French Cheese Guide: Types, Milks and Regions
French cheese is made from cow's, goat's and sheep's milk, in styles that run from fresh fromage frais to hard, nutty Comté. Examples include soft Brie and Camembert, blue Roquefort, and goat cheeses such as Crottin de Chavignol.
Many French cheeses come from one specific place. Camembert comes from Normandy, Comté from the Jura in eastern France, Reblochon from Haute-Savoie in the French Alps, and Roquefort from Roquefort-sur-Soulzon in southern France.
French cheeses are broadly grouped into eight families, called les huit familles de fromage, according to Wikipedia's list of French cheeses.
Main types of French cheese
Fresh French cheese
Fromage frais is a fresh cheese from northern France and southern Belgium. It is set with acid and sold with its live cultures still active, and it looks a lot like yogurt.
People eat fromage frais in desserts, on bread under jam, and in savory cooking. It is one of the fresh French cheeses.
Soft French cheese
Brie and Camembert both have a white rind over a creamy inside. Camembert tastes stronger and slightly more sour than Brie.
Munster and Reblochon are washed-rind cheeses made from raw cow's milk. Munster is washed in salt water as it ages, which gives it a moist orange rind and a strong smell.
Other soft French cheeses include Mont d'Or, which is wrapped in a band of spruce and sold from September 10 to May 10. Brillat-Savarin is a triple cream cheese, made mainly in Normandy, that tastes creamy and faintly sour.
Semi-soft and blue French cheese
Roquefort is a blue cheese made from raw Lacaune sheep's milk. Only cheese ripened in the Combalou caves of Roquefort-sur-Soulzon may carry the name.
Bleu d'Auvergne is a blue cheese made from cow's milk in the Auvergne region. It is less salty and creamier than most blue cheeses.
Other semi-soft French cheeses include Morbier, which has a thin black layer of ash running through it, and the square Pont-l'Évêque from Normandy.
Semi-hard French cheese
Cantal comes from the Auvergne region of central France. It has a tangy, buttery flavor that gets sharper with age.
Salers, from the Cantal department, is made only between 15 April and 15 November.
Laguiole, from the Aubrac plateau in southern France, is the main cheese in aligot. Aligot is a regional dish of mashed potatoes with cream and butter.
Abondance from Haute-Savoie is another semi-hard French cheese. It has held AOC status since 1990.
Hard French cheese
Comté is made every day from raw cow's milk in village dairies called fruitières. It tastes mild, nutty and slightly sweet.
Beaufort from Savoie melts easily, so it is a standard choice for fondue. The hard French cheeses also include Mimolette, a bright orange cheese made around Lille.
French cow's milk cheese
Comté, Brie, Camembert, Munster and Reblochon are all made from cow's milk.
Saint-Nectaire from Auvergne ages on rye straw for at least 28 days and has a hint of hazelnut. It is another of the French cow's milk cheeses.
French goat cheese
Crottin de Chavignol is a small goat cheese from the Loire Valley, sold at three stages of ripening. Sainte-Maure de Touraine is a log rolled in ash, with a straw through its center.
Valençay is shaped like a pyramid with a flat top and dusted with charcoal. It is one of the crumbly French cheeses.
Banon from Provence is wrapped in chestnut leaves and tied with raffia. It is one of the French goat cheeses with AOC status.
French sheep cheese
Ossau-Iraty comes from the Basque Country and Béarn in southwestern France. It is smooth, creamy and firm.
Brocciu from Corsica is made from whey and ewe's milk and is eaten fresh or ripened for a few weeks. Roquefort is also one of the French sheep cheeses.
How French cheese is protected: PDO, PGI and AOC
Many French cheeses are covered by the EU protected designation of origin (PDO). A few have the less strict protected geographical indication (PGI).
These EU labels have largely replaced the French appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) system. A cheese registered as PDO or PGI can no longer use the AOC label.
Comté has the largest production of any French PDO cheese. Emmental français est-central, from Franche-Comté, holds PGI status.
