Chevrotin AOP

Chevrotin stands apart in the Savoyard family. It is the region’s only goat’s-milk AOP, and the only one made exclusively on the farm. A small wheel with an orange washed rind, a supple ivory paste, a clear but not overpowering goaty taste. It is a rare cheese, made in small quantities by a limited number of farms. It earned its AOC in 2002, recognised as an AOP across Europe in 2005.

A goat’s cheese in cow country

Savoie is above all cow’s-cheese country. Chevrotin is the exception. It has been made for three centuries in the Aravis, on the reblochon model but with goat’s milk. The herds are Alpine goats, a mountain breed well suited to the slopes, and Savoie goats. They graze between mid and high mountain on the appellation’s territory, mainly in the Aravis, with an extension towards Mont-Blanc, the Chablais and the Bauges.

Farm-made, and nothing else

The key point of chevrotin is its fully farm-based production. The milk is collected, transformed and aged on the same farm, with no collection or industrialisation. Each producer works the milk of their single herd, by hand, right after milking. That is what guarantees the direct link between the animal, the alpine pasture and the cheese, and it is also what limits production.

Chevrotin is a pressed, uncooked paste with a washed rind. After moulding, the wheel is aged three to six weeks in a humid cellar, with regular washing and turning that develop the orange rind and a light smell. The paste stays supple and melting.

Tasting it

Chevrotin is eaten as it is, at room temperature, to appreciate its creamy paste and clean goaty taste. It has its place on a board next to cow’s cheeses, where it brings a contrast. A dry, lively white suits it well, for example a Roussette de Savoie: see the Savoie wines page. To place it among the other appellations, see the Cheeses of Savoie pillar.

Where to find it

Because it is farm-made and rare, chevrotin is found mostly at the source, in the Aravis, around Manigod, Le Grand-Bornand, Thônes and La Clusaz. The area’s goat farms and cooperatives sell it direct, and some open their doors in summer. It is the cheese to ask for from the producer rather than in a supermarket, where it is hard to find.