List of French cheeses#Protected designation of origin

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Image:Principales AOC France.jpg cheeses – the size of the symbol equates to the size of production]]

This is a list of French cheeses documenting the varieties of cheeses, a milk-based food that is produced in wide-ranging flavors, textures, and forms, which are found in France. In 1962, French President Charles de Gaulle asked, "How can you govern a country which has two hundred and forty-six varieties of cheese?"Les Mots du Général, Ernest Mignon (1962)) There is immense diversity within each variety of cheese, leading some to estimate between 1,000 and 1,600 distinct types of French cheese. French cheeses are broadly grouped into eight categories, 'les huit familles de fromage'.{{cite web |url=http://www.institut-fromages-et-sante.com/fr/fromages-et-nutrition/tout-savoir-sur-le-fromage/fromages-et-nutrition/quelles-sont-les-grandes-familles-de-fromages/ |title=Quelles sont les grandes familles de fromages? – Module fromage – Sommaire – Tout savoir sur le fromage – Fromages et Nutrition – Institut Fromages & Santé |publisher=Institut-fromages-et-sante.com |date=2009-02-25 |access-date=2014-03-12 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130126160244/http://www.institut-fromages-et-sante.com/fr/fromages-et-nutrition/tout-savoir-sur-le-fromage/fromages-et-nutrition/quelles-sont-les-grandes-familles-de-fromages/ |archive-date=2013-01-26 |url-status=dead }}

Protected designation of origin

Under the Common Agricultural Policy of the European Union, certain established cheeses, including many French varieties, are covered by a protected designation of origin (PDO), and other, less stringent, designations of geographical origin for traditional specialities, such as the EU Protected Geographical Indication (PGI). The systems has largely replaced national systems, such as the French appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) system, as any cheese registered as a PDO or PGI can not use the designation AOC anymore in order to avoid confusion.{{cite web|language=French|work=INAO|url=https://www.inao.gouv.fr/eng/content/download/893/8162/version/3/file/2016INAO%20-%20fiche%20signe%20-%20AOP%20AOC%20-%20BD.pdf|title=L'Appellation d'origine protégée; L'Appellation d'origine contrôlée}}

French cheese production is classified under four categories, and PDO/PGI/(AOC) rules dictate which category or categories each protected cheese may be assigned to:{{cite book |last= Masui |first= T. |author2=Tomoko, Y. |author3=Hodgson, R. |author4=Robuchon, J. |title= French Cheeses |publisher= DK |year= 2004 |isbn= 1-4053-0666-1}}

Fermier: farmhouse cheese, which is produced on the farm where the milk is produced.
Artisanal: producer producing cheese in relatively small quantities using milk from their own farm, but may also purchase milk from local farms.
Coopérative: dairy with local milk producers in an area that have joined to produce cheese. In larger coopératives quantities of cheese produced may be relatively large, akin to some industriel producers (many may be classed as factory-made{{cite book |last= Barthélemy |first= Roland |author2=Sperat-Czar, Arnaud |title= Cheeses of the world |publisher= Hachette Illustrated (London) |year= 2004 |isbn= 1-84430-115-X}}).
Industriel: factory-made cheese from milk sourced locally or regionally, perhaps all over France (depending on the AOC/PDO regulations for specific cheeses).

Some cheeses are classified, protected, and regulated under French law. The majority are classified as Appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC), the highest level of protection. Some are also protected under the less stringent but still legally regulated designation Label Régional (LR). A few French cheeses are protected under the European Union's Protected Geographic Indication designation (PGI). Many familiar generic types, like Boursin, are not covered, while others originally from other countries, such as Emmental cheese, may have certain varieties protected as a French cheese. This list differs from those of Chundi status.

