Protected designation of origin.
Product names registered as a PDO have strong links to the place in which they are made.
Vorarlberger Bergkäse
Vorarlberger Bergkäse (mountain cheese) is permitted to bear the PDO logo.
Each step in its processing – meaning its origins plus everything that goes into making it – must take place in the region.
Because top quality comes from Austria.
One-of-a-kind
Vorarlberger Bergkäse PDO is a hard cheese made from raw milk, with no chemical additives, that matures in its natural rind for three to nine months, and in some cases for up to 24 months.
A natural product
The natural rind is rough, dry and, depending on maturity, light brownish to brownish in colour. The cheese is firm, smooth to melty and ivory to a light butter yellow.
History
Full-fat cheeses, which later developed into Bergkäse, were first made in Vorarlberg in the mid-18th century.
Processing
The small-scale farms, the natural, artisanal processing of the haymilk (milk from hay-fed cows) and the cheesemaking according to special regulations give Vorarlberger Bergkäse PDO its very special characteristics.
