in the form of a wheel weighing about 40 kg, 11 to 16 cm high and 35 to 75 cm in diameter with a concave heel. Its paste is smooth and ivory to yellow in color. It is initially firm in the mouth and then melts.

11,000 wheels of Beaufort cheese are produced every year by the Cooperative de Haute Maurienne Vanoise. Each one is made on site at Val Cenis-Lanslebourg with the 5 million liters of milk collected annually from Modane to Bonneval sur Arc. Summer Beaufort and Winter Beaufort delight the taste buds of even the most discerning gourmets!

At Aussois, agriculture is still very much alive. The milk produced is processed into Beaufort PDO cheese.
Bleu de Termignon is so rare that it's often sold before it's even made! This mild, blue-veined cheese with its natural rind is produced exclusively in the mountain pastures of Val Cenis-Termignon.

The blue of Termignon

Termignon blue cheese is so rare that it is often sold before it is even made! This mild, blue-veined cheese with a natural rind is produced exclusively in the mountain pastures of Val Cenis-Termignon, from the milk of herds of Tarine cows grazing at an altitude of more than 2,500 m during the summer.

It comes in the form of a cylinder weighing about 30 kg, 30 cm in diameter and 15 cm high.

It is prepared from a sour curd mixed with a curd of the day, it is matured 4 to 5 months.

The Blue of Bonneval sur Arc

The Bleu de Bonneval sur Arc is both firm and unctuous. This cheese is produced from the milk of cows fed in mountain pastures.

The maturing in the cellars (3 months minimum) gives it an incomparable taste, the freshness and the character of the high mountain.

30,000 pieces of 20 cm in diameter and 10 to 20 cm in height, weighing about 2.5 kg, are produced each year.

It is a registered trademark of the Coopérative de Haute Maurienne Vanoise

The Bleu de Bonneval sur Arc is both firm and unctuous. This cheese is produced from the milk of cows fed in mountain pastures.