#20 - St Nectaire de Fermiere

We had to try this classic. This particular cheese, being a fermiere cheese, will have been produced on the farm where the milk was produced - not in a factory away over the hills, although we purchased it from Fromagerie Beillevaire at Challans market.

Smells like potatoes and brown mould (i.e. earthy!).  Thick brown rind but a semi-firm texture inside.  The mouldy/cave/earthy flavour on the rind permeates through the rest of the cheese - and we thought dominated the flavour too much for our personal liking.  There was a small amount of mechanical openness in the paste, which had a smooth mouth feel and was slightly squeeky on our teeth.  There was not much salt in the cheese, which may have contributed to our feeling that the flavour was not as balanced as we had hoped.

A St Nectaire de Fermiere

  

#19 - Salers, France

We purchased this cheese from the Fromagerie Beillevaire stall at the Challans market, although we do not know the name of the specific producer.  

A cows milk cheese.  We had a portion cut from a large round of the cheese.  The curd looks young and not well knitted, a bit like a Lancashire, but there was a well developed rind.  The texture was moist but slightly crumbly and also fatty.  The flavour was acidic, with savoury notes but we did not think was balanced overall.  There were slight lingering farmy and acid flavours.

Overall an interesting cheese to try, but not one that excited us.

Salers

#18 - Sec deux (made by Vendee Chevre)

This long rectangular flat brick, around the same size as the logs previously described, had a colourful mixed rind of geotrichum and blue, green and white moulds.  Approximately half of the cheese paste was glossy and ripened, with the centre still showing the firmer but still creamy lactic curd.  The rind was slightly dry but the paste had a creamy texture.  The broken down outer paste had a sweeter flavour and even smoother texture.  

Chevre sec deux.

#17 - unnamed Buche (made by Vendee Chevre)

This un-named goats cheese log (it was simply labelled generically as a "buche") had an ash coating and a geotrichum rind.  It looks to have been matured more than the buche semi-affinage mentioned earlier and was also saltier.  The outer 1/3 of the cheese showed glossy breakdown.  A nice creamy, smooth texture, with more of a goaty/caproic acid flavour (but still in balance and pleasant).  Finishes with a spicy, black pepper after taste.

Tasty local buche.