Skip to main content
Support

Browse by category

All categories
Fermentation Atlas

Cheese from France, the Langres plateau and the Bassigny pastures

Langres PDOLangres

Cow milk ripens a long time with starters before a little rennet is added, so it sets mainly by lactic acid. The curd is lightly cut, moulded, drained for 24 hours, dry-salted and dried on grates. During at least 21 days of ripening (15 for the small size) the rind is rubbed with brine, often coloured with annatto (rocou). The finished cheese has a hollow on top called the fontaine. Made in 5 steps over 16 days. The longest step, ripen and rub the rind with brine, takes at least 15 days (INAO 2081). Lactic starters that set the curd and Yeasts Debaryomyces and Dipodascus (Geotrichum) dominating the fungi of the rind and core do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main stepat least 15 daysSet[langres-eu-1996]Ripen and rub the rind with brine
AciditypH 5–5.2Measured[unno2021]Ripen and rub the rind with brine

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe specification fixes the steps and minimum times, not amounts.
Cow milk · From cows fed mainly on natural grassland and local hay[langres-eu-1996]
Lactic starters[langres-eu-1996]
Rennet · Added after a long ripening of the milk; the set is mainly lactic[langres-eu-1996]
Dry salt[langres-eu-1996]
Brine with rocou (annatto) · Rubbed on the rind where needed[langres-eu-1996]
Starter: lactic starters, then rennet; lactic coagulation

Total time across the recorded steps: 16 days

Start
Drag the bar or press Play
Milk proteinGel (curd)shapes, not to countYeastsGeotrichum

What changes: Starters sour the milk slowly, then a little rennet helps it set into a soft acid curd

Step 1 of 5
Ripen the milk with starters, then add rennet
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Yeasts
Geotrichum

The registration summary describes a long ripening during which starters are added, then rennet; coagulation is lactic. Output: lactic curd.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
soft, acid curd
Colour
white

Microbes at work in this step

lactic starters sour the milk slowly before rennet is added

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

What makes this one different

Langres sets mainly by lactic souring, with only a little rennet, and it has a hollow top, the fontaine. Its rind is rubbed with brine coloured with annatto. In one study its core stayed acid, near pH 5, and the acid-sensitive rind bacteria Brevibacterium and Corynebacterium, found on other smear cheeses, were scarce on it.

Milk
Cow milk
Shape and size
Cylinder with a hollow top; in the registration, 16–20 cm across and at least 800 g, or 7.5–9 cm across and at least 150 g. Three sizes are made today.
Fat
At least 50 % fat (registration summary)
Ripening
At least 21 days, 15 days for the small size

Related ferments

Variants

  • Grand Langres16–20 cm across, at least 800 g; ripened at least 21 days
  • Petit Langres7.5–9 cm across, at least 150 g; ripened at least 15 days

Safety

The paste stays acid, near pH 5.0–5.2 in the core of retail cheeses. Hafnia paralvei isolated from Langres can form putrescine, a biogenic amine.

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

Town accounts of Langres and records of seigneurial rights point to a medieval origin. An 18th-century song by the Prior of the Dominicans of Langres mentions the cheese, and a specialist publication described it in 1874. Merchants in Langres bought young cheeses, ripened them and sent them to Paris and Geneva. Producers applied for an appellation in 1989, and it was granted by decree on 14 May 1991.

  1. [langres-eu-1996] INAO, Application for registration of the PDO Langres under Regulation (EEC) 2081/92 (registration summary, EN), eAmbrosia attachment 71423; the specification was amended in 2012 (Implementing Regulation (EU) No 762/2012), and that consolidated text was not seenspec
  2. [inao-langres] INAO, Langres product page (appellation, area, fontaine, three sizes, medieval origin)gov
  3. [unno2021] Unno R., Suzuki T., Matsutani M., Ishikawa M. 2021, Evaluation of the relationships between microbiota and metabolites in soft-type ripened cheese using an integrated omics approach, Frontiers in Microbiology 12:681185, doi:10.3389/fmicb.2021.681185paper
  4. [ami2025] Ami Y., Sugiwaka E., Kurihara S. 2025, Isolation of Hafnia paralvei FB315, a polyamine-high-producing bacterium, from aged cheese, Methods in Enzymology 715:389–406 (abstract)paper