[2] At the start of the sixteenth century, the village was home to a community of Cistercians at Cîteaux Abbey that, according to oral legend, began production of the cheese.

[4] In 1956 a small farming couple, Robert and Simone Berthaut, decided to re-launch the production of Époisses by mobilizing the traditional skills of those who still knew how to make the cheese.

Each cheese is rinsed up to three times per week in a mixture of water and marc, and brushed by hand to spread the bacteria evenly over the surface.

The yeast and fermenting agents produce the distinctive orange-red exterior, as it develops over a period of around six weeks.

In 1991, the cheese was awarded appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) status, which states that the manufacture must follow the following rules:[3][5] Under AOC regulation, only cheese made in listed communes in the Côte-d'Or, Haute-Marne, and Yonne departments may bear the appellation.