Selles-sur-Cher

Selles-sur-Cher (AOC 1975, AOP) is a flat disc of ash-coated goat cheese from the Sologne and Cher Valley, weighing approximately 150g with its distinctive squat cylindrical shape — wider than it is tall, with slightly convex sides. Like its Loire cousins, it is made from raw whole goat's milk using the slow lactic method: 18-24 hours of coagulation, hand-ladling into moulds, 24-hour drainage, and ash coating with vegetable charcoal mixed with salt. The minimum affinage of 10 days produces a cheese of remarkable delicacy — thinner than Valençay or Sainte-Maure, the paste ripens more quickly and more evenly, developing its characteristic crémeuse (creamy underlayer) beneath the ash-covered rind within 2 weeks. At its best (15-21 days), Selles-sur-Cher has a tripartite texture: the wrinkled ash rind (slightly gritty, mineral), the crémeuse (2-3mm of unctuous, almost liquid paste), and the chalky core (firm, bright white, lactic). This textural complexity in such a small format is the cheese's particular achievement. The flavor profile is the most delicate of the Loire chèvres — lighter and more floral than Crottin, less nutty than Sainte-Maure, with notes of fresh hay, white flowers, and a clean citric finish. In the kitchen, Selles-sur-Cher is primarily a cheese course cheese — its delicacy is lost in cooking. Served at room temperature with a glass of Touraine Sauvignon or Cheverny blanc, accompanied by a few walnuts and perhaps some quince paste, it represents the Loire goat cheese tradition at its most refined and understated.

• Valençay (Loire ash pyramid)
• Sainte-Maure de Touraine (Loire ash log)
• Crottin de Chavignol (Loire drum)
• Chabichou du Poitou (Poitou goat cheese)