Product Review: Les Fromagers de Chevillon: Domaine du Vallage cheese

I couldn't find a lot of information about this cheese online. In fact, I'm not even 100% sure that the Harmons cheesemonger labeled it correctly. It could be "Domaine de Vallage", "Domaine du Vallage", "Domaine de Village", or "Domaine du Village"—all turn up in a Google search, but none is obviously right. Either it's a triple-cream Brie, or it's a triple-cream mold-ripened [1] cheese that's very much like Brie. Ours looks a little funny because we refrigerated it for a few days, which gives it a consistency more like cheesecake. We didn't let it sit out long enough to liquefy again before we started eating it.

My verdict: I had a much better experience this time than I did with Président Brie.[2] Part of that has to do with the experience I've accrued since then. I now know that you dip fruit, like grapes or strawberries [3], in the gooey inside of a mold-ripened cheese like Brie. You can also smear it on crackers or bread. The rind is edible, but not really worth it—it is dry, tastes like bread mold, and has an unpleasant mouthfeel. The interior of the cheese is creamy and only slightly stinky.

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Notes:

[1] That is, ripened with Penicillium camemberti.

[2] See that review here. That experience was so much worse for one or more of the following reasons (none of which I care to investigate): 1. I was eating the rind and since Président Brie is much cheaper it had a stronger rind; 2. the Président Brie was overripe (I think this is unlikely, though, since overripe Brie is supposed to taste and smell like ammonia); or 3. the Président Brie was fine, but the baguette slices I was eating it with were moldy. I favor this latter reason.

[3] Find out why it's okay to call a strawberry a berry here.