Our Visit to Fontenille France
Our partnership goes well beyond the purchase of our products.
We strive to build relationships with the producers, the farmers and the cheesemakers. Visiting our partners and building those relationships allows us to ensure that our expectations and standards are met through the entire process.
Our visit to Fontenille, France gave us the opportunity to watch the process from start to finish, whether that was observing the ageing process within the Beillvaire caves or the artistic hands of the artisanal cheesemakers. The attention to detail and the passion displayed by the 10 employees at the facility truly show through to the end product.
About Beillvaire Fontenille:
A family run business for over 40 years, Beillvaire cheese dairy was created as a company with a unique business model, bringing together the entire sector from producer to consumer.
Beillvaire owns and operates four production facilities, three affinage cellars and have created direct and exclusive relationships with over 200 farmstead cheesemakers. Of their four production facilities, we were fortunate enough to visit their operations most recently in Fontenille, France.
Nestled in the middle of the “goat’s land” in the Poitou region, Fontenille is the specialty goat’s/sheep's milk cheese workshop. With just ten employees, everyone shares the same passion for making and producing the finest artisan products, focusing mainly on soft-ripened, geotrichum rinded cheese. Prior to production, the goat’s milk is collected from six farms surrounding the creamery, no more than 15 km away and is delivered (still warm) daily. The sheep’s milk is collected from a local group of bio sheep farmers and delivered twice a week. At Fontenille, all cheeses are made to order with pasteurized milk and hand scooped molds to ensure the freshest product possible.
Below are some of our current favorites from Fromagerie now available through Chef Cube Classics.
Long
Blanc:
Made
from
pasteurized
goat’s
milk,
Long
Blanc
has
a
beautiful
geotrichum
rind
and
is
both
dense
and
decadent.
The
flavors
are
perfectly
balanced
with
slightly
savory,
with
earthy,
mineral
notes
and
possess
a
zesty
tang
and
a
bright,
fresh
finish.
Chevre
Frais
w/
Herbs
and
Pink
Peppercorns
A
soft,
creamy,
rind
less
cheese
with
just
the
slightest
tang
of
goat’s
milk
and
an
uncharacteristic
sweetness.
This
French
creation
is
covered
in
fresh
green
herbs
-
tarragon
and
thyme,
along
with
pink
peppercorns
-
all
of
which
add
a
distinctive
flavor
to
the
subtle,
moist
cheese.
Chevre
Aux
Flower
A
soft,
creamy,
rind
less
cheese
coated
in
dried
flowers
including
rose
petals,
cornflowers,
strawberry
flowers
and
marigolds.
This
creamy
chevre
is
bright
and
creamy,
with
herbal
&
citrus
tones,
and
notes
of
fresh
herbs
and
grass.
Chevre
Aux
Fruit
Cranberry
A
soft,
creamy,
rind
less
cheese
coated
in
an
abundance
of
dried,
tart
cranberries.
