Munster

Size

Type: Soft
Milk: Raw cow's milk
Rennet: Animal
Location: Alsace, France

Odette, Patrick and Luc Vincent make Munster cheese at the Ferme du Houtrou in the Val de Munster, southern Alsace.

Munster can, like many washed rind cheeses, be traced back to the Middle Ages, originally made by Benedictine monks in the Vosges mountains. Our producer's small farm sits in the sweeping valleys of Eastern Lorraine. Throughout the year, their Holstein cows are fed on homemade corn haylage. The sweet, tart smell of this fermented feed goes a long way towards explaining the boozy sweetness so characteristic of the farm's extraordinary cheese. Munster Houtrou always surprises and impresses with its range of flavours, which trip between fruity, nutty, cocoa notes and distinctly meaty, funky farmyard depths.