Fromagerie La Mère Richard
Founded in 1965 by Renée Richard, known as La Mère Richard, and at the Halles since 1971. Its page names Saint-Marcellin and Saint-Félicien as specialities and Paul Bocuse among the clients who built its name.
About Arôme de Lyon
A small flat disc of soft-paste cow's milk cheese, sometimes made with goat's milk, made in the Lyon region and macerated for three weeks to a month in white wine, or in grape stalks steeped with red wine. The Observatoire describes it as coated with grape pomace (gênes de marc). French Wikipedia gives 6 to 7 cm across, 3 cm thick and about 100 g, says cheesemongers buy them a little young in tubs of 15 or 40, and lists it as unprotected. Its Lyon cuisine article puts it on the Lyon cheese board beside the tomme du Beaujolais.
Made in: Lyon region, Rhône department
On the plate
The Observatoire describes complex aromas, the fruitiness of milk with slightly winey notes, and a creamy texture that melts on the palate at room temperature. Le Guide du Fromage adds a slight acidity. French Wikipedia says it is eaten at the end of a meal with a wine of the region.
Rind: natural crust
Wine and cheese
What to pour with Arôme de Lyon
Moulin-à-Vent Beaujolais
Our pickArôme de Lyon is a soft disc with slightly winey notes under a pomace coat. Moulin-à-Vent, a structured Gamay cru, has the tannin and acidity to stand beside that rind and the creamy paste.
Beaujolais-Villages Beaujolais
Our pickThe Observatoire des produits du terroir pairs Arôme de Lyon with whites such as Condrieu or Saint-Joseph and lighter reds such as Beaujolais. A fruity Beaujolais-Villages red echoes the winey notes of its pomace-coated rind.
The grapes behind these winesGamay
From the source
Where to buy and taste it
Maison Cellerier (Halles de Lyon)
The cheese counter of a Lyon house founded in 1890, now in its fourth generation by its own count. Its page for the Halles shop cites more than 350 cheeses, alongside charcuterie and a traiteur.
Fromagerie Mons Villefranche
Shop of the Mons house of affineurs on the rue Nationale, selling cheeses selected and aged by Hervé Mons, among them the local Bleu du Passeloup.
Cheese experiences nearby
Halles de Lyon Paul Bocuse
Lyon's covered food market, whose own pages list four cheese counters: Beillevaire, Mons, La Mère Richard and Cellerier, and say Paul Bocuse bought supplies here for his restaurants.
Marché couvert de Villefranche-sur-Saône
The covered market of Villefranche-sur-Saône, a listed 1930s building reopened in December 2025 after a year of renovation. Rhône Tourisme lists cheesemongers among its traders.
Arôme de Lyon: questions
Is Arôme de Lyon protected?
No. French Wikipedia lists it as unprotected.
What else is it called?
Arôme de gêne de marc, arôme lyonnais and arôme au vin blanc, according to French Wikipedia.
How big is it?
About 6 to 7 cm across, 3 cm thick and around 100 g, according to French Wikipedia.
Which wine goes with it?
The Observatoire des produits du terroir suggests whites such as Condrieu or Saint-Joseph and lighter reds such as Beaujolais.
Same cheeseboard
More cheeses from Beaujolais
Plan the trip
Visit Arôme de Lyon country
Tastings and tours where it is made, and somewhere to stay.
Beaujolais
Le Hameau Duboeuf: The 1st Vine and Wine Theme Park Tour
All 61 experiences in BeaujolaisBooking links go to our partners (GetYourGuide, Viator, Zen Hotels), who may pay us a commission. It never decides what we cover. Editorial standards.
Sources: fr.wikipedia.org, www.leguidedufromage.com. The drawing is made from the cheese's recorded shape, rind and paste, not a photograph.