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Centre-Val de Loire
A four-leaf clover ladle-moulded in the hills of the Perche, dusted with black ash and encircled by a silver band — a recent goat's cheese, born of a rediscovered antique mould, which today dreams of a PGI.
Goat’s cheese from Centre-Val de Loire.
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Goat farming in the Perche is documented from at least 1852, according to the agricultural census of the time. For a long time, the goat was the animal of modest households here — two to five head per farm before the war — making do with pastures that were poor from an agronomic standpoint but possessed great botanical richness, where clover grows wild. At the time, farming in the Perche was geared primarily towards horse and cattle breeding, mixed farming and, to a lesser extent, cider apple orchards; the goat's role remained economically marginal until the 1970s, when agricultural hardships prompted certain farmers to invest more heavily in it, linked to marketing their cheeses towards the Paris conurbation. A quirky detail of this long history: during the Napoleonic era, goat farming was even banned in the Perche, as the animal was deemed too harmful to oak trees, a great source of local pride.
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In the early 1990s, the region's goat producers came together with the aim of developing a distinctive, high-quality farmhouse production; spurred on by Jean-Pierre Pelletier, in 1995 they founded the Association des Fromagers Caprins Perche et Loir (AFCPL). The name of the future cheese came from a lucky find: in the archives of a dairy, the small group of producers — seven at the outset — unearthed an old earthenware mould shaped like a four-leaf clover, probably once intended for a mixed cow's-and-goat's-milk cheese, and decided to adopt it for their own production. The choice was no mere coincidence: the rather acidic Perche soil is naturally favourable to the wild growth of forage clover, a plant that the current product specification still requires to be sown in a portion of the pastures intended for the goats. As early as 1999, a working group rallied to revive the project, and this work culminated in 2005 with the creation of the Certificat de Conformité Produit (CCP) and the commercial launch of Trèfle du Perche.
For several years, Trèfle du Perche has coveted a PGI. An initial application submitted to the INAO was rejected due to insufficient renown; the association then revived its bid by stepping up promotional initiatives, backed by the Minister of Agriculture of the time, Marc Fesneau. Between 2021 and 2023, the number of member producers rose from seven to eighteen, and their average age dropped from 55 to 30, signalling genuine generational renewal across the sector. The Association des Fromagers Caprins du Perche et Loir, which is spearheading the application, is tasked with defending the product against misuse, enforcing the product specification alongside an independent certifying body, supporting producers, and coordinating the sector. On 30 January 2026, the relevant national committee of the INAO approved the product specification for the 'Trèfle du Perche' PGI — a national stage of the review process, ahead of registration by the European Commission, which has since entered the application into the eAmbrosia register. In any case, the cheese has already made a name for itself among professionals: featured on the stalls of several Meilleurs Ouvriers de France and World Champion cheesemongers, it ranked among the top ten cheeses in the world at the 2023 Mondial du fromage in Tours.
Appearance
A small, soft-paste cheese, ladle-moulded into a four-lobed mould that gives it its characteristic four-leaf clover shape with slightly rounded edges; minimum weight of 130 g and a height of 3 to 4 cm on the twelfth day after renneting. Its rind, salted and dusted with vegetable charcoal ash, is predominantly grey in colour, with a marbled, velvety, and ridged pattern; when cut, the matt, smooth interior reveals a white paste with an ivory hue.
Aroma
A well-developed palette, dominated by hints of fresh grass, ferment, and milk.
Taste
A balance of salty, then acidic and slightly bitter notes, with goaty and fermented aromas where fresh grass gives way to hay and fresh mushrooms; some aficionados also detect notes of hazelnut and forest floor.
Texture
Supple and melt-in-the-mouth.
a low dose of animal rennet, predominantly lactic coagulation, for 18 to 48 hours depending on the milk temperature.
the cheese is surface-salted with dry salt, then dusted with vegetable charcoal ash.
24 to 72 hours, at a temperature of 18 to 25 °C.
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Its picturesque shape makes it a quintessential cheeseboard cheese. It can be enjoyed mature or drier, but in moderation: taken too far, the ageing process causes it to shrivel and lose its splendour. As an aperitif, it brings its goaty freshness when paired with a chilled glass of wine — a Chenin Blanc from the Val de Loire or a light red Gamay d'Anjou pair particularly well with it, as does a poolish baguette, slender and light like the cheese. It is also found on the menus of several renowned Michelin-starred restaurants across the Loire Valley, such as Les Hauts de Loire in Veuzain-sur-Loire, Le Grand Chaume in Chaumont-sur-Loire, or Fleur de Loire in Blois.
No official quality mark obtained to date. An initial application for a PGI (IGP) had been set aside by the INAO due to insufficient renown; revived with the support of the Ministry of Agriculture, the process culminated in the approval of the product specification by the relevant national committee of the INAO at its meeting on 30 January 2026 — a national stage preceding European registration. The application, registered by the European Commission on the eAmbrosia register (file EUGI00000021917), remains under examination at this stage.
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