Saint-Nectaire AOP French Cheese

Saint-Nectaire AOP French Cheese

WASHED-RIND · COW MILK · AGED 8+ WEEKS · AOP

Raw-milk semi-soft from Auvergne with mushroom, salted butter, and hay.

Saint-Nectaire is one of France’s oldest farmhouse cheeses, made from cow’s milk on the volcanic high pastures of the Auvergne. Traditional fermier wheels are aged on rye straw in cool cellars for at least eight weeks. The natural rind takes on a mottled grey, white, and tan coat that smells of mushrooms and damp stone.

The paste is supple and ivory. It yields just slightly under the knife, with a smooth break and a faint chalk through the center on younger wheels that fades to a buttery cream line as the cheese ripens. On the palate it leads with fresh cream and salted butter, then pulls into cellar mushroom, wet hay, and a quiet hazelnut underneath. The finish is mid-length and clean, holding the earthy note for a beat before fading.

This is the cheese that built the Auvergne’s reputation. A fresh wheel in good condition is what every other semi-soft natural-rind from the region is measured against.

Ingredients

Cow’s milk, salt, lactic cultures, animal rennet.

(Fermier wheels use raw milk; laitier versions may use thermized or pasteurized milk. Confirm on the specific wheel.)

Dietary notes

Contains milk. Not vegetarian (animal rennet). Gluten-free. Not vegan. Contains lactose (less in longer-aged wheels). Keep refrigerated; serve at cool room temperature.