Raclette du Valais AOP
Updated: 1 November 2026
Short answer: a full-fat semi-hard cheese made from raw cow's milk, produced and ripened in the canton of Valais, at least 3 months old [1].
Profile
| Feature | Details | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Milk | Raw cow's milk. Apart from cooling, the milk may not be heat-treated. | [1] Art. 7 |
| Feed | No silage or other fermented feed for the dairy cows. | [1] Art. 6 |
| Region | Canton of Valais for milk production, cheesemaking and ripening. The one exception is the Spittelmatten alp (municipality of Kandersteg, BE). | [1] Art. 2 |
| Type | Full-fat semi-hard cheese, 500 to 549 g fat per kg of dry matter. | [1] Art. 3, 4 |
| Wheel | Round, 29 to 32 cm across, 6 to 8 cm high, 4.6 to 5.8 kg. | [1] Art. 3 |
| Ingredients | Water, salt, rennet, lactic and smear cultures. | [1] Art. 9 |
| Rennet | Animal rennet from calf stomach only. | [1] Art. 9 |
| Ripening | At least 3 months at 7 to 14 °C and 88 to 96 % relative humidity, on untreated red spruce boards. Schnittkäse variant ("à la coupe" in French): at least 2 months. | [1] Art. 11 |
| Texture | smooth, supple and fine (our translation of the specification) | [1] Art. 5 |
| Taste | fresh and milky (fresh butter, fresh cream), backed by acidity, with vegetal and fruity notes to the fore (our translation) | [1] Art. 5 |
Other sources give slightly different sizes: the Swiss PDO-PGI Association 29 to 31 cm and about 5 kg [2], the Switzerland Cheese Marketing Cheesefinder 4.8 to 5.2 kg [4]. This page goes by the specification [1].
Melting
- Checked: an expert panel assesses the cheese's appearance, body, holes, taste and melting quality before it may be sold under the AOP label [5].
- Half wheel: the original recipe holds the half wheel under the heat source of a half-wheel oven, at least 6 cm away from it [6].
- Pans: the producers' body says there is nothing against melting Raclette du Valais AOP in raclette pans, as long as the cheese is not heated too strongly or for too long [7]. Swissmilk advises pasteurised-milk cheese for the electric pan grill, because raw-milk cheese loses a fair amount of fat and flavour there, and keeps raw-milk cheese for the fire or the raclette oven [8]. The two sources weigh this differently.
How to recognise it
- Side of the wheel: a place name stamped into or raised on the side shows the dairy and region, for example Bagnes 98 (Etiez/Vollèges) or Gomser 55 (Grengiols) [1] Art. 1.
- Casein mark: it carries the dairy's approval number or name, the production date and a running batch number [1] Art. 15.
- Forms of sale: whole wheel, half wheel, cut piece or slices [3].
- Where to buy: directly from cheesemakers, in retail shops, in specialist cheese shops or in larger shopping centres [7].
What to ask at the counter
- "Which name is on the side of the wheel?" It tells you the dairy [1].
- "When was the wheel made?" The production date is on the casein mark [1].
- "Do you have a half wheel?" The original recipe counts half a wheel (about 2.4 to 2.5 kg) for 8 people [6].
More: Which cheese for raclette? · Buying a raclette wheel
Sources
All accessed and checked on 1 November 2026.
- Pflichtenheft Walliser Raclette (GUB), 2026 version (PDF, in German): https://www.raclette-du-valais.ch/files/dateien/Plichtenheft%20/Raclette%20du%20Valais%20PH-Pflichtenheft_2026.pdf
- Swiss PDO-PGI Association, "Walliser Raclette AOP": https://www.aop-igp.ch/en/walliser-raclette-aop/page
- Association suisse des AOP-IGP, "Raclette du Valais AOP" (in French; forms of sale): https://www.aop-igp.ch/fr/raclette-du-valais-aop/page
- Switzerland Cheese Marketing, Cheesefinder "Raclette du Valais AOP": https://www.cheesesfromswitzerland.com/en/cheeses-from-switzerland/cheesefinder/detail/raclette-du-valais-aop
- Raclette du Valais AOP, "Herstellung" (in German): https://www.raclette-du-valais.ch/raclette-du-valais/herstellung
- Raclette du Valais AOP, "Originalrezept" (in German): https://www.raclette-du-valais.ch/rezepte/originalrezept
- Raclette du Valais AOP, "Raclettegenuss" (in German): https://www.raclette-du-valais.ch/raclettegenuss
- Swissmilk, "20 Dinge, die du über Raclette noch nicht wusstest", point 17 (in German): https://www.swissmilk.ch/de/rezepte-kochideen/20-dinge-die-du-ueber-raclette-noch-nicht-wusstest/