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PGI — Languedoc-Roussillon
Agneau de Lozère: tender pink meat, delicate herbal flavour, reared on the dam across the Lozère heights.
Lamb from Languedoc-Roussillon, PGI (IGP) since 2008.
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Lozère is the cradle of the Blanche du Massif Central breed, a hardy ewe capable of travelling long distances to find food and perfectly adapted to its high-altitude territory. The Lozère pastoral tradition rests on the natural suckling of lambs: they suckle their mother until natural weaning, with a supplement of cereals and forage. This practice lends the meat exceptional tenderness and delicacy: silky flesh, with a fine and close texture, fragrant with scents of grass.
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It was in 1990 that the ELOVEL association (Élevage Ovin et Environnement en Lozère) brought breeders together around a local supply chain and a shared set of specifications. This collective effort led in 2008 to the recognition of Agneau de Lozère as a PGI by the European Union, crowning the perfect suitability of the Blanche du Massif Central breed to this farming system. Today, 70 farmers perpetuate this tradition across 259 communes spread over four départements — the whole of Lozère (185 communes), Cantal (33), Haute-Loire (30), and Ardèche (11). Their shared commitment: never to betray the natural rhythm of rearing on the dam.
Appearance
Pale pink carcass, pearlescent white fat, fine and close meat grain
Aroma
Subtle, aromatic, fragrant with scents of grass
Taste
Delicate, milky and herbal flavour
Texture
Silky flesh, very tender, fine fibre
in the sheepfold, within flocks of Blanche du Massif Central ewes
lambs suckle their mother until natural weaning, with a cereal- and forage-based supplement
turnout of the flock onto vast pastoral expanses, providing predominantly local nourishment
in accordance with the Agneau de Lozère PGI specifications, across the geographical area of the 259 communes
supervised by the certifying body Qualisud, within a PGI-approved supply chain
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Agneau de Lozère lends itself to any method of cooking, but it is when slowly oven-roasted — with a few cloves of garlic and garrigue herbs, thyme, rosemary, bay — that it reveals all its nobility. The leg of lamb, the benchmark cut, is served pink at the centre, its melting meat releasing its milky, herbal aromas.
Briskly pan-fried cutlets, seared quickly to seal in their juices, are served with a potato gratin or a southern ratatouille. Lozère tradition also prizes spring stew, simmered with spring vegetables and a splash of dry white wine.
Wine pairings: a Languedoc red (Faugères, Saint-Chinian) with supple tannins, or a structured Cahors for roasting cuts.
Since: 2008
Area covered: 259 communes — Lozère, Cantal, Haute-Loire, Ardèche
Key requirements: Blanche du Massif Central breed, natural suckling under the dam until weaning, cereal and forage supplementation, grazing
Association
Wholesaler
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Languedoc Lozère Viande presents itself as the company responsible for marketing products from the PGI (IGP) Agneau de Lozère sector: the sixty or so livestock farmers of the ELOVEL association are grouped within the CELIA cooperative, which collects the animals from the farms before they are processed by Languedoc Lozère Viande. A subsidiary of the Célia cooperative, the company operates a cutting plant connected by rail to the SEM Abattoir du Gévaudan slaughterhouse in Antrenas (Lozère), where the Elovel association's PGI Agneau de Lozère lambs are notably slaughtered.
The plant produces fresh portioned meat, minced steak, and frozen meat, sold to regional supermarkets and institutional catering services.
| Address | Avenue de la Méridienne, 3 impasse du Géant, 48100 Antrenas, France |
| +33 4 66 32 00 82 | |
| languedoclozereviande.fr | |
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Part of the production is certified organic, since 2005. |
