Abondance valley, Gavot plateau
Cheese making began in the Middle Ages, under the impulse of the monks living in the valley . The milk thus processed, allowed to preserve food over several months. In collaboration with the farmers, a culture and an economic activity developed.
The methods of manufacture evolved over the years and ended up being definitively fixed in 1990 with the obtaining of the Designation of Origin and the Protected Designation of Origin in 1996. This recognition guarantees the respect of the terroir and the methods of production of milk and cheese, from the feeding of cows to the maturing. PDO also preserves the Abondance cow breed.
Abondance cheese is made exclusively with raw and full-fat milk from Abondance cows. In Haute-Savoie, about 70 farmers and a dozen small workshops: "fruitières" make it. Many of them are located on the territory of Evian-Abondance valley and sell their cheeses on site.