The French Cheese I'm Loving Right Now - Le Fermier au Chablis

A luscious cheese that left me weak in the knees

Childhood memories of a local fromage that was served by his grandmother at Sunday family lunches led Meilleur Ouvrier de France*, Ludovic Bisot, on a quest to find his beloved cheese to sell at his fromagerie, Tout un Fromage. Sadly, his search was ultimately unsuccessful.

The flavor of the cheese still rooted in his memory, he enlisted the help of friend and affineur, Pascal Leroux, and the two took up the challenge to recreate the cheese from Ludovic’s childhood. In 2018 they introduced le Fermier au Chablis, a true product of Bourgogne, where Ludovic grew up and where Pascal’s business is based.

Similar to Soumaintrain, another local cheese, Le Fermier au Chablis is an ivory colored, velvety, unpasteurized cow’s milk cheese that, as its name indicates, is washed in Chablis wine in lieu of the more traditional Marc de Bourgogne spirit and/or brine. The flavors are rich and elegant with some fruitiness and sweet milk, and the finish is pleasantly long. The cheese is washed repeatedly and ripened for about one month, and when perfectly ripe it is decadent and oozy and should be served with a spoon.

*Meilleur Ouvrier de France - (an official designation, and honor, that denotes someone who is considered a “best craftsperson” in France)