Goat Cheeses of the Loire Valley

There are several French cheeses named after either the town where they are made or the place in which the milk is produced. Many of these cheeses where tradition and locale are rooted in the very identity and flavor of the product are protected in both quality and process by the French Government - these are called AOC cheeses.

The AOC cheeses of the Loire Valley (or Berry) region in the heart of France have taken on an internationally-identifiable identity. Their name and shape, in fact, have set the standard for soft ripened goat cheeses worldwide - Selles sur Cher, a disc; Valencay, a pyramid; Saint Maure de Touraine, a log; and Crottin Chavignol, a ball. The Selles sur Cher, Valencay, and Saint Maure each have a light dusting of vegetable ash, attracting a beneficial mold on the exterior while protecting the subtle, gentle interior of the cheese.

These fragile, young goat's milk cheeses have traditionally been made from raw milk. In the United States, however, the FDA requires raw-milk cheeses to be aged over 60 days to reduce the moisture content for potentially harmful bacteria. As a result, the Loire Valley goat cheeses exported and consumed in the US are made exclusively from pasteurized milk. Fromagerie Jacquin in the town of La Vernelle (next to Selles sur Cher) has been producing and maturing goat cheeses for over 50 years and is the foremost supplier of these cheeses to the US Market.

I must admit that the Loire Valley goat's milk cheeses exported to the US had never charted on my top 10 list of cheeses creating a truly memorable experience. The "pasteurization handicap" had put these cheeses on a utilitarian platform, always second best to their raw milk counterparts. My visit to Fromagerie Jacquin, however, didn't just change my opinion of pasteurized, soft-ripened goat's milk cheeses - it prompted a complete re-evaluation of our current supply chain and maturing methods.

At Fromagerie Jacquin, I participated in a blind tasting of cheeses at several different age profiles, some raw-milk, others pasteurized. Going into this challenge, I felt confident that my years of tasting pasteurized Loire Valley cheeses and rock-solid expectations couldn't be shaken. I couldn't have been more wrong. Not only was the appearance of these products virtually identical, the flavors followed suit, dancing circles around my acuity and humble palate.

Over the next few months, we experimented shipping these cheeses by air at several different ages. The goal? To find the delicate balance between the maturation time at Jacquin and in our caves. The cheeses needs time at Jacquin to seal in their identity; here at Artisanal, our Affineur, Alex Garcia, finishes and refines the process in our caves. Each and every shipment, our staff and I are eager to see how the are received, matured and then tasted. The results? Outstanding. Our Aged Crottin is reminiscent of the dense, aged crottins of the local fromageries in Paris. Our Selles sur Cher, Valencay, and Saint Maure have been jointly matured to look and taste the way Americans can only see at Artisanal…or on your next visit to the Loire Valley!