Many familiar types of cheese, such as Boursin, are not covered.
The rules for each protected cheese also set which of four production categories it may belong to:
- Fermier cheese is made on the farm where the milk is produced.
- Artisanal cheese is made in fairly small amounts from the producer's own milk, sometimes with milk bought from local farms.
- Coopérative cheese comes from a dairy that local milk producers have joined together to run.
- Industriel cheese is made in a factory from milk sourced locally or regionally, sometimes from all over France.
Popular French Cheeses
More French Cheeses
The other 210 cheeses from France, A to Z.
- Abbaye de Belloc
- Abbaye de Belval
- Abbaye de Citeaux
- Abbaye de Tamié
- Aisy Cendre
- Alpicrème
- Amalthée
- Ami du Chambertin
- Amou
- Anneau du Vic-Bilh
- Ardi Gasna
- Aromes au Gene de Marc
- Aubisque Pyrenees
- Autun
- Baby Brie
- Babybel
- Baguette Laonnaise
- Barberey
- Baskeriu
- Beaumont
- Bergues
- Bethmale des Pyrenees
- Bleu d'Auvergne
- Bleu de Gex
- Bleu de Gex Haut-Jura / Bleu de Septmoncel
- Bleu de Laqueuille
- Bleu des Causses
- Bleu du Vercors-Sassenage
- Bougon
- Boule Du Roves
- Boulette d'Avesnes
- Bourdin Goat Log
- Boursault
- Boursin
- Bouyguette
- Bouyssou
- Brebirousse d'Argental
- Brebis du Puyfaucon
- Bresse Bleu
- Brie Royal Aux Truffles
- Brie au poivre (Brie with pepper)
- Brie de Melun
- Brin d'Amour
- Briquette de Brebis
- Briquette du Forez
- Brocciu
- Brocciu Corse / Brocciu
- Brousse du Rove
- Buche de Chevre
- Buchette de Manon
- Butte
- Bûchette à la Sarriette
- Cabecou
- Cabecou Feuille D'Armagnac
- Cachaille
- Calenzana (Calinzanincu)
- Camembert Calvados
- Camembert de Normandie
- Cancoillotte
- Cantal
- Cantal / Fourme de Cantal
- Carre de l'Est
- Cathelain
- Cendre d'Olivet
- Chabichou du Poitou
- Chabis de Gatine
- Chaource
- Charolais
- Chaumes
- Chavroux
- Chevrotin
- Chevrotin des Aravis
- Chèvre (Goat Cheese)
- Civray
- Coeur de Chevre
- Crayeux de Roncq
- Crottin de Champcol
- Crottin de Chavignol
- Crottin de Chavignol / Chavignol
- Crème Fraîche
- Delice des Fiouves
- Dreux a la Feuille
- Emental Grand Cru
- Emmental de Savoie
- Emmental français est-central
- Epoisses de Bourgogne
- Esbareich
- Essex Comté
- Etorki
- Figue
- Fin-de-Siecle
- Fleur du Maquis
- Fondant de Brebis
- Fontainebleau
- Fourme d'Ambert
- Fourme de Haute Loire
- Fourme de Montbrison
- Frinault
- Fromage Cathare
- Fromage Corse
- Fromage Frais
- Fromage a Raclette
- Fromage de Montagne de Savoie
- Galette Lyonnaise
- Galette du Paludier
- Gaperon
- Gastanberra
- Gourmandise
- Grand Vatel
- Grataron d' Areches
- Greuilh
- Gris de Lille
- Guerbigny
- L'Affine Au Chablis
- L'Aveyronnais
- L'Ecir de l'Aubrac
- Laguiole
- Langres
- Laruns
- Le Brebiou
- Le Conquerant Camembert
- Le Fium Orbo
- Le Lacandou
- Lingot Saint Bousquet d'Orb
- Lingot des Causses
- Livarot
- Lou Palou
- Lou Pevre
- Maroilles
- Maroilles / Marolles
- Mascares
- Matocq
- Mimolette (Boule de Lille)
- Mistralou
- Monastery Cheeses
- Mont d'Or / Vacherin du Haut-Doubs
- Mothais a la Feuille
- Munster / Munster-Géromé
- Mâconnais
- Neufchâtel
- Niolo
- Olivet Cendre
- Olivet au Foin