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Cheese

!Year designated appellation

!Producing region

!Type of milk

!Designation

|1990

|PDO

|2003

|Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur

|PDO

|1968

|Cow

|PDO

Bleu d'Auvergne

|1975

|Cow

|PDO

Bleu des Causses

|1979

|Midi-Pyrénées

|Cow

|PDO

Bleu de Gex Haut-Jura / Bleu de Septmoncel

|1977

|Franche-Comté

|Cow

|PDO

Bleu du Vercors-Sassenage

|1998

|Cow

|PDO

|1980

|Île-de-France

|Cow

|PDO

|1980

|Île-de-France

|Cow

|PDO

Brillat-Savarin

|2015

|Cow

|PGI

Brocciu Corse or Brocciu

|1983

|PDO

Brousse du Rove

|2018

|Goat

|PDO

|1988

|Midi-Pyrénées

|Goat

|AOC

|n/a

|Franche-Comté

|Cow

|LR

Cantal, Fourme de Cantal

|1956

|Cow

|PDO

Camembert de Normandie

|1983

|Cow

|AOC

Cazelle de Saint Affrique

|n/a

|Midi-Pyrénées, Aveyron Department

|Sheep

|PDO

Chabichou du Poitou

|1990

|Poitou-Charentes

|Goat

|PDO

|1970

|Champagne-Ardenne

|Cow

|PDO

{{ill|Charolais (cheese)|lt=Charolais|fr|Charolais (fromage)}}

|2010

|Charolais, France

|Goat

|PDO

|2003

|Goat

|PDO

|1952

|Franche-Comté

|Cow

|PDO

Crottin de Chavignol/Chavignol

|1976

|Centre-Val de Loire

|Goat

|PDO

Emmental de Savoie

|n/a

|Cow

|PGI

Emmental français est-central

|n/a

|Franche-Comté

|Cow

|PGI

|1991

|Cow

|PDO

Fourme d'Ambert

|1972

|Cow

|PDO

Fourme de Montbrison

|1972

|Cow

|PDO

|2018{{cite web|url=https://www.tmdn.org/giview/gi/EUGI00000014024|title=Gruyère|work=European Union|access-date=26 September 2021}}

|central eastern regions

|Cow

|PGI

|1961

|Cow

|PDO

|1991

|Champagne-Ardenne

|Cow

|PDO

|1972

|Cow

|PDO

|2006

|Goat

|PDO

Maroilles or Marolles

|1976

|Nord-Pas-de-Calais

|Cow

|PDO

|n/a

|Nord-Pas-de-Calais

|Cow

|LR

Mont d'or, or Vacherin Mont d'Or du Haut-Doubs

|2006

|Franche-Comté

|Cow

|PDO

|2000

|Franche-Comté

|Cow

|PDO

Munster or Munster-Géromé

|1969

|Alsace and Vosges départements in Lorraine

|Cow

|PDO

|1969

|Cow

|PDO

|1980

|Sheep

|PDO

|2000

|Languedoc-Roussillon

|Goat

|PDO

|1983

|Goat

|PDO

Pont-l'Évêque

|1976

|Cow

|PDO

Pouligny-Saint-Pierre

|1972

|Centre-Val de Loire

|Goat

|PDO

{{ill|Raclette de Savoie|lt=Raclette de Savoie|fr|Raclette (fromage)}}

|2015

|Franche-Comté

|Cow

|PGI

Reblochon or Reblochon de Savoie

|1958

|Savoie and Haute-Savoie

|Cow

|PDO

Rigotte de Condrieu

|2008

|Goat

|PDO

|1996

|Midi-Pyrénées

|Goat

|PDO

|1925

|Midi-Pyrénées

|Sheep

|PDO

Sainte-Maure de Touraine

|1990

|Centre-Val de Loire

|Goat

|PDO

Saint-Marcellin

|2010

|Cow

|PGI

|1955

|Cow

|PDO

Saint-Félicien

|n/a

|Cow

|LR

|1979

|Cow

|PDO

Selles-sur-Cher

|1975

|Centre-Val de Loire

|Goat

|PDO

Soumaintrain ^(fr)

|2014

|Cow{{Cite web |title=Official Journal C 47/2016 |url=https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=OJ:C:2016:047:FULL |access-date=2024-04-17 |website=eur-lex.europa.eu}}

|PGI

Tome des Bauges

|2002

|Cow

|PDO

|n/a

|Auvergne and Aubrac

|Cow

|AOC

Tomme de Savoie

|n/a

|Cow

|PGI

Tomme des Pyrénées

|n/a

|Midi-Pyrénées

|Cow

|PGI

|n/a

|Burgundy, Côte-d'Or Department

|Cow

|AOC

|1998

|Centre-Val de Loire

|Goat

|PDO

Image:Sheeps cheese, Villefranche de Rouergue.jpg

Other cheeses

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See also

{{portal|Food|France}}

Notes

{{Reflist}}

External links

{{commonscat|Cheese from France}}

[http://tout1fromage.canalblog.com/albums/les_fromages/index.html Pictures Gallery of French Cheese (and some others)]
[http://www.gourmet-food.com/gourmet-cheese/french-cheese-901-30006.aspx Pictures and detailed information on French Cheese] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100819143456/http://www.gourmet-food.com/gourmet-cheese/french-cheese-901-30006.aspx |date=2010-08-19 }}

{{Cheese}}

{{French cheeses}}

{{Geographical indications}}

{{French cuisine}}

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