St Nectaire

Type: Soft
Milk: Raw cow's milk
Rennet: Animal
Location: Auvergne, France

St Nectaire hails from one of France's wildest and most remote regions, the Auvergne. The farming in this area stretches across volcanic slopes and peaks which form the first main mountain range to buffer weather fronts that come into Europe off the Atlantic.

This makes for some cold and blustery conditions, some very hardy cattle and some excellent cheese-making. St Nectaire is this region's Tomme, matured for six to eight weeks on straw mats in cool cellars. At the end of this maturation, the cheese has an earthy, velvet, moss-like rind and a supple paste with delicate creme fraiche acidity and lovely earthy, hazelnut flavours.