Publication of an application pursuant to Article 50(2)(a) of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council on quality schemes for agricultural products and foodstuffs

(2014/C 364/06)

This publication confers the right to oppose the application pursuant to Article 51 of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 (1).

SINGLE DOCUMENT

COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 510/2006

on the protection of geographical indications and designations of origin for agricultural products and foodstuffs  (2)

‘WEIßLACKER’/‘ALLGÄUER WEIßLACKER’

EC No: DE-PDO-0005-0986-10.4.2012

PGI ( ) PDO ( X )

1.   Name

‘Weißlacker’/‘Allgäuer Weißlacker’

2.   Member State or Third Country

Germany

3.   Description of the agricultural product or foodstuff

3.1.   Type of product

Class 1.3. Cheeses

3.2.   Description of product to which the name in (1) applies

‘Weißlacker’ is a rindless, semi-soft cheese with a whitish, varnish-like smear. It is cut into cubes with sides between 11 and 13 cm long and weighs about 1 to 2 kg, or 0,5 kg when packaged in smaller pieces. The surface is white to yellow in colour and covered with a runny, varnish-like smear. No actual rind forms. The cheese is pale and whitish on the inside. It is fatty but not gooey. The holes in the cheese ensure that it matures uniformly throughout. Its flavour is very spicy and slightly hot and its odour is specific to this type of cheese. The fat content in the dry matter is generally 45 % but can also be 40 or 50 %. The dry matter content is between 45 and 49 %, depending on the level of fat, and the salt content is about 5 %. This authentic Allgäu cheese is made only from pasteurised cow’s milk, salt, specific cultures and rennet.

3.3.   Raw materials (for processed products only)

Milk from cows reared in the geographical area

3.4.   Feed (for products of animal origin only)

The fresh or preserved vegetation of the pasture and meadow land in the geographical area is a key part of the cows’ feed.

At least 70 % of the cows’ feed must come from the production area.

3.5.   Specific steps in production that must take place in the defined geographical area

The milk must be produced and processed and the cheese made, stored and matured within the described geographical area.

3.6.   Specific rules concerning slicing, grating, packaging, etc.

—

3.7.   Specific rules concerning labelling

—

4.   Concise definition of the geographical area

‘Weißlacker’ is produced in both the region of Swabia and the rural districts of Ravensburg and Bodenseekreis located in Baden-Württemberg.

5.   Link with the geographical area

5.1.   Specificity of the geographical area

‘Weißlacker’ was produced for the first time by the Kramer brothers in Wertach (Allgäu) in 1874. In 1876 they were even awarded a royal patent for ‘Weißlacker’, making it the world’s first patented cheese. To this day, ‘Weißlacker’ is not traditionally made outside the geographical area.

‘Weißlacker’ is made based on the particular psychrophilic lactic acid bacteria cultures which have been cultivated for centuries and are to this day used only in the geographical area. The knowledge of how to cultivate these cultures was developed in Allgäu and is still limited to the region of Swabia in Bavaria and the neighbouring rural districts in Baden-Württemberg. Moreover, the long storage period entails particular production requirements which have been handed down from one generation of cheesemakers in Allgäu to another. For this reason the knowledge of how to make the cheese has never left the geographical area.

The feed of the region’s cows is also based on typical alpine flora.

5.2.   Specificity of the product

The particular qualities of ‘Weißlacker’ are obtained using specific psychrophilic bacteria cultures which, at the end of the maturing period, form a runny, varnish-like smear found in no other cheese. This smear forms once the cheese has been matured at a temperature of 6 to 8 °C for 12 to 15 months. The high salt content is also typical of ‘Weißlacker’.

The particularly spicy flavour and odour of ‘Weißlacker’, which has a unique, hearty character resulting from the desired breakdown of fats, make it quite unlike other cheeses. ‘Weißlacker’ is held in high regard by consumers because of these qualities.

5.3.   Causal link between the geographical area and the quality or characteristics of the product (for PDO) or a specific quality, the reputation or other characteristic of the product (for PGI)

The flavour and odour and particular characteristics of this cheese stem from the traditional production process and the expertise held only by the dairies of the region. The special qualities of ‘Weißlacker’ are also the result of the region’s typical vegetation on which the cows are fed in the production area. The particular cultures which have always been used in this geographical area alone are directly responsible for the unique, distinctive flavour of ‘Weißlacker’.

Reference to publication of the specification

(Article 5(7) of Regulation (EC) No 510/2006 (3))

http://register.dpma.de/DPMAregister/geo/detail.pdfdownload/21450

(1)  OJ L 343, 14.12.2012, p. 1.

(2)  OJ L 93, 31.3.2006, p. 12. Replaced by Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012.

(3)  See footnote 2.