- Ossau-Iraty
- P'tit Basque
- P'tit Berrichon
- Palet de Babligny
- Pas de l'Escalette
- Pate de Fromage
- Patefine Fort
- Pave de Chirac
- Pelardon des Cevennes
- Pelardon des Corbieres
- Petit Blaja
- Petit Pardou
- Picodon
- Picodon de Chevre
- Pigouille
- Poivre d'Ane
- Pont-l'Évêque
- Port Salut
- Pouligny-Saint-Pierre
- Pourly
- Pyramide
- Pyrénées Brebis
- Pélardon
- Pérail
- Pérail de Brebis
- Quatre-Vents
- Quercy Petit
- Raclette de Savoie
- Regal de la Dombes
- Rigotte
- Rigotte de Condrieu
- Rocamadour
- Rochebaron
- Rollot
- Romans Part Dieu
- Roule
- Rouleau De Beaulieu
- Rustinu
- Saint Albray
- Saint André
- Saint Felicien
- Saint Marcellin
- Sainte-Maure de Touraine
- Sancerre
- Selles-sur-Cher
- Soumaintrain
- Tome des Bauges
- Tome fraîche de l’Aubrac
- Tomme Brulee
- Tomme de Chevre
- Tomme de Romans
- Tomme de Savoie
- Tomme des Chouans
- Tomme des Pyrénées
- Tomme du Jura
- Tourmalet
- Trappe de la Coudre
- Trappiste d'Igny
- Trappiste de Bricquebec
- Vacherin
- Valençay
- Venaco
- Vendomois
- Vieux Corse
- Vignotte
- Zelu Koloria
- Époisses
French Cheese Questions
What cheese is France known for?
Brie, Camembert, Roquefort and Pont-l'Évêque rank among France's most popular cheeses. Brie and Camembert are soft cow's milk cheeses with white rinds. Roquefort is a blue cheese made from sheep's milk, and Pont-l'Évêque is a square washed-rind cheese from Normandy. Comté has the largest production of any French PDO cheese.
How many types of cheese are there in France?
Some people estimate there are between 1,000 and 1,600 distinct types of French cheese, because each variety comes in many versions. In 1962, President Charles de Gaulle asked how anyone could govern a country with 246 varieties of cheese. French cheeses are also grouped into eight broad families.
What is French goat cheese called?
Chèvre is the French name for cheese made from goat's milk. The classic French style is soft and creamy under a light-colored rind, with a tart taste. It is sometimes served hot as chèvre chaud. French goat cheeses include Crottin de Chavignol, Sainte-Maure de Touraine, Valençay, Banon from Provence and Rocamadour from southwest France.
Which French cheeses have an orange rind?
Several washed-rind French cheeses have orange rinds. Munster from the Vosges has a moist orange rind, Maroilles from northern France has an orange-red one, and Époisses from Burgundy has an edible red-orange rind. Livarot from Normandy has an orange rind circled by rings of dried reedmace. Mimolette is orange inside, with a grey rind.
Is French cheese pasteurized?
Some French cheese is pasteurized and some is not. Comté, Reblochon, Munster and Roquefort are made from raw milk, and the rules for Camembert de Normandie require raw milk from Normande cows. Port Salut, Boursin and Babybel are made with pasteurized milk.
What French cheese is like Brie?
Coulommiers is a smaller, thicker relative of Brie, with a white rind and a nuttier flavor. Saint-André is a triple cream cheese from Normandy that tastes like a stronger Brie. Brie de Meaux is a soft raw cow's milk cheese from the Brie region. Camembert is similar but stronger and slightly more sour.