The Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region is a land of gastronomy that has been using its rich volcanic soils for centuries to produce excellent local products with a protected designation of origin. What about cheese? Discover five delicious Auvergne cheeses that have a protected designation of origin and will add a touch of glamour to your cheese platter during your Auvergne vacation . Whether it’s cow’s milk, goat’s milk, sheep’s milk, farmhouse cheese, matured cheese, pasteurized cheese, hard cheese, or rind cheese, with a variety of flavors and aromas, you’ll find the cheese of your dreams in Auvergne.
Its reputation is well established. Produced in an area of 1,800 km² that covers part of Cantal and Puy-de-Dôme , at medium altitude (up to 1,500 m), Saint-Nectaire is a cow’s milk cheese characterized by its circular shape, its rind covered with mold and its uncooked pressed paste. Its taste is often associated with that of hazelnut. It is one of the many AOP cheeses of the region.
Its ripening can last between 1 and 8 months. This Auvergne cheese is produced throughout the Cantal department , an area of 7,200 km2 on which the campsite in Neuvéglise in Auvergne is located . Its production site extends beyond the departmental boundaries to cover part of Haute-Loire, Aveyron and Corrèze. It takes 400 liters of cow’s milk to produce 40 kg of Fourme de Cantal.
To meet the producers of Fourme d’Ambert, you’ll need to head to the Puys and Hautes Chaumes mountain ranges in Puy-de-Dôme, and the cantons of Saint-Flour, Murat, Allanche, and Condat in Cantal. Its production area lies between 600 and 1,600 meters above sea level.
Bleu d’Auvergne, another must-have cheese from the region and the Massif Central, is inevitably associated with the small blue molds that dot its interior. It is produced in Cantal, Puy-de-Dôme, and Haute-Loire.
This raw milk Auvergne cheese is produced during the warmer months, between mid-April and mid-September. Its production area is more restricted than that of Cantal. It includes the Monts Dore, the Monts du Cantal, and the Cézallier massif. Its maturation period does not exceed 3 months. Salers has held the AOC label since 1961 and the AOP label since 2009. This Auvergne cheese is recognizable by its gray rind with a bluish tint and its blue-veined texture.
