Taupinière

Producer

Laura Chenel's Chèvre

Country

United States

Region

California

Size

3-4 ins diameter, 1-2 ins high

Weight

9 oz

Website

www.laurachenel.com

Milk

Goat

Treatment

Pasteurised

Classification

Semi Soft

Rennet

Microbial

Rind

Ash coated
Geotricum

Style

Soft-Ripened (Brie-like)

Located in a state-of-the-art creamery in Sonoma, California, Laura Chenel's has been in operation since the late 1970s. Laura Chenel was one of a small group of women cheesemakers to spearhead the production of goat's milk cheeses in the United States. After nearly three decades of growing the business, Chenel sold her company in 2006 to French family cheese producers, Laiteries H. Triballat, who continue the tradition of Laura Chenel’s cheesemaking of both fresh and aged cheese.

Milk for production comes from family goat dairies located in the western United States. High quality milk is crucial to excellent cheese production and the company has very close relationships with their producers to ensure animal health, nutrition and general well being.

One of the first aged cheeses that Chenel created, Taupinière was her American interpretation of the cheesemaking traditions she learned in France. Each round of Taupinère is formed into a nine-ounce round that is then coated with vegetable ash and aged for about eight to 12 days before release, which allows the wrinkly Geotrichum candidum mold to grow. The interior texture is bright white in color and pleasantly chalky when young, becoming softer under the rind as the cheese ages.

Tasting Notes

Flavors are fresh and lemony, with sweeter, smooth milky notes on the finish and an underlying lactic tang.

Pairings

Pair with a sancerre or a wheat beer.