Tour De France Cheese Selection

The 2018 Tour de France, the 105th edition of the race, will begin on July 7 in the Vendée region in north west France and will conclude in Paris on July 29. Over the course of 21 stages, the riders will face six mountain stages, one individual time trial, one team time trial, eight flat stages and five moderately hilly stages, all for a total distance of 3229km. Our cheese selection highlights areas of this tour.

If you would like this cheese selection to be a gift, please tick the Gift Hamper box.  An additional charge of £3.95 will be added to the initial cheese selection cost. 

• Prestige Comte - aged 3 years - Jura, France (200g) - cows' milk - unpasteurised. Comté is produced in the Jura Massif region of Eastern France. The milk used is mainly from Montbeliarde Cattle or French simmental (or a cross breed). This hard mountain cheese is matured in the silence and darkness of caves where the cheese gets its unique taste, texture and colour. A wedge of this 3 year aged Comte reveals a pale yellow interior and a crystalline texture. The main aromatic flavours are a balance of brown-butter and roasted-nut aromas with a sweet finish.
• Morbier - Franche Comte, France (200g) - cows' milk - unpasteurised. Contrary to its smell, Morbier has a mild taste and leaves a wonderful, nutty aftertaste. Its flavour is complex and fruity with a slight zing. The ivory-yellow pâte is often described as supple, springy, and silky when touched, yet dry and sticky at the same time. It gets immediately identified because of its black layer of tasteless ash, which separates horizontally in the middle. The cheese takes about 45 days to 3 months for full maturation with yellowish, moist and leathery rind.
• Peyrigoux - Perigord, France (200g) - cows' milk - unpasteurised. Hailing from France's Perigord region, perhaps most famous for Truffles, this is a lovely creamy cheese, and is perfect with fresh crusty bread.  Offered in a characteristic wreath shape, it is ivory-coloured, has a soft interior, which ripens inwards and becomes very creamy with increasing ripeness. It has a natural rind with white mould, a smooth texture with a delicate, fresh taste.

• Chabichou - Poitou-Charentes, France (200g) – goats' milk – unpasteurised. This cheese comes in the shape of a truncated cylinder called "bonde". Chabichou comes coated with a thin layer of grey-blue islets and an edible wrinkled rind dotted with occasional gray patches. Cut the cheese and it reveals a firm, creamy bright white interior before unwinding a thin buttery layer. Even though it smells typically “goaty”, the flavours are sweet with a bit of salty and tangy edge at the end. As the cheese ages, it becomes savory, piquant and nutty.

• Roquefort - Roquefort - Sur - Soulzon, France (200g) – sheeps' milk – pasteurised. Roquefort is a popular French cheese reported to be a favourite of Emperor Charlemagne. It is produced entirely from milk of ewes that feed on vast limestone plateau. In France, it is called the 'cheese of kings and popes'. This cheese is protected by AOC guidelines. Roquefort cheese is moist and breaks into little pieces easily. It is rich, creamy, complex and sharp, tangy, salty in flavour.

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