🧀 Valençay

Valençay is a French soft cheese with a protected designation of origin (PDO, protected since 30 October 1998 according to eAmbrosia). It is made from raw whole goat's milk and has a soft, lactic, matured paste.

Milk. The milk comes from Alpine or Saanen goats or a hybrid of the two. The ration of a milking goat contains on average at least 820 kg of dry matter a year from the production area, including at least 655 kg of coarse fodder. Silage is prohibited, and the stocking rate is at most 12 goats per hectare of forage area.

How it is made. The raw whole milk is not standardised. It is matured before renneting and set by lactic coagulation with only a small amount of rennet. The curd is not pre-drained or kneaded and drains naturally in truncated-pyramid moulds without pressing. After removal from the mould, the cheese is salted and coated on every side with vegetable carbon ash. Milk production, cheesemaking and maturing all take place in the production area.

Look and taste. It is a truncated pyramid with a square base. The rind is light grey to bluish grey, obtained with vegetable carbon, and covered with surface mould; the paste is smooth, soft and china-white. The moulds have a base of 50–55 mm (large) or 40–44 mm (small), with an angle of 96–102° between base and side. Dry matter is at least 40% of the cheese weight, and at least 90 g per cheese from a large mould or 45 g from a small one. The texture is smooth and melting at the start of maturing and firmer with age. The aroma is slightly goaty, with notes of undergrowth, mushrooms and flowers.

Maturing. A cheese may leave the maturing site only with a complete rind covered with surface mould visible to the naked eye, at the earliest 11 days after renneting.

Labelling. The individual label shows the name in letters at least 1.3 times the size of the largest other characters, the words "Appellation d'Origine Protégée" and the EU PDO symbol. Cheeses from small moulds carry the word "petit" on the label.

Zone. The area covers listed communes and cantons of Cher, Indre, Indre-et-Loire and Loir-et-Cher in Berry.

History. According to the specification, goats in Berry are documented since the capitularies of Charlemagne. Talleyrand, lord of Valençay, is credited with changing the cheese's shape to the truncated-pyramid mould; the cheese reached the general market only in the 20th century.