Carpentras has become one of my destinations in Provence.  It is home to one of my favorite restaurants, Chez Serge, to one of my favorite patisseries, Patisserie Jouvaud, AND to the best cheese shop in all of Provence, La Fromagerie du Comtat.  This gorgeous shop is owned and operated by Master Fromager Affineur, Claudine Vigier. 

Claudine is extremely knowledgeable about cheese and is so friendly and nice.  She is always happy to help me choose an assortment of cow’s milk, goat’s milk and sheep’s milk cheeses that are at the perfect stage of ripeness for my events.  Not only does Claudine sell an incredible variety of cheeses from France and other areas, but she is also an affineur, or ager, of cheeses.  Claudine buys cheeses that are very young and then ages them until they are at the perfect stage of ripeness.  Claudine adds her own touches, too – sometimes adding peppercorns or lavender to the goat cheeses to give them a particular flavor. 

Claudine is also quite famous in France for inventing the professional cheese knife, designed with non-professionals in mind, as well.  This knife was created by Forge de Laguiole, a top name in professional knives in France.  The knife is designed to give cheeses a nice, even cut without the cheese sticking to the knife.  The knife has a beautiful olive wood handle and is sturdy enough to cut all types of cheese.   

La Fromagerie du Comtat is located at 23 place de la Mairie 84200 – CARPENTRAS. Tél : 04 90 60 00 17

Valencay is a raw goat’s milk cheese from central France.  It is in the shape of a pyramid without its top.  (Legend has it that Napoleon took his sword and cut off the top because it reminded him of the pyramids in Egypt.) It is typically aged for at least 3-5 weeks but can be aged for longer.  It has an ash coating to facilitate the development of mold.  It has AOC certification. This cheese sells for about $27 per pound.

I recently discovered this luscious triple cream pasteurized cow’s milk cheese from the Ile-de France region.  It is a subtle cheese with a gentle mushroom flavor.  It pairs well with a sparkling wine.  It can be found at Oxbow Cheese Merchant and sells for about $22.50 per pound.

This is a cow’s milk cheese that comes from the Dauphine area of France, just north of Provence.  It is very creamy, mild, acidic and salty.  It is best when aged about six weeks.  It pairs well with a nice Gigondas wine.

This is a triple cream cow’s milk cheese from Burgundy.  It has 75% butterfat.  This cheese is soft-ripened with a bloomy white rind and a pale yellow, butter-like pate.  It is very mild in flavor and creamy.  It sells for $20/lb.  Suggested pairings are Champagne and sparkling wines.

This small, round, white goat’s milk cheese is named after the Rove breed of goats, believed to be one of the oldest breeds of goats in France.  It is sold when it is only 2-3 days old.  It is prized because the Rove goats produce a much smaller amount of milk than do other breeds.  The milk is full of the flavors of wild herbs and flowers.  It pairs well with a light sancerre or Sauvignon Blanc.

I recently visited the French Alps to research the cheeses from that region. I was captivated by the beauty of the area and the friendliness of the people who live there. I visited several artisan cheese producers and tasted cheeses such as Bleu du Vercors-Sassenage, Abondance, Beaufort, Emmental, Reblochon and Tomme de Savoie. A highlight for me was seeing the different breeds of cows and understanding which breed provided the milk for each cheese. Near Beaufort, I saw a group of Tarentaise cows being shepherded up to the mountains where they graze in the summertime. (In the winter, they stay in the barn and the milk they produce has a very different taste than in the summer). I also ate incredibly filling but delicious dishes such as raclette, berthoud, fondue, tartiflette and reblochonade. Following is more detail on some of the cheeses I found in this region:

Bleu du Vercors-Sassenage
This pasteurized cow’s milk mountain cheese is made from the milk of Montbeliard, Abondance and Villard cows. Penicillium roqueforti has been added and the cheese is aged for several months in controlled conditions. Originally made by monks, this cheese has a sweet, soft, consistent taste. It pairs well with sauternes and late harvest wines. This cheese has AOC-certification.

