Master Artisans

The raw sheep's milk that goes into Roquefort Carles is the milk of the very day it is collected. A living milk, worked quickly, with no buffer storage in the dairy. This precious raw material keeps the ferments to a minimum, for greater naturalness in the product. The curd, kept deliberately supple, lets the cheese be worked entirely by hand. The cutting of the curd, the moulding and the gestures of production are all done by hand. The house-cultivated Penicillium roqueforti and the hand-worked curd shape the texture, the aromas and the balance of Roquefort Carles.

The Penicillium roqueforti of Roquefort Carles is cultivated in-house, on bread. The bread is baked at very high temperature, then set in the cave so the Penicillium can develop. It is then harvested, dried, ground, and seeded into the curd at moulding. From this culture come the veining, the aromas and the character of the cheese.

The cheeses continue their ageing in the natural caves of Combalou. Air circulates naturally through the fleurines, the natural fissures in the rock that keep the caves in balance. The cheeses rest on wooden boards and are watched over throughout their ageing. Time, the air of the caves and the work of the hand slowly shape Roquefort Carles.