This is one of the most popular French goat cheeses made in Poitou-Charente. The pastures and rolling hills of this region provide an environment that allows goats to produce a high yield of excellent quality milk. The rind is dusted with salt and wood ash which provides a lovely contrast to the pure white interior of the cheese. The centre remains chalky as the cheese softens elegantly under the increasingly wrinkly rind. The flavour when young is of lemons with a hint of nuttiness. It develops more herbaceous and aromatic flavours with an increased nuttiness as the cheese ripens.

Fromagerie Poitou Chèvre, Poitou-Charente France. It was in 1897 that farmers surrounding the Mothe Saint Héray came together to create the cooperative dairy la Mothe. During the twentieth century, the dairy specialised in cheese production, especially in goat cheese. In 1996, Poitou goat cheese, family business, took over the operation of the dairy, and is now dedicated to manufacturing goat cheeses such as Chabichou du Poitou and Ste Maure.

Country of Origin: France