Map of major AOC cheeses – the size of the symbol equates to the size of production

This is a list of French cheeses documenting the varieties of cheeses, a milk-based food that is produced in wide-ranging flavors, textures, and forms, which are found in France. In 1962, French President Charles de Gaulle asked, "How can you govern a country which has two hundred and forty-six varieties of cheese?"[1] There is immense diversity within each variety of cheese, leading some to estimate between 1,000 and 1,600 distinct types of French cheese.[2] French cheeses are broadly grouped into eight categories, 'les huit familles de fromage'.[2]

Protected designation of origin

Under the Common Agricultural Policy of the European Union, certain established cheeses, including many French varieties, are covered by a protected designation of origin (PDO), and other, less stringent, designations of geographical origin for traditional specialities, such as the EU Protected Geographical Indication (PGI). The systems has largely replaced national systems, such as the French appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) system, as any cheese registered as a PDO or PGI can not use the designation AOC anymore in order to avoid confusion.[3]

French cheese production is classified under four categories, and PDO/PGI/(AOC) rules dictate which category or categories each protected cheese may be assigned to:[4]

  • Fermier: farmhouse cheese, which is produced on the farm where the milk is produced.
  • Artisanal: producer producing cheese in relatively small quantities using milk from their own farm, but may also purchase milk from local farms.
  • Coopérative: dairy with local milk producers in an area that have joined to produce cheese. In larger coopératives quantities of cheese produced may be relatively large, akin to some industriel producers (many may be classed as factory-made[5]).
  • Industriel: factory-made cheese from milk sourced locally or regionally, perhaps all over France (depending on the AOC/PDO regulations for specific cheeses).

Some cheeses are classified, protected, and regulated under French law. The majority are classified as Appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC), the highest level of protection. Some are also protected under the less stringent but still legally regulated designation Label Régional (LR). A few French cheeses are protected under the European Union's Protected Geographic Indication designation (PGI). Many familiar generic types, like Boursin, are not covered, while others originally from other countries, such as Emmental cheese, may have certain varieties protected as a French cheese. This list differs from those of Chundi status.

Cheese Year designated appellation Producing region Type of milk Designation
Abondance 1990 Haute-Savoie Cow PDO
Banon 2003 Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Goat PDO
Beaufort 1968 Savoie Cow PDO
Bleu d'Auvergne 1975 Auvergne Cow PDO
Bleu des Causses 1979 Midi-Pyrénées Cow PDO
Bleu de Gex Haut-Jura / Bleu de Septmoncel 1977 Franche-Comté Cow PDO
Bleu du Vercors-Sassenage 1998 Rhône-Alpes Cow PDO
Brie de Meaux 1980 Île-de-France Cow PDO
Brie de Melun 1980 Île-de-France Cow PDO
Brillat-Savarin 2015 Burgundy Cow PGI
Brocciu Corse or Brocciu 1983 Corsica Sheep PDO
Brousse du Rove 2018 PDO
Cabécou 1988 Midi-Pyrénées Goat AOC
Cancoillotte n/a Franche-Comté Cow LR
Cantal, Fourme de Cantal 1956 Auvergne Cow PDO
Camembert de Normandie 1983 Normandy Cow AOC
Cazelle de Saint Affrique n/a Midi-Pyrénées, Aveyron Department Sheep PDO
Chabichou du Poitou 1990 Poitou-Charentes Goat PDO
Chaource 1970 Champagne-Ardenne Cow PDO
Charolais 2010 PDO
Chevrotin 2003 PDO
Comté 1952 Franche-Comté Cow PDO
Crottin de Chavignol/Chavignol 1976 Centre-Val de Loire Goat PDO
Emmental de Savoie n/a Savoie Cow PGI
Emmental français est-central n/a Franche-Comté Cow PGI
Époisses 1991 Burgundy Cow PDO
Faisselle Rians Cow, Goat, Sheep
Fourme d'Ambert 1972 Auvergne Cow PDO
Fourme de Montbrison 1972 Auvergne Cow PDO
Gruyère 2018[6] central eastern regions Cow PGI
Laguiole 1961 Auvergne Cow PDO
Langres 1991 Champagne-Ardenne Cow PDO
Livarot 1972 Normandy Cow PDO
Mâconnais 2006 Burgundy Goat PDO
Maroilles or Marolles 1976 Nord-Pas-de-Calais Cow PDO
Mimolette n/a Nord-Pas-de-Calais Cow LR
Mont d'or, or Vacherin Mont d'Or du Haut-Doubs 2006 Franche-Comté Cow PDO
Morbier 2000 Franche-Comté Cow PDO
Munster or Munster-Géromé 1969 Alsace and Vosges départements in Lorraine Cow PDO
Neufchâtel 1969 Normandy Cow PDO
Ossau-lraty 1980 Aquitaine Sheep PDO
Pélardon 2000 Languedoc-Roussillon Goat PDO
Picodon 1983 Rhône-Alpes Goat PDO
Pont-l'Évêque 1976 Normandy Cow PDO
Pouligny-Saint-Pierre 1972 Centre-Val de Loire Goat PDO
Raclette de Savoie 2015 PGI
Reblochon or Reblochon de Savoie 1958 Savoie and Haute-Savoie Cow PDO
Rigotte de Condrieu 2008 Lyon Goat PDO
Rocamadour 1996 Midi-Pyrénées Goat PDO
Roquefort 1925 Midi-Pyrénées Sheep PDO
Sainte-Maure de Touraine 1990 Centre-Val de Loire Goat PDO
Saint-Marcellin 2010 Rhône-Alpes Cow PGI
Saint-Nectaire 1955 Auvergne Cow PDO
Saint-Félicien n/a Rhône-Alpes Cow LR
Salers 1979 Auvergne Cow PDO
Selles-sur-Cher 1975 Centre-Val de Loire Goat PDO
Soumaintrain 2014 PGI
Tome des Bauges 2002 Savoie Cow PDO
Tome fraîche n/a Auvergne and Aubrac Cow AOC
Tomme de Savoie n/a Savoie Cow PGI
Tomme des Pyrénées n/a Midi-Pyrénées Cow PGI
Trou du Cru n/a Burgundy, Côte-d'Or Department Cow AOC
Valençay 1998 Centre-Val de Loire Goat PDO
Cheese seller in France

Other cheeses

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Les Mots du Général, Ernest Mignon (1962))
  2. 1 2 "Quelles sont les grandes familles de fromages? – Module fromage – Sommaire – Tout savoir sur le fromage – Fromages et Nutrition – Institut Fromages & Santé". Institut-fromages-et-sante.com. 2009-02-25. Archived from the original on 2013-01-26. Retrieved 2014-03-12.
  3. ↑ "L'Appellation d'origine protégée; L'Appellation d'origine contrôlée" (PDF). INAO (in French).
  4. ↑ Masui, T.; Tomoko, Y.; Hodgson, R.; Robuchon, J. (2004). French Cheeses. DK. ISBN 1-4053-0666-1.
  5. ↑ Barthélemy, Roland; Sperat-Czar, Arnaud (2004). Cheeses of the world. Hachette Illustrated (London). ISBN 1-84430-115-X.
  6. ↑ "Gruyère". European Union. Retrieved 26 September 2021.
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