🧀 Époisses

Époisses is a French soft cheese with a protected designation of origin (PDO, protected in the EU since 21 June 1996). It is made from whole cow's milk and has a washed rind, smooth or slightly creased and glossy, from pale orange to brick red.

Milk. The milk comes exclusively from Brune, Montbéliarde or Simmental Française cows. At least 85% of the herd's annual ration, as dry matter, is fodder produced in the production area. From turnout until at least 15 June, fresh grass makes up at least 50% of the basic ration.

How it is made. The curd is predominantly lactic. It is set in moulds after a rough cut without being broken up, and drains naturally. The cheese is dry salted and matured for at least four weeks, during which it is washed with water containing marc de Bourgogne. The brick-red colour comes from the pigmentation of surface bacteria; colorants are forbidden. Besides the milk, only rennet, harmless bacterial cultures, yeasts, moulds and salt are allowed, and coagulation uses rennet only.

Look and taste. The cheese is a cylinder in two formats: 95–115 mm across and 250–350 g, or 165–190 mm across and 700–1,100 g. Fat is at least 50% of dry matter and dry matter at least 40%. The paste is pale beige, supple, creamy, soft and slightly salty, and may be partly proteolysed in the centre depending on maturity.

Zone. Milk production, cheesemaking and maturing take place in parts of the departments of Côte-d'Or, Yonne and Haute-Marne.

Labelling. The product bears a logo with the INAO acronym, the words "Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée" and the name.

History. According to the specification summary, the cheese was created in the early 16th century by Cistercian monks in Époisses and later developed by local farmers. Brillat-Savarin called it the "king of cheeses" in 1825, and wider trade began from 1840.