Le Tour De France Cheese from France

Le Tour de France

Cheese page
(updated 13th. April 2001)

This used to be the Cheese and Wine page but we now have a full April 2001 wine list and new Organic wines page .

Please note that the prices below are just guide prices - correct at the time of going to ftp, but these prices vary a bit as we update our stocks - our wholesalers prices go up and down... Similarly our stocks fluctuate, in particular if we can't get you a good cheese for a reasonable price we don't stock it - it just depends what we find at the wholesale markets...

Winter 2000 specials:

Livarot. We only stock this cheese when we find a good supply - and that's now. One of the best and oldest Normandy cheeses - washed rind, ripened in special rooms for about 3 months - producing a strong flavour. In Normandy it would be accompanied by cider or Calvados . In excellent form from November 2000, £1.70 per quarter while present stocks last.

Vacherin du Mont D'Or is our Winter Special Cheese. Also known as Vacherin Mont Dore. This much prized cheese is made in the Jura mountains and is only available from late October to about March. Very soft, runny creamy white paste with a slight woody and farmyard aroma. The rind is washed with white wine and bound with strips of spruce wood. It sometimes used to be served with the top (outside) rind removed and the contents spooned out. About £1.90 per quarter pound. With it's own Appellation d'Origine Controlee, this is in superb condition now.

Autumn 2000 specials:

Vignotte - a new creamy cheese we're trying for the first time - and we'd appreciate your opinion as well.

Excellent Pont l'Eveque. This is a cheese that we don't always keep - just when we get a good one - and this is one of the best. A strong (but not offensive) Appellation D'Origine cheese with a tangy but smooth tatse. A cheese with a 2000 year history; but our square portion has had just a two-month ripening. Perfect, but not for long (although we will certainly try to get some more if we can). £1.95 per quarter pound (sorry: £15,404.93 per metric tonne or 389 milligrammes for a Euro-cent). Try it with one of our new red organic wines .

A brilliant season for Reblochon - from the milk of Tarentaise cattle from Haute-Savoie. Soft creamy cheese in a warm-toned washed rind, ripened for about a month. Can be eaten with a light red or a white wine.

Comte (Gruyere de). Another ancient cheese - this time from the Franche Comte. A superb cooking cheese from the Gruyere family of cheeses - try some with our Bayonne Ham for a superior combination.

Continental Cheese selection:

We stock as many fine cheeses in good condition as we can, but sometimes we run out or are not satisfied with what the suppliers have, so please be warned we do not always have every one of these available. This season please consider trying these favourites of ours:

Camembert (au lait cru - unpasteurised, traditional handmade fermier - the authentic taste. Usually Le Rustique from Maitre Fromager Jean Verrier - see label below right),

Brie de Meaux (fermier cheese from Ile de France, fruity),

Port Salut, and Saint-Paulin when it's good,

Boulette d'Avesnes with paprika, herbs & spices, and winter favourite,

creamy Chaource (with its own appellation d'origine),

Chevre: various goats' cheeses, including crottins,

Roquefort the famous green-blue veined cheese from sheep's milk,

Comte (Gruyere de) - a great cooking cheese,

Fournols, in exceptional condition through the winter,

Saint Nectaire from the Auvergne,

Brebiou (ewe's milk) - tasting particularly good,

Reblochon (from the milk of Tarentaise cattle from Haute-Savoie)

Pont l'Eveque (see above)

Livarot (see above)

Saint-Marcellin (cow's milk, from Dauphine)

Chaumes (from Dordogne, not always available),

Tomme de Savoie,

Pyrenees (seasonally available - only when it's good)

Fourme d'Ambert (although the best season for this blue-green veined cheese ends soon),

Cantal (a very old French cheese, similar to good Cheddar, nutty)

Vacherin du Mont Dore (our winter special)

Raclette cheese for superior fondue (we also have a Raclette set for loan),

and even Swiss Gruyere and Emmental and even a farmhouse Cheddar ( not from France actually!) .

Cheesy Links:

Our favourite French cheese link is the excellent Les Fromage de France page from worldnet. It is in French, but not too difficult and lists many French cheeses by region.

This franceway French cheeses introduction is a bit simple, but interesting and in English.

The Cheesenet is allegedly the full works on the world's cheeses but a bit short on French cheeses, we counted only 20 or so last time we looked!

We are pleased to take orders and can arrange delivery

Try our prepared cheese platters, choose your cheeses or have the best available on the day.

Please pop in and see us or ring us on 020 8769 3554 to place an order.