Valençay cheese

Valencay is a small village in the Centre of France. Famous for its beautiful Castle, the Chateau de Valencay, the town is also famous all over France because it was the first town to hold two AOC products. Valencay can boast an AOC cheese and wine.

The Valençay cheese, is my favourite local cheese. For those of you not familiar with the Valencay cheese, this is an unpasteurised goat’s milk cheese made in the old province of Berry in central France. Its name comes from the town where it is produced: Valençay.

What does Valencay cheese looks like?

The first thing that attracted me to this cheese was its peculiar shape. The Valencay comes in the form of a truncated 7cm tall pyramid and it usually weights around 200gr. Its colour varies according to its age with natural mould forming a soft grey rind which is darkened for better conservation with a dusting of charcoal.

How does it taste?

One of the things I like about Valencay cheese is that its taste varies largely according to its age. When young, the Valencay has a fresh citric flavour, the more it ages, the nuttier flavoured it becomes.

When is it better to consume?

Valencay cheese is available between March and December, with peak manufacture between April and August when the goats are able to pasture and don’t need to be guarded in stables.

I always know that lambing time has arrived when my local goat’s milk cheese disappears from the market stalls.  Why? Because, as he explained it to me once, during the months of January and February, sheep are busy having their babies and all their milk is destined to feed their young, therefore not leaving any for producing cheese. 

• Calcium: 657 à 865 g
• Calories: 326 à 384
• Glucides: 0
• Lipides: 24-29 g
• Fat: around 45% 
• Proteins: 22-27 g

Cheese and Wine.

As with any food issues in France, every household and even every person has their own opinions about which wine should accompany which food to enhance its flavour.

For Valencay cheese I would say that it is best consumed with a regional wine like the Valencay.  The wine made in Valencay is fresh and brings out the citric flavour characteristic of this goat’s cheese when it is young. 

Curiosities:

In 1998 Valencay cheese achieved its AOC status which made of Valencay the first French region to achieve AOC status for two products: its wine and its cheese.

The legend:

If you are wondering about the funny shape of the Valencay cheese, let me tell you the legend behind it.  One day after Napoleon stopped to visit the Chateau de Valencay and it’s owner Prince Talleyrand, he was offered a taste of the local cheese.  Unfortunately having just come back from a disastrous campaign in Egypt, the pyramidal local cheese brought unpleasant memories to the almighty Napoleon.  To please his guest, Prince Talleyrand himself using his sword cut the top off the pyramid.  Since that day, the Valencay cheese has remained with the shape of an unfinished pyramid.

Valencay cheese in numbers :

• The annual production is recorded around 350 tonnes.
• Currently there are 21 farms producing Valencay cheese in the region.
• The protected territory for Valencay cheese expands in 4 agricultural regions: le Boischaut Nord, la Champagne Berrichonne, la Brenne et le Boischaut Sud, making a total of 700.000 hectares.