AI-generated illustration
AOC — PDO — Burgundy
A small white cylinder standing upright on its base, matured in the bocages of Saône-et-Loire, Charolais is the caprine pride of a land thought to be devoted solely to cattle.
Goat’s cheese from Burgundy, PDO (AOP) since 2014.
AI-generated illustration
Charolais was born of a delightful contradiction: in Saône-et-Loire, the legendary home of world-renowned Charolais cattle, a goat-farming tradition took root in the rolling bocages of the pays de Charolles and Brionnais. Goat farming emerged there very early on as a complementary activity to cattle rearing, ensuring the upkeep of hedges and meadows as well as providing farm holdings with supplementary income. It was against this backdrop that Charolais was born, a raw goat's milk cheese that asserted the cheesemaking identity of a region thought to be reserved for charcuterie and meat. The appellation was recognised as an AOC in 2010, then registered as a PDO (AOP) by the European Commission in 2014.
AI-generated illustration
The production area of Charolais PDO extends across a 60-kilometre radius around Charolles, covering 287 communes spread across Saône-et-Loire (219), Loire (31), Rhône (21) and Allier (16). The milk comes exclusively from Alpine and Saanen goat breeds, fed for at least 150 days a year on grazed grass or hay sourced 100% from the geographical area, without GM crops. This bocage landscape, a pastoral transition zone between Auvergne and the Morvan, lends the milk a distinctive sensory quality, subtly herbaceous and delicate.
AI-generated illustration
Unlike Bretagne with its poultry or Alsace with its charcuterie, Bourgogne claims few goat's milk PDO cheeses at national level. Charolais has thus become the region's signature soft goat's cheese: 21 milk producers, including 14 farmhouse producers, accounted for the production of 97 tonnes of cheese in 2020. Owing to its size, Charolais is reputed to be difficult to mature: to meet this challenge, a young Parisian woman founded an affinage workshop in 1976, « La Racotière », collecting fresh cheeses from farmers to mature them — echoing the territory's former itinerant coquetiers — and thus contributed to the renown of Charolais.
Appearance
Upright, slightly barrel-shaped cylinder with a cream-coloured paste; diameter at mid-height between 60 and 70 mm, height between 70 and 85 mm. Rind covered predominantly with geotrichum, turning from beige/ivory when young to bluish (spots of penicillium) during affinage.
Aroma
Plant notes (grass, hay, fresh straw, mushroom), nuts and dried fruits (hazelnut) and butter, which develop with affinage.
Taste
Delicate and balanced, with a slight hint of acidity; numerous and persistent flavours, dominated by hazelnut and butter, which become more pronounced with affinage.
Texture
Very homogeneous paste, light in colour, fine and compact, more or less brittle depending on the degree of affinage.
The product specification defines no distinct official varieties: Charolais is one and the same cheese, enjoyed at different stages of a single continuous affinage, for which only the minimum period (16 days) is set. When younger, its rind remains ivory and its paste suppler; aged longer, it becomes covered with bluish penicillium spots and its aromas become more pronounced.
Weight at the end of the minimum affinage: 250 to 310 grams.
Whole raw milk from Alpine or Saanen goats, collected from producers across the Charolais bocage
Lactic-type curdling, lightly renneted
Ladled into cylindrical moulds without direct inoculation — a traditional method, even in small dairies
Around 3 days, with salting on all sides and manual turning twice a day
Unmoulded then dried for around 24 hours
AI-generated illustration
Since: 2010
Area covered: 60 km zone around Charolles — 287 communes (Saône-et-Loire 219, Loire 31, Rhône 21, Allier 16)
Key requirements: Whole raw milk from Alpine/Saanen goats; grass-based feed 100% sourced from the geographical area, without GM crops (≥ 150 days of grazing/year); ladle moulding, manual turning and salting; minimum 16 days' affinage; weight 250-310 g (diameter 60-70 mm, height 70-85 mm); minimum dry matter 45 g/100 g
Since: 2014
Area covered: 60 km zone around Charolles — 287 communes (Saône-et-Loire 219, Loire 31, Rhône 21, Allier 16)
Key requirements: Whole raw milk from Alpine/Saanen goats; grass-based feed 100% sourced from the geographical area, without GM crops (≥ 150 days of grazing/year); ladle moulding, manual turning and salting; minimum 16 days' affinage; weight 250-310 g (diameter 60-70 mm, height 70-85 mm); minimum dry matter 45 g/100 g
GAEC
Artisan
Artisan
Get listed and reach more lovers of regional produce.
Request a listing
