Saint-Nectaire

Appearance & taste

Saint-Nectaire has the shape of a slightly domed cylinder 20 to 24 cm in diameter and 3.5 to 5.5 cm high; there is also a small wheel 12 to 14 cm in diameter weighing 0.5 to 0.7 kg. Compared with other mountain cheeses it is thus relatively small. The paste is soft and supple, gives under finger pressure, is ivory-coloured and may have a few small, evenly distributed holes. The cheese contains at least 45 % fat in dry matter.

The rind bears a coating of mould on both sides, white, brown or grey depending on ripeness, on a sometimes cream to orange background, often with yellow or reddish spots. Uniformly white, orange or black cheeses are excluded. The specification describes the taste as savoury, mild, slightly salty and not too sour, with milky aromas (fresh milk, cream, butter), aromas of the ripening cellar (cellar, straw, earth or undergrowth) and often a delicate hazelnut note.

The label states whether the cheese was made on the farm (fermier) or in the dairy (laitier). Cheese sold in pieces must have a piece of the typical rind.

Production

The dairy cows’ basic ration consists only of grass; at least 70 % of their total annual ration is grass from the area. The cows spend at least 160 days a year on pasture, and supplementary feed is limited to 1,800 kg per cow and year. Genetically modified feed plants are prohibited, as is growing them on all of the farms’ land.

The milk is curdled with rennet. The curd is pressed, but not cooked, and salted. Then the affineurs tend the cheese: it is washed several times, rubbed and turned regularly so that the rind develops. Ripening lasts at least 28 days from when it is placed in the cellar, 21 days for the small wheel. Milk production, cheesemaking and ripening take place in the area.

Origin & history

The area lies in the Massif Central; the specification highlights the conditions above 700 m. Westerly winds bring a lot of rain to the western slopes of the volcanic mountains. On the fertile volcanic soil grow permanent pastures with many flowering plants, including wild thyme, great yellow gentian, spignel and yarrow; they make up at least 90 % of the farms’ grassland.

The cheese has been made around the Monts Dore for several centuries. In the 17th century its name appears in gastronomy, and writings from 1786 and 1787 mention it. In the 20th century it became the business of the farm women on small mountain farms. The producers mostly sold their cheeses unripened; affineurs in the Puy-de-Dôme and Cantal departments ripened them. This division of labour still exists today. The handy size suited farms with few cows and the smaller amount of winter milk, while the summer milk was made into “Fourme de Cantal”. The name was recognised as a designation of origin in 1955 by a judgment of the court of Issoire.