France produces over 1,000 types of cheese and has 59 PDO (Protected Designation of Origin) cheeses under EU law — more than any other country. Here is a structured guide to the major cheese families and their origins.
The Logic of French Cheese
French cheese is geographic before it is anything else — each cheese expresses its place of origin through terroir (the local soil, grass, altitude, and climate that shape the milk), the specific breed of cow, goat, or sheep, and the traditional production technique. AOC/AOP (Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée/Protégée) designation legally protects both the name and the geographical area of production, the milk source (specific cow breeds, pasture requirements), and the production method. This legal protection is why Roquefort must come from Combalou caves near Roquefort-sur-Soulzon, why Comté must be made in the Jura mountains from milk of Montbéliarde or Simmental cows, and why Camembert de Normandie must use raw, full-fat milk from Norman cows.
The Major Families and Their Regions
Normandy (soft, washed-rind/mold-ripened): Camembert de Normandie (soft, white rind, raw milk, buttery interior — the industrial “Camembert” sold internationally is a different product); Livarot (washed rind, orange exterior, strong smell, complex flavour — one of the oldest Norman cheeses, also called the “Colonel” for the five strips of sedge grass around its sides); Pont-l’Évêque (washed rind, square format, milder than Livarot); Neufchâtel (heart-shaped, white mould rind, soft interior). Burgundy and the East (firm to semi-firm): Époisses (washed in Marc de Bourgogne brandy, strongly aromatic, creamy interior — Napoleon’s favourite according to tradition); Comté (the most produced PDO cheese in France — a firm pressed cheese from the Jura, aged 4–24 months, nutty and fruity flavour that becomes more complex with age); Gruyère (similar to Comté, Swiss origin but also produced in France); Morbier (semi-firm, identifiable by the black ash line through its middle — traditionally a layer of ash separated the morning and evening milk). Auvergne and Centre (blues and semi-hard): Roquefort (blue cheese from raw sheep’s milk, matured in the Combalou limestone caves — the only PDO Roquefort must originate from and cannot be produced elsewhere); Bleu d’Auvergne and Fourme d’Ambert (cow’s milk blues from the Massif Central); Saint-Nectaire (semi-soft, volcanic terroir — the volcanic plateau of Sancy gives it a distinctive mineral character); Cantal (one of the oldest French cheeses, similar to a mild English Cheddar in format and texture). Loire Valley (goat cheeses, Chèvre): Crottin de Chavignol (small, firm goat cheese that becomes harder and sharper with age); Selles-sur-Cher (ash-coated goat cheese, Loire); Valençay (pyramid-shaped ash-coated goat cheese — legend says Napoleon broke off the top in anger at news from Egypt); Sainte-Maure de Touraine (log-shaped with a straw through the centre). Provence and South (sheep’s milk): Banon (wrapped in chestnut leaves, soft, southern character); Brebis Basque/Ossau-Iraty (from the Pyrenean Basque region — pressed, semi-hard sheep’s milk cheese with a mild, sweet flavour).
