Natural
ripening

Roquefort cellars :
the magic happens

Stirred, hardened, cut, moulded, drained, marked, salted, quilted… The milk, which has become fresh cheese, after all this turbulence, enters the crypt: the natural cellars of Roquefort-sur-Soulzon. While the cheese rests in these rocky cavities with cool walls, the Penicillium roqueforti awakens in the cavities of the cheese. The blue-green marbling appears in the ivory-white dough.

Oriented to the north, under the scree of the Combalou, the cellars reach up to eleven floors underground. Only a few bends in the cliff separate the cellars of two manufacturers. All have one or more fleurines. Like large rock organs, these mossy-walled tunnels constantly play with the air. The fleurines bring freshness and humidity to the den of the cellar.

The fleurines are a bit like the land of plenty of Penicillium roqueforti : this aerobic mushroom proliferates in this ventilated environment. Patiently, from the heart towards the “heel” (edge) of the cheese, blue-green mold will develop. This process, which acts the conversion of fresh cheese into Roquefort, is called ripening. It must last at least fourteen days. It’s all about tempo and anticipation.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Ripening

The hotter it is on the surface, the more the fleurine blows cool, humid air. The colder it is, the more air it sucks out of rock excavations. And when the outside temperature fluctuates between 0° and 10°C, it holds its breath. Through a set of doors and hatches, the ripener will regulate the circulation of air in his cellar, to achieve and preserve ideal ripening conditions.
Top, table, floor: this is the designation for the three levels of shelving that house the cheeses. These are arranged on edge, exposed to airflow, and rest on a plastic sheet that can be washed in clear water. The spans are of oak and many are original! Wood is an excellent humidity regulator: it captures humidity and then releases it if necessary. The fleurines, the wood, the ripener: if in addition everyone does its part…
The cellar is the master ripener’s secret garden. Leave it alone in the evening, among the spans, when not a rustle scratches the silence: it will immediately detect the tiniest anomalies. Let him observe the dampness on the vault and on the shelves, the puddle of water on the stone steps: he knows then where the wind is blowing from and when his cheeses will be ripe. The ripener, with his cellar, is in total affinity.

Four of the ripener’s five senses are alert. The sight, which appreciates the accentuation of the blue-green veins in the paste. The sense of smell, which guesses by habit the progress of the ripening. Touch, using a stainless steel probe that reveals the creaminess of the cheeses. And even hearing, if we think of this ripener who heard the probe “sing” like a metal tuning fork. The taste in all this? Its time will come at the very end of ripening.

After a minimum of 14 days and on the decision of the master ripener, the Roquefort loaves are wrapped in a microporous sheet, traditionally tin, which slows down the development of Penicillium. Then begins, in low temperature rooms, the slow maturation of the cheeses. At least three months after the start of ripening, the loaves are unpacked and turned over (removal of the crust). Cutting, packaging: this is where manufacturing ends. The Roquefort will soon reach your table.

The 7 families of Roquefort

Carles, Gabriel Coulet, Fromageries Occitanes, Papillon, Société, Vernières, Le Vieux Berger. These are the seven manufacturers of PDO Roquefort. Each with its cellar, its exclusive strain of Penicillium roqueforti , its milk collection route from sheep breeders in the Roquefort area, its cheese dairy. Seven manufacturers, all brought together within the “manufacturers” college of the
General Confederation of Roquefort, serving a denomination whose tradition of excellence they perpetuate.

Societe

The oldest house of Roquefort PDO, since 1851. First producer and exporter.
Premier producteur et exportateur.

Lactalis Group

Slice of history
On February 25, 1851, ripeners and milk producers signed the founding act of the Civil Society of Cellars and Producers, which would become “Société”.

Its milk collection area
1,000 producers across the entire PDO area, from Larzac to the Montagne Noire, from Rougier to the Causse Comtal. The milk is delivered to two cheese dairies, in Saint-Affrique and Réquista in Aveyron.

Its production
10 000 tons per year.

Its logo
The name “Société” in white capital letters in its green cartridge. It is accompanied by the words “Since 1863”, the date of filing of this historic brand.

Papillon

The second largest manufacturer and exporter in the sector.

Savencia Group

Slice of history
Papillon, created in 1906 by Paul Alric, has its own bakery for baking rye bread which will be sown with Penicillium roqueforti. A refractory brick oven built in 1976, after the closure of a Roquefortaise bakery which baked the famous loaves of rye bread.

Its milk collection radius
130 producers on the Lévézou plateau, including 23 in organic farming, an approach promoted by the manufacturer in 1974. The two dairies are located on the southern fringe of the Lévézou, in Villefranche-de-Panat.