Abondance
This raw-milk mountain cheese is produced in the Haute-Savoie region of France using a blend of milk from the Abondance, Montbeliard and Tarine breeds of cows. This semi-hard cheese has a strong smell and a complex, but balanced flavor. It has a slight sweetness to it. Abondance is made in wheels that usually weigh about 20 pounds. It is aged for at least 90 days in a temperature and humidity-controlled cellar. The surface is rubbed with coarse salt and wiped with brine on alternating days during the aging process. Abondance is an AOC-certified cheese. One of the ways the people in the region enjoy Abondance cheese is in the melted cheese and potato dish, Berthoud.

Beaufort
This mountain cheese is produced in the Savoie region of France using raw milk from the cows of the Beaufort area – the Tarines or the Tarentaises. Both Summer Beaufort and Winter Beaufort cheeses are made. In the summertime, the cows are led to graze up in the montains on the alpine grasses, herbs and flowers. In the wintertime, the cows have to stay in the barn to protect them from the heavy snows of the region. In my opinion, the Summer Beaufort is the most flavorful, the flavor of the herbs and the grasses from the region come through in the cheese. The Summer Beaufort is also more colorful – a pale yellow compared to the Winter cheese, which is white. This cheese ages for at least four months under strict aging conditions, during which the cheese is constantly rubbed with brine. This cheese can also be left to age much longer and will develop a more complex flavor and strong aroma. This cheese is AOC-certified. The locals use this cheese in many dishes, including fondue and raclette.

Emmental
This cheese is produced in several regions of France, including parts of the French Alps. I tasted an Emmental that was made near Beaufort in the Savoie region. Emmental is normally made with pasteurized cow’s milk. This cheese is aged for several weeks, alternating among 55 degrees F, 70 degrees F and 64 degrees F conditions. The finished product resembles a Swiss cheese with holes. This cheese is great in fondue.

Reblochon
Reblochon is a fresh, youthful cheese from the Savoie Region. It is made from raw milk from the second (richer milk) milking of the Abondance, Montbeliard and Tarine cows. Affinage is normally from three to four weeks, and the resulting product is moist and smooth. (Note, however, that since Reblochon is made from raw milk, the Reblochon that is sold in the U.S. must be aged a minimum of 60 days to allow any harmful bacteria to die.) This is an AOC-certified cheese. The locals enjoy Reblochon cheese in a delicious, hardy cheese-potato-bacon dish called Tartiflette. I also really enjoyed the local specialty, Reblochonade, as well.

Tomme de Savoie
This cheese is normally made on a small farm in the Savoie region using cow’s milk. Tommes are generally small rounds of cheeses that are made when there is not enough milk to make a large cheese, such as Beaufort. Butter is normally made with the cream and cheeses are made from the remaining skimmed milk, although some whole-milk Tommes are made, too. These small rounds of cheese are allowed to age for at least four weeks. Small holes generally form on the rind and inside the cheese. The cheese is commonly semi-hard and mild in flavor.

This triple-cream cow’s milk cheese is native to Normandy and is extremely decadent. It was first made in 1930 and was named after an 18th century French gourmet and political figure. I like to serve it on a cheese plate or eat it with a sliced apple and a glass of Goosecross Cellars’ Viognier.

This is a goat’s milk cheese from the Rhone-Alpes and Provence regions of France.  The name of this cheese is from the ancient language, Langue d’Oc, and means spicy.  The goats of this mountainous region feed on the grass, shrubs, herbs and leaves of trees in this region.  Their milk forms the basis for the flavors in this cheese.  The flavor is very fresh and you can detect traces of the grasses and herbs of the region.  Serve with a nice Sauvignon Blanc. 

I was just back in the Basque Country in France and had the opportunity to taste a 10-month old version of this cheese.  It was spectacular!  This is a sheep’s milk cheese from the Midi-Pyrenees region of France.  Records of Ossau-Iraty go back to the 1^st Century BC.  It is known by various names, including Abbaye de Belloc.  It is a hard sheep’s milk cheese with a granular texture and a nutty flavor.  It has a less-salty flavor than many cheeses.  Serve it the way it is served in the Basque Country – with a flavorful cherry jam.