![geschützt, Vorarlberg Milch geschützt, Vorarlberg Milch](/uploads/media/660x/05/1895-gesch%C3%BCtzt%2C%20Vorarlberg%20Milch.png?v=1-0)
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.
![Bergkäse, Vorarlberg Milch](/uploads/media/700x/08/768-Bergk%C3%A4se%2C-Vorarlberg-Milch.png?v=1-0)
Because top quality comes from Austria.
![Käsepflege, Vorarlberg Milch](/uploads/media/1440x/04/1824-K%C3%A4sepflege%2C%20Vorarlberg%20Milch.jpg?v=1-0)
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.
![Protected designation of origin (PDO) Protected designation of origin (PDO)](/uploads/media/260x260/04/1954-ursprungsgesch%C3%BCtzt.jpg?v=1-0)