Vive La France! (And fromage🧀 and vin🍷)

It's time to celebrate fête nacional française, or as it is known here Bastille Day! Honoring freedom and solidarity, it is also a great excuse for parades, dancing, and, naturellement, good food and wine. If you can’t get to Paris this weekend, our own fromager Emilia D’Albero has some French cheese recommendations for a revolutionary good time anywhere in the world.

Brie Fermier - This Brie is rich and buttery when young but develops an intensely mushroomy flavor with notes of brussels sprouts and hay as it softens and ripens. One of the only farmstead Bries available, it's the closest we can get to real French Brie de Meaux. Perfect over a crusty baguette with a drizzle of chestnut honey.

Epoisses - Known affectionately as France's most pungent cheese, Epoisses is a stinky icon. Washed in Marc de Bourgogne from its native Burgundy, this unctuous and spoonable cow's milk cheese has a meaty, barnyardy, mushroomy flavor.

Delice de Poitou - Hailing from the Loire Valley, this oval-shaped goat’s milk cheese is sprinkled with vegetable ash, giving the cheese a stunning dark grey rind encasing a bone white paste. The flavor is tangy and herbaceous with a silky texture when ripe. 

Comté Symphonie - Ripened at the Ft. St. Antoine in the Jura region, this classic raw cow's milk cheese is widely regarded to be the most famous Comte. At 24 months of age, this cheese maintains a velvety texture with just the right amount of tyrosine crunch. This Comte strikes a balance between brown buttery and savory, with oniony, brothy notes that makes it a perfect melter.

Fourme d'Ambert – Dating back to the Roman times, Fourme d’Ambert is one of the oldest cheeses in France. Fourme d'Ambert is made from pasteurized cow's milk and has a less spicy blue flavor than its famous counterpart, Roquefort. Creamy and velvety on the palate, Fourme d'Ambert boasts notes of sweet cream and gentle spice with slight mushroom and fruity notes. Perfect for a fresh salad or spreading onto crusty bread with a drizzle of honey!