Charolais cheese is made from unpasteurised goats' milk; it is cylindrical with slightly convex sides. It has a cream-coloured rind and is a soft centre, and the maturation process gives it a beautiful blue-grey mould which confers all its flavour. According to its state of maturation, it unfolds the vegetal and dried fruit aromas which so delight fans of this cheese. Having AOC status, this cheese takes its name from the granite plains around Charolles, where it is made.
Produced from whole unpasteurised milk, Charolais cheese is matured for at least sixteen days, and can be bought fresh, semi-hard or hard. It is usually eaten at the end of a meal with a slice of country bread, in salad, or with a glass of white wine as an aperitif.