Our digital content creator Reema Rahman recently visited France’s Franche-Comté and Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regions for the cheesiest trip of her life
When you’re invited by the French Dairy Board and the French Ministry of Agriculture to learn about, discover – and most importantly, taste – artisanal French cheeses, you say yes. Or in this case, oui.
DAY 1
Flying from Dubai to Lyon in France’s Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, our trip began with a picturesque three-and-a-half hour drive to France’s second largest fortress, Fort des Rousses, in the heart of Les Rousses’
Haut-Jura Regional Natural Park. Here, Comté is aged by Juraflore, a family-run cheese empire created by legendary affineur Jean-Charles Arnaud.
Home to the most incredible quantity of cheese we’ve ever seen – some 160,000 wheels, each wheel weighing around 45 kilograms (that’s approximately 7,200,000 kilograms worth of Comté!), Jean-Charles along with François Robin, cheese expert extraordinaire and our unofficial tour guide for the entirety of the trip, took us on a fascinating private excursion, sharing with us stories passed down from three generations of cheesemongers.
With Fort des Rousses contributing to 25 percent of France’s Comté production, the craftsmanship, dedication and passion exhibited by Jean-Charles is admirable.
“You must respect the cheese,” he tells us as he gently knocks a year-old Comté to listen to its sound. “A cheese master must use all five senses to check the quality of the cheese they’re producing,” he adds.
After touring the maze-like cheese caves and sampling three rich and complex Comtés (aged 18, 24 and 36 months) with Jean-Charles (who has tasted over one million different Comté varieties in his lifetime!), we make our way to a fifth-generation organic dairy farm in Jura, which produces the milk Jean-Charles and his team use to make the delicious Comté we had just sampled.
“It’s magical to imagine that with just a glass of milk, you can achieve so many different types of cheeses,” says François, as we explore the sprawling farm. With 60 Montbéliarde cows delivering over 400,000 litres of milk per year, the quality of cheese depends on the quality of milk, and everyday samples are taken and analysed. The cows happily graze on natural hay that’s stored to keep its nutrition as well as fragrant yellow alpine flowers which add to the cheeses’ mellow colour.
After an overload of information, a belly full of some of the finest Comté possible and some 15,000 steps later, we end the first day of our cheese trip in the best possible way – at a quaint chalet-like restaurant with cheese fondue for dinner.
DAY 2
The second day of what is quite possibly the best trip any cheese enthusiast could take begins bright and early with a 7am start. Caffeinated and primed for day two, we ventured to Fromagerie du Haut Jura to explore more cheese caves and discover just how Comté and Bleu de Gex (blue cheese) are produced. After an in-depth demonstration and more cheese tasting, we began the next leg of the trip to the “Venice of the French Alps”: Annecy in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of Southeastern France.
Just a short drive from Geneva and known for its cobbled streets, meandering canals and charming boutique shops, it’s not hard to see why Annecy is often referred to as the jewel of the Haute-Savoie. After a light lunch at Brasserie Irma (of Paul Bocuse fame), we’re taken on a tour around the Vieille Ville, or old town, with François showing us some of his favourite places including artisan fromager Alain Michel, specialist grocer Saveurs d’ici et là and Glacier des Alpes where we queued for a scoop of the best ice cream in Annecy, followed by supper at Michelin Guide bistro Brasserie Brunet.
DAY 3
After a breakfast of freshly baked, buttery viennoiseries, we walked to Fromagerie Pierre Gay, which was founded in 1935, for a Fontainebleau and cheeseboard-making workshop. Arriving at the Annecy institution, we’re greeted by Pierre Gay, who has been running his grandparents fromagerie since 1982.
Pierre, who like François, was awarded a “Meilleur Ouvrier de France” in 2011 (a title awarded in France by trade category in a competition between professionals), and prides himself on only selecting the very best Savoyard cheeses to be sold in his shop. From Reblochon to Beaufort, the cheeses on offer are exquisite (and fun fact, he purchases 600 45kg wheels of Comté per year).
Along with his wife and business partner Sophie, Pierre showed us how to curate the perfect cheeseboard. Echoing a similar sentiment to Jean-Charles, Sophie explained how it’s important to respect the cheeses and waste as little as possible.
With our Pierre Gay-approved cheeseboard and Fontainebleau desserts prepared, we ventured to another third-generation business; apple and pear plantation Vergers Tissot, for a picnic and Savoie grape pairing workshop in the middle of the picture-ready orchards.
DAY 4
With cheese still on the mind, we started day four with a drive to the village of Talloires by Lake Annecy to visit L’Auberge du Père Bise.
Helmed by Jean Sulpice – the youngest French chef to ever receive a Michelin Star at just 26 years old (and his second at 31) – we were given an exclusive demonstration, preparing the most deliciously rich “Mousse de Beaufort dans l’esprit des Alpages” made using cream and Beaufort, or as chef Jean Sulpice refers to it as, “The king of Gruyère”.
After an exquisite meal at Sulpice’s other restaurant, Le 1903, we resumed day four with a trip to Schmidhauser, another generational family-run business of cheesemakers producing Tomme de Savoie, Reblochon, and Beaufort.
With our minds brimming with all things fromage, we headed back to the Vieille Ville for an afternoon of exploring before ending the day with dinner at Bon Pain Bon Vin – an ultra-trendy restobar specialising in tapas-style French dishes.
DAY 5
As the saying goes, all good things must come to an end and it’s sadly the last day of our epic jaunt across the Franche-Comté and Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regions.
Before our journey back to Lyon, we drove to the Chartreuse Mountains range to visit family-run cheese manufacturer Ferme de Plantimay. Specialising in unpasteurised cheeses such as goat’s cheese, faisselle, Saint-Marcellin IGP and Tomme de Chartreuse, we were given a tour through the cheese caves and farm where we met 100 goats, 60 cows and one tabby cat.
Staying true to the nature of the trip, our final day ended with one last cheese tasting and a special visit to Fromagerie Tête d’Or from Les Frères Marchand group in Lyon with Patrice, one of the three Marchand brothers, showing us the impressive selection, explaining each type with expertise.
After five jam-packed days of cheese tastings, stories, facts, cheese caves, learning all about the fascinating French cheese industry, and a million and one memories later, it’s time to say au revoir.
With a suitcase full of artisanal cheeses and enough knowledge to give François a run for his money, I boarded the plane – already planning my next cheese night.
MUST-TRY CHEESES
COMTÉ
Did you know that it takes between 400-500 litres of milk to produce just one wheel of Comté of approx. 50 kilograms? Mild, balanced and moreish, it’s the most widely produced PDO (Protected Designation of origin) cheese in terms of volume. The older the stronger, but with Comté, the older the more complex.
BLEU DE GEX
Robust in flavour, Blue de Gex is perfect for melting on top of a juicy burger. It takes 60-65 litres of milk to produce 6-7 kilograms of blue cheese and a minimum of 21 days to age – the younger the cheese, the creamier and lighter in taste.
REBLOCHON
Reblochon is just one of those life-changing cheeses. Made with unpasteurised cow’s milk and considered a semi-soft cheese, its taste is creamy and mild with an intense nutty aftertaste.
BEAUFORT
One of the finest French mountain cheeses from the Savoie, and easily recognisable by its concave heel, Beaufort is stronger than Comté, but equally delicious.
