Pélardon

Pélardon is a soft goat's cheese produced from whole, raw, non-standardised goats' milk by a process of mainly lactic slow coagulation and natural draining. A cylinder with rounded edges, it weighs over 60 grams eleven days after renneting and is 60 to 70 mm in diameter and 22 to 27 mm high. Milk must come from Alpine, Saanen, or Rove breed herds or their crossbreeds.

About this designation

Pélardon holds PDO status, registered under file number PDO-FR-9140 with eAmbrosia identifier EUGI00000013589, with EU protection dating from 18 July 2000. The specification defines the cheese as a soft goat's cheese made by mainly lactic slow coagulation and natural draining of whole, raw goats' milk that is non-standardised in terms of protein or fat content. Permitted breeds are Alpine, Saanen, and Rove, and their crossbreeds; no other breeds are authorised. Eleven days after renneting, the cheese must weigh over 60 grams, measure 60 to 70 mm in diameter, and stand 22 to 27 mm high. It must contain a minimum of 40 grams of dry matter per 100 grams of cheese and 45 grams of fat per 100 grams of cheese when completely dry. Beyond rennet, only innocuous bacterial cultures, yeasts, moulds, calcium chloride, and salt are authorised during production. Renneting must be carried out using rennet only; the use of frozen curd and the freezing of raw materials, partly finished products, and cheeses is banned. Milk may not be concentrated by partially removing the watery part before coagulation. The geographical area spans municipalities across parts of the departments of Aude, Gard, Hérault, Lozère, and Tarn. Every stage of growing, preparing, maturing, and packing must take place within this defined area. Labels must carry the name of the designation in characters of a size equal to or two thirds the size of the largest characters on the label, together with the words 'Appellation d'Origine Protégée' and the PDO logo.

Source: The register document this entry was written from · retrieved August 26, 2026

Distinctive facts

• Registered as a PDO on 18 July 2000 under file number PDO-FR-9140 (eAmbrosia identifier EUGI00000013589).
• Milk must come exclusively from Alpine, Saanen, or Rove breed goats or their crossbreeds; no other breeds are permitted.
• Eleven days after renneting, each cheese must weigh over 60 grams, be 60 to 70 mm in diameter, and 22 to 27 mm high.
• The use of frozen curd and the freezing of raw materials, partly finished products, and cheeses is expressly banned by the specification.

Tasting notes

Cévennes-Languedoc goat's milk small button-shaped cheese aged 11+ days. Ivory paste with thin natural rind that evolves from white-floral to grey-bluish with age, soft to semi-firm texture, balanced fresh tangy-goat flavor with herbaceous Cévenol notes.

HoReCa use

Plateau de fromages with chèvre selection; warmed on toast for salades estivales; pairs with Saint-Chinian and Pic Saint-Loup.

Packaging

• single-button-60g
• gift-pack-6x60g
• gift-pack-12x60g

Seasonality