Best Cheeses In All Of France

France is known for its cheeses, but even in France, some cheeses are better than others. With an estimated 1500 distinct types of French Cheese, it is good to know which are the best cheeses in all of France.

There are eight categories of French cheese known as ‘Les huit familles de fromage’.

1. Les fromages frais-Fresh cheese
2. Les pâtes molles à croûte fleurie-Soft cheese with a flowery rind
3. Les pâtes molles à croûte lavée-Soft washed rind cheese
4. Les pâtes persillées-Blue cheese
5. Les pâtes pressées non cuites-Uncooked pressed cheese
6. Les pâtes pressées cuites-Cooked pressed Cheese
7. Les chèvres-Goats cheese
8. Les fromages fondus-Processed cheese

The European Union has a classification system designed to protect the geographical origin of agricultural produce. Cheese has three categories: the Appellation d’Origine Protégée (AOP), the less stringent Indication Géographique Protégée (IGP) and Spécialité Traditionnelle Garantie (STG). The legally regulated designation Label Rouge (LR) refers to products which by their terms of production or manufacture have a higher level of quality compared to other similar products usually marketed. Some cheeses were classified, protected, and regulated under French law. The highest classification, Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée (AOC), has been largely replaced by the AOP.

Depending on the requirements of the geographical classification, additional manufacturing conditions must be met.

• Fermier: farmhouse cheese. Cheese produced on the same farm as the milk.
• Artisanal: Artisan producer. Cheese made in relatively small quantities using the farm’s milk, but additional milk can be purchased from local farms.
• Coopérative: Dairy. Local milk producers in an area who have joined together to produce cheese. In larger coopératives, quantities of cheese produced may be relatively large, akin to some industrial producers (many may be classed factory-made).
• Industrial: factory-made cheese from milk sourced locally or regionally, perhaps all over France (depending on the AOC/PDO regulations for specific cheeses).

Lefrancophile categorises cheese in the following manner.                Name–(region)-milk-Designated Protection

Abondance-(Haute-Savoie)-Cow-PDO

Banon-Provence-(Alpes-Côte d’Azur-)Goat-PDO

Beaufort-(Savoie)-Cow-PDO

Bleu d’Auvergne- Auvergne-(Cow)- PDO

Bleu des Causses-(Midi-Pyrénées)-Cow-PDO

Bleu de Gex Haut-Jura / Bleu de Septmoncel-(Franche-Comté)-Cow-PDO

Bleu du Vercors-Sassenage-(Rhône-Alpes )-Cow-PDO

Brie de Meaux-(Île-de-France)-(Cow)-PDO

Brie de Melun-(Île-de-France )-Cow-PDO

Brillat-Savarin-(Burgundy)-Cow-IGP

Brocciu Corse or Brocciu-(Corsica)-Sheep-PDO

Brousse du Rove-(Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur)-Goat-PDO

Bûche du Poitou-(Poitou Charentes)

Cabécou-(Midi-Pyrénées)-Goat-AOC

Cachat-(Provence Alpes Cote d’Azur)

Cancoillotte-(Franche-Comté )-Cow-LR

Cantal, Fourme de Cantal-(Auvergne)-Cow-PDO

Camembert de Normandie-(Normandy)-Cow-AOC

Casgiu Merzu-(Corsica)-No Protection 

Also known as casgiu marzu , is a Corsican cheese preparation.Sheep or goat cheese is left to ripen in a ventilated place open to flies. The flies lay their eggs in the cheese, which become larvae. The maggots feed on the cheese. These larvae of the cheese fly, Piophila casei, bring the cheese to a stage of decomposition by their digestive action, which engenders an advanced level of fermentation by breaking down the fatty acids. Fans say this rotten cheese walks on its own, thanks to its maggots. All that remains is a paste hollowed out with small galleries, its texture has become very soft, and a liquid (called lagrima, tear) flows from it. When stirred, its consistency resembles that of cachat.It is eaten with or without the maggots or heated.Needless to say it is not available outside of Corsica

Cazelle de Saint Affrique-(Midi-Pyrénées)-Sheep-PDO

Chabichou du Poitou-(Poitou-Charentes)-Goat-PDO

Chaource-(Champagne-Ardenne)-Cow-PDO

Charolais [fr]-(Rhône)-Goat-PDO

Chevrotin-(Savoie and Haute-Savoie)-Goat-PDO

Comté-(Franche-Comté)-Cow-PDO

Crottin de Chavignol/Chavignol-(Centre-Val de Loire)-Goat-PDO

Emmental de Savoie-(Savoie)-Cow-IGP

Emmental français-est-central-(Franche-Comté)-Cow-IGP

Époisses-(Burgundy)-Cow-PDO

Faisselle Rians(Centre-Val de Loire)-Cow, Goat, Sheep

Fourme d’Ambert-(Auvergne )-Cow-PDO

Fourme de Montbrison -(Auvergne)-Cow -PDO

Gruyère-(Central eastern regions)-Cow IGP

Laguiole-(Auvergne)-Cow-PDO

Langres-(Champagne-Ardenne)-Cow-PDO

Livarot-Normandy-(Cow)-PDO

Mâconnais-(Burgundy)-Goat -PDO

Maroilles or Marolles-(Nord-Pas-de-Calais)-Cow-PDO

Mimolette-(Nord-Pas-de-Calais)-Cow-LR

Mont d’or, or Vacherin du Haut-Doubs-(Franche-Comté)-Cow-PDO

Morbier-(Franche-Comté)-Cow-PDO

Mothais (Poitou Charentes)

Munster/Munster-Géromé-(Alsace & Vosges Lorraine)-Cow-PDO

Neufchâtel-(Normandy )-Cow-PDO

Ossau-lraty -(Aquitaine Sheep)-PDO

Pélardon-(Languedoc-Roussillon)-Goat-PDO

Picodon-(Rhône-Alpes)-Goat-PDO

Pont-l’Évêque-(Normandy)-Cow-PDO

Port Salut (Pays de la Loire) -Cow-No Protection

Pouligny-Saint-Pierre-(Centre-Val de Loire)-Goat-PDO

Raclette de Savoie-(Savoie)-Cow-IGP

Reblochon or Reblochon de Savoie-(Savoie and Haute-Savoie)-Cow-PDO

Rigotte de Condrieu-(Lyon)-(Goat)-PDO

Rocamadour-(Midi-Pyrénées)-Goat -PDO

Roquefort-(Midi-Pyrénées)-Sheep-PDO

Sainte-Maure de Touraine-(Centre-Val de Loire)-Goat-PDO

Saint-Marcellin-(Auvergne)-Cow-IGP

Saint-Nectaire-(Auvergne)-Cow-PDO

Saint-Félicien-(Rhône-Alpes)-Cow- LR

Salers-(Auvergne )-Cow-PDO

Selles-sur-Cher-(Centre-Val de Loire)-Goat-PDO

Soumaintrain-Burgundy, Côte-d’Or Department)-Cow-IGP

Tome des Bauges [fr]-(Savoie Cow)-PDO

Tome fraîche-(Auvergne and Aubrac)-Cow-AOC

Tomme de Savoie -(Savoie)-Cow-IGP

Tomme des Pyrénées-(Midi-Pyrénées-Cow-IGP

Trou du Cru-(Burgundy, Côte-d’Or Department)-Cow-AOC

Valençay-(Centre-Val de Loire)-Goat-PDO