If you saw a pyramid-shaped cheese at the market, could you resist the urge to buy it? I definitely could not. So, the next French cheese we are exploring is, in fact, shaped like a pyramid. This French cheese is called Pouligny Saint-Pierre AOP.
Pouligny Saint-Pierre is produced in the smallest delimited zone, or Appellation d’Origine, for cheeses in France. Actually, this cheese is made in the heart of the Brenne Regional Natural Park. The bell tower of the church of Pouligny Saint-Pierre in the Indre inspired the cheese’s pyramid shape. It’s been made here since the 18th century. This cheese is made of goat’s milk. Futhermore, it has the oldest AOP in France for a goat’s milk cheese, as it was established in 1972.
There are two labels for Pouligny Saint-Pierre, one green and one red. The red label indicates the cheese was produced at a dairy and the green label means it’s a farm produced cheese.
This French cheese is shaped by hand, salted, and then left to mature for ten days. The maturation process forms a thin, slightly blue tinted rind that’s soft. The cheese has delicate aromas of straw and natural honey. The texture is firm, yet supple and creamy. While the taste is stronger than you’d expect from the aromas with flavors of hay and tangy goat milk.
Wine Pairings
A mild goat cheese like this is ideal with sparkling wines, light-bodied white wines with bright acidity, rosé, and fruit-forward, light to medium-bodied reds. If red wine is more your style, try Pouligny Saint-Pierre paired with Burgundian Pinot Noir or Cabernet Franc from Chinon or Saumur. For a white wine pairing, I’d go with a Sauvignon Blanc from Loire Valley or a Blanc de Blanc Champagne.
