Beaufort Alpage production is an old, traditional form of cheese making. Mons' producer grazes his cattle throughout the summer in the mountains of the Vanoise National Park in the Haute Savoie. They make cheese twice a day in a traditional copper vat which produces just two cheeses at a time. They create all their own ingredients for the recipe, including their rennet and starter cultures. It's these and the fabulous milk quality that give the cheese its supple texture and complex flavour. These huge wheels are stored in the farm's ice house - a stone walled maturing room, cooled by a regular collection of ice from the local glacier - before being brought for finishing in Mons' own maturing rooms in the Loire. If you're a hard cheese lover and haven't tried this recipe yet, you're in for a rare and brilliant treat.