Its production
2,250 tons per year.

Its logo
In 1906, the founder Paul Alric intended to differentiate his production from the Société bee. The whiteness of the paste, the “chrysalis” effect in the cellar, the blue speckling: the image of the butterfly is essential.

Fromageries occitanes

The only cooperative in the Roquefort area.

Sodiaal Group

Slice of history
In 1976, breeders from the Roquefort area created the Scaro cooperative which acquired the cellars of Ets Alric brothers, producers of “la Pastourelle”. With the help of the Centre-Lait cooperative (Cantal), a new adventure begins.

Its milk collection radius
170 producers between the Lacaune mountains, Rance valley, Rougier, upper cantons of Hérault: Saint-Juéry, Saint-Sernin-sur-Rance, Montfranc, La Salvetat-sur-Agout… The dairy is located in Montlaur.

Sa production
2 200 tons per year.

Its logo
In the middle of a plant crown: the pastourelle, a young shepherdess, dressed in yellow ochre, pale blue, red and black, carrying a lamb in her arms. At his side, on legs, a ewe and her lamb.

Gabriel Coulet

A family business for five generations.

Slice of history
Digging a wine cellar under his house, Guillaume Coulet discovers a geological treasure: fleurines. From cart driver, he became a cheesemaker in 1872. It was in 1906 that his son Gabriel gave his name to the family business.

Its milk collection radius
100 producers on the Causse Comtal, Rougier de Marcillac, northern Lévézou and near Aubrac: Marcillac, Laissac, Pont-de-Salars. The cheese dairy is located in Sébazac-Concourès, north of Rodez.

Its production
2 000 tons per year

Its logo
A diamond with rounded corners, inside which is inscribed, in white letters on a forest green background, the name of Gabriel Coulet, itself underlined by a graphic variation of the diamond.

Vernieres

A family and independent cheese dairy since 1890.

Slice of history
The roots of Vernières in Roquefort are old. The compoix (cadastre) of 1664-1671 reveals that the Vernières then owned five of the eighteen cellars in the village of Roquefort. The company, founded by Paulin Vernières in 1890, is still owned by the descendants, the Vernières family (5th generation).

Its milk collection radius
52 producers between the Lévézou bocage and the chiseled plateau of Ségala: Villefranche-de-Panat, Alrance, Durenque, Auriac-Lagast… The sheep’s milk is sent to the Villefranche-de-Panat cheese dairy.

Its production
1 200 tons per year, one-third of which is marketed outside France.

Its logo
A traditional shepherd and a “cabanière” (cape and hat, headdress and apron) surround a vermilion oval stamped with a capital V. At the bottom of the oval, whose color it partially matches: a sheep.

Carles

Family and artisanal house for three generations.

Slice of history
François Carles created one of his first dairies in the village of Verrières, in Rougier de Camarès. More than 80 years later, in 2012, Delphine Carles, granddaughter of the founder of the Carles house, returned to her roots: she set up her new dairy not far from the original dairy, taking care to preserve her traditional process there.

Its milk collection radius
15 producers between the Rance valley, the alluvial plain of Dourdou and Rougier de Camarès (Martrin, Coupiac, Plaisance, etc.). The dairy-cheese factory is located in Saint-Pierre-de-Rebourguil.

Its production
230 tons per year.

Its logo
An illustration of Little Red Riding Hood, Perrault’s tale featuring the wolf, the pet peeve of the gentle Lacaune sheep… In the Carles version, Little Red Riding Hood brings his grandmother a nice loaf of bread and… a nice Roquefort cheese!

Le vieux berger

The smallest of manufacturers.
Family and artisanal.

Slice of history
From Viala-de-Pas-de-Jaux, a hospitable Templar village on the Larzac, Henri Combes goes down to Roquefort and acquires a cellar. He connects it to a fleurine by digging a 100m tunnel. The artisanal business was born in 1923.

Its milk collection area
8 producers on the Causse Comtal, the Rougier de Marcillac and the Ségala plateau. The sheep’s milk is conveyed to the “Farguettes” cheese dairy, commune of Mayran.

Its production
180 tons per year.

Its logo
A pastoral scene depicting a shepherd, cap on his head, cape on his back and crook in hand, accompanied by his dog, watching over his sheep, with, in the background, a Caussenard building.

Slice of history

The caves of Combalou, thanks to their north orientation, have no equivalent. But for a long time, the peasants exploited cellars with fleurines on the edge of the causse, east of the village of Roquefort, sometimes dug by themselves.
They are called “bastard cellars”. In the 19th century, there were at least 102. Only two are still in operation, in Fondamente and Peyrelade, for the production of cow milk blue cheese.