the strong comeback of the villarde cow in the Vercors

Posted

Video length: 4 mins.

FRANCE 3

Article written by

M. Justet, S. Pichavant, P. Gueny – France 3

France Televisions

Abandoned for a time due to lack of productivity, the villarde cow is gradually re-developing in the Vercors. Its milk is used to make Vercors-Sassenage blue cheese, a protected designation of origin (AOP).

On the heights of the Vercors massif, the villarde cow is gradually making its return to the meadows. “She is more beautiful than the others”, launches Sébastien Revol, breeder at the Ferme de la Cime du Mas, quite chauvinistic. A breed that comes from afar. For lack of productivity, it was abandoned 40 years ago. “It’s nice to see that the race is revived”, admits Sébastien Revol who was one of those who helped to save it. In 1996, with his father, they were the only ones to believe in this cow.

Bleu du Vercors-Sassenage, a locally acclaimed PDO

This cow produces twice as much milk as the most popular dairy cows. Less quantity, but quality to allow the manufacture of one of the emblems of the region: the blue of Vercors-Sassenage, an AOP. In the Revol family business, Anne, Sébastien’s wife, is in charge of the shop and ensures that the cheeses mature properly. In the neighboring village cooperative, the product is very popular. So much so that 500 blues are produced every day by the cooperative, and the director does not intend to stop there. It only remains for it to make itself known beyond the borders of the Vercors to gain a little notoriety.


source site-13