Picodon

Picodon is a soft, unpressed goat's milk cheese produced in the departments of Ardèche, Drôme, and parts of Gard and Vaucluse. Made by lactic coagulation of raw, whole, non-standardised and unhomogenised goat's milk with a small quantity of rennet added, it is shaped as a small puck with rounded edges and carries PDO protection registered under file number PDO-FR-0298.

About this designation

Picodon is produced from raw whole goat's milk that is non-standardised and unhomogenised, coagulated by lactic action with a small quantity of rennet added. The geographical area covers all municipalities of the departments of Ardèche and Drôme, the canton of Barjac in the department of Gard, and the canton of Valréas in the department of Vaucluse. All steps from milk production through maturation must take place within this area. The cheese contains at least 45 g of fat per 100 g of cheese after total desiccation and at least 40 g of dry matter per 100 g of cheese. The unwashed form is marketed no earlier than 12 days after renneting and must measure 5 to 7 cm in diameter, 1.8 cm to 2.5 cm in height, and weigh at least 60 g at the end of maturation. A variant subjected to confinement and washing phases is designated 'matured and washed' or 'matured using the Dieulefit method'; it may not be marketed earlier than 30 days after renneting and must measure 4.5 to 6 cm in diameter, 1.3 cm to 2.5 cm in height, and weigh at least 45 g on leaving the maturation plant. Each unit sold to consumers must bear an individual label carrying the designation of origin in characters at least two-thirds the size of the largest characters on the label, together with the European Union's PDO logo. The applicant group is the Syndicat Drôme-Ardèche de défense et de promotion du Picodon AOP, based in Montelier.

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

Distinctive facts

• Registered as a PDO on 21 June 1996 under file number PDO-FR-0298, with eAmbrosia identifier EUGI00000013124.
• The specification permits no silage products or other fermented fodder in the flock's diet.
• The 'matured using the Dieulefit method' variant undergoes confinement and washing phases and may not be marketed earlier than 30 days after renneting.
• At least 67 % of the milking goats' annual ration must originate from within the geographical area, and 100 % of fodder and unprocessed cereals must come from that area.

Tasting notes

Drôme-Ardèche goat's milk small disk cheese aged 14+ days, often longer for Picodon affiné méthode Dieulefit (rinsed in eau-de-vie). Ivory paste with thin natural rind evolving from white-cream to grey-blue, semi-firm to firm texture, balanced tangy goat flavor with herbal-grassy notes; aged Méthode Dieulefit develops sharp savory complexity.

HoReCa use

Plateau de fromages chèvre selection; on toast with honey and walnuts; pairs with Côtes-du-Rhône, Crozes-Hermitage.

Packaging

• single-disk-60g
• gift-pack-6x60g
• méthode-Dieulefit-100g aged

Seasonality