Fromagerie Dubois-Boulay
Affineur at the entrance to Chavignol since 1896, specialising in ageing farm-made crottins. The boutique sells Crottin de Chavignol and offers tastings with local wine.
About Crottin de Chavignol
A small flat-topped cylinder of raw goat's milk, slightly convex around its side and weighing 60 to 90 g. It is made in Cher, Nièvre and Loiret, in the same country as the Sancerre vineyards. The thin, wrinkled rind is usually covered in a white mould that turns bluish as the cheese ages, and the consortium sells it at several stages from mi-sec to fully aged and crumbly. It has been an AOC since 1976 and an AOP since 1996. The consortium traces the name to the Berry word crot, meaning a hole.
Made in: Cher, Nièvre and Loiret departments, around Sancerre
On the plate
Firm, white, smooth paste that looks chalky, dense but very fine. Aged crottins show woodland and mushroom aromas, and dry ones turn nutty, with a lot of hazelnut, according to the producers' consortium.
Rind: natural crust
Wine and cheese
What to pour with Crottin de Chavignol
Sancerre blanc Loire Valley
Local traditionYoung crottin has a firm, chalky paste and aged ones turn nutty and dry. White Sancerre's sharp Sauvignon acidity and citrus cut that density and freshen the hazelnut. The consortium lists it first; a pairing guide calls it the classic white.
Pouilly-Fumé Loire Valley
Our pickPouilly-Fumé is a dry Sauvignon Blanc from flint and limestone across the river from Sancerre, and its high acidity and citrus lift the nutty notes of a half-dry crottin. The consortium names it among the wines the cheese likes, after white Sancerre and Menetou-Salon.
Sancerre or Menetou-Salon rouge (Pinot Noir) Loire Valley
Our pickPinot Noir from Sancerre or neighbouring Menetou-Salon is medium-bodied with high acidity. Its red-cherry or redcurrant fruit sits against the firm, chalky paste of a young or half-aged crottin without overpowering it.
Sweet Loire Chenin (Coteaux du Layon, Quarts de Chaume, Vouvray moelleux) Loire Valley
Our pickA fully aged crottin turns dry, crumbly and strongly nutty. A sweet Loire Chenin, made from late-picked or nobly rotten grapes, sets honeyed richness and its own high acidity against that concentration and salt.
Menetou-Salon Loire Valley
Our pickMenetou-Salon's Sauvignon has the same crisp acidity and citrus as Sancerre, enough to stand up to the blue-tinged rind and earthy edge of a ripening crottin. The consortium lists it among the wines the cheese likes.
The grapes behind these winesSauvignon BlancChenin BlancPinot Noir
From the source
Where to buy and taste it
La Bête Noire Sancerroise
Educational goat farm on the canal at Thauvenay, a few kilometres from Sancerre. A free self-guided circuit explains how Crottin de Chavignol is made, and a shop sells it with local produce.
Ferme des Chapotons
Family goat farm and Sancerre vineyard at Menetou-Râtel. Visitors can walk the goat house, see how Crottin de Chavignol is made and taste it in the shop alongside the farm's Sancerre wine.
France Fromages
Cheese stall and ageing cellar in the Halles de Tours, run by Hans and Adeline Krischer, with a counter built around goat cheeses from Touraine and neighbouring areas.
Fromagerie du Puits Neuf
Saumur cheese shop in the Saint-Jean quarter, open since 1985 and under new ownership since 2023. It stocks nearly 140 cheeses, finishes the ageing of some in house and makes take-away platters.
Les Fromages de Camille
Cheese shop near Tours town hall, selling cheeses, dairy and fine groceries from producers that let their animals graze. It also makes platters and delivers by bike.
La Passion du Fromage
Amboise boutique of La Passion du Fromage, a group of shops mostly in Indre-et-Loire that advertises more than 300 cheeses and local products and offers click and collect.
Cheese experiences nearby
Foire aux Fromages et à la Gastronomie de Sainte-Maure-de-Touraine
Annual fair devoted to Sainte-Maure de Touraine AOP, with a market of regional food products, cheese competitions including the Chèvre d'Or, a mini-farm and entertainment. Free entry in 2026.
Halles de Tours covered market
Covered market of Tours, opened in 1980, where stalls such as the affineur France Fromages sell Touraine goat cheeses alongside bakers, butchers and wine merchants.
Tasting of five ageings of Crottin de Chavignol
A farm tasting of five ageings of Crottin de Chavignol, from fresh to dry, with either a glass of Loire wine or apple juice, at a goat farm a few kilometres from Sancerre.
Wine and cheese tasting at Dubois-Boulay, Chavignol
Wine and cheese tasting in the boutique of a Chavignol affineur: a single Crottin de Chavignol, or a cheese and charcuterie plate, in a shop that also has an ageing facility with explanations of the craft.
Guided visit of the Ferme de la Fringale
A guided visit of a goat dairy with about 150 milking goats, explaining how the herd is run and how Valençay and Selles-sur-Cher AOP are made, with cheese and wine tasting.
Visit of the Ferme des Chapotons goat farm
A visit of a working goat farm and Sancerre vineyard, free to walk round and guided on request, with the making of Crottin de Chavignol to see and a tasting in the shop.
Crottin de Chavignol: questions
Which wine goes with Crottin de Chavignol?
The AOP consortium says it marries wonderfully with a white Sancerre, and that it also likes Menetou-Salon, Pouilly-Fumé, Quincy or Reuilly.
How much does a Crottin de Chavignol weigh?
60 to 90 g per cheese, according to the AOP consortium.
Where is Crottin de Chavignol made?
In the departments of Cher, Nièvre and Loiret, according to the AOP consortium.
Same cheeseboard
More cheeses from Loire Valley
Plan the trip
Visit Crottin de Chavignol country
Tastings and tours where it is made, and somewhere to stay.
Loire Valley
3-day Private Loire Castles Trip 2 Wine tastings by Mercedes
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Sources: protection register, aopchevrecentre.fr, fr.wikipedia.org. The drawing is made from the cheese's recorded shape, rind and paste, not a photograph.