Le Roquefort,
1^st PDO in history

In the early 1920s, counterfeits of Roquefort grow. Auvergne region is tinkering with a Roquefort made from cow’s milk, a Danish Roquefort is hitting the market and several countries are seeking authorization to make the king of cheeses in their own manner.

Without counting the productions of the cellars located in the vicinity of Combalou. The actors of Roquefort no longer know where to turn. Then, they decide to react as a group.
Together, the Syndicate of Roquefort Cheese Manufacturers and the Federation of Ewe Breeders are asking for a DO, designation of origin to protect Roquefort from attempts at fraud. The Roquefort “DO” will be recognized on July 26, 1925, by a law signed by President Gaston Doumergue. This is a significant event: Roquefort becomes the first French cheese designation of origin.

Thanks to the designation of origin (DO in 1925, PDO in 1996), the cheese of Roquefort remains true to itself, to its terroir and to French culinary culture.
He stands out for his consistency. Local food channels, eating well, preserving landscapes and know-how: it has always put them into practice.
Roquefort is serenely modern. And more relevant than ever.

ROQUEFORT LATITUDES

Roquefort, an ambassador of
French gastronomy

From the Netherlands to Morocco, from Brazil to Japan, from Scandinavia to Australia, the
Roquefort goes well in all latitudes, all meridians. It is exported to 105 countries, like a real Phileas Fogg for the taste buds, and does not lose its prestige in the kingdom of Manchego or the country of Gorgonzola where it is given the label “His Excellency”. Roquefort, said Diderot, contributes to the international influence of French gastronomy just like Champagne.
Undeniably.

A fifth of Roquefort production travels outside of France. Germany, Belgium and the United States are the first tasters abroad. But Roquefort can be savored just as well in Uruguay, Slovakia, Singapore, Senegal, Norway, Mexico or Mauritius. Is the standardization of taste gradually spreading across the planet? Never mind: Roquefort cheese goes around the world in the other direction.

Slice of history

To the king of cheeses comes the royal privilege. As early as 1411, the village of Roquefort (30 households!) obtained letters patent from Charles VI to protect its production “in a country where neither vines nor grains of wheat grow”. In 1457, Charles VII foreshadowed the first appellation of origin of Roquefort in a charter which the village would ask his successors to renew until Louis XIV.
Because in the meantime, in 1666… A judgment of the sovereign court of the Parliament of Toulouse is rendered on August 31. He concedes to the inhabitants of Roquefort “the monopoly of cheese maturing as practiced from immemorial time in the caves of the said village”. It also penalizes counterfeits made in
“neighbourhood huts and places”. In other words, the Toulouse jurisdiction invented the PDO before its time.