Brie de Meaux
AOP📍 Île-de-France · Seine-et-Marne
🐄 cowsoft
The king of cheeses, soft-ripened with a bloomy rind.
The cheese
Nicknamed "king of cheeses" by Talleyrand at the Congress of Vienna in 1815, AOP Brie de Meaux is the icon of bloomy-rind soft cheeses. A large flat wheel of 36 cm and 2.6 kg, aged at least six weeks on wheat straw, it wears a downy white rind speckled with reddish pigments and hides a straw-yellow, unctuous heart. Raw milk from Brune, Normande, Holstein and other cows is used. Aromas are refined: fresh mushroom, butter, hazelnut, undergrowth, with a touch of hay on the finish. The texture should be flowing but never runny. Served at room temperature on a board, it pairs with Champagne blanc de blancs, a buttery Chardonnay or a Loire off-dry Vouvray.