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 Saint-Marcellin
A soft round of cow's milk from the Dauphiné, protected as an IGP since 2013. The EU single document gives a disc with rounded edges about 7 cm across and 2 cm high, at least 80 g, from whole milk used raw or thermised but never pasteurised; INAO describes a very thin, sometimes slightly wrinkled rind, white, beige to grey-blue. It is not made in the Rhône, but French Wikipedia's article on Lyon cuisine puts it first on the Lyon cheese board, and the consortium credits the Lyon cheesemonger Mère Richard with the soft (moelleux) style taken up by restaurants such as Paul Bocuse's.
Made in: Isère, Drôme and Savoie, centred on Saint-Marcellin
On the plate
The consortium describes the dry style as frank and milky with fruity notes, the blue as a cheese of character with mushroom and forest floor aromas, and the soft as creamy, with dried fruit, honey and cream notes. INAO calls it moderately salted.
Rind: white bloomy rind
Wine and cheese
What to pour with Saint-Marcellin
Saint-Joseph blanc Rhone Valley
Our pickOn the advice of sommelier Sébastien Maucarré, the Saint-Marcellin consortium suggests Rhône whites such as Saint-Joseph. A Marsanne-Roussanne white has the weight to meet the soft style's dried-fruit, honey and cream notes.
Côte-Rôtie Rhone Valley
Our pickCôte-Rôtie is Syrah, sometimes with a little Viognier, with high acidity and fine but real tannin. The acidity cuts the cream of a Saint-Marcellin, and a riper, older cheese with its mushroom and forest-floor notes has the depth to meet the wine's tannin.
Fleurie Beaujolais
Our pickThe consortium describes the soft Saint-Marcellin as creamy, with dried fruit, honey and cream notes. Fleurie, a Gamay cru with bright acidity and modest tannin, refreshes the palate between bites and leaves the cream alone.
Saint-Joseph rouge Rhone Valley
Our pickSaint-Joseph rouge is northern Rhône Syrah with bright acidity and light to firm tannin. The acidity cuts the cream of a Saint-Marcellin; choose a riper, older cheese for the firmer bottles, as its mushroom notes and denser paste stand up to the tannin.
Côte de Brouilly Beaujolais
Our pickCôte de Brouilly is a Gamay cru from the slopes of Mont Brouilly, with high acidity and medium to firm tannin. A ripe, creamy Saint-Marcellin softens that grip, and the wine's acidity keeps the cheese's richness fresh.
Hermitage rouge Rhone Valley
Our pickThe Saint-Marcellin consortium, on sommelier Sébastien Maucarré's advice, names Rhône reds such as Hermitage. Full, firm Hermitage Syrah suits the riper, older cheese, intense with mushroom and forest floor, better than a young, nearly runny one that its tannin would overwhelm.
Régnié Beaujolais
Our pickRégnié is a fresh Gamay cru with high acidity and light to medium body. Against a creamy Saint-Marcellin with its dried fruit and honey notes, it brings freshness instead of weight.
The grapes behind these winesGamaySyrahMarsanne
From the source
Where to buy and taste it
La Chazère
Valence fromagerie with two shops, selling farmhouse raw-milk cheeses and running cheese tastings from June to September by registration in the shop. Named a Saint-Marcellin IGP ambassador by the consortium.
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.
Terra Cabra: Picodon ageing rooms and goat-cheese exhibition
A 200 m2 museum route on goat farming, milking and Picodon making, with films, educational workshops, fact sheets and the ageing rooms, above the Peytot ageing workshop. Individual tasting is free per the Ardèche Guide listing.
Fête du Picodon, Saoû
Two-day Picodon festival in Saoû on the third weekend of July, as the organisers put it; the 2026 edition was held in July. The Picodon syndicate also lists a Picodon festival in Dieulefit in August.
Guided visit and tasting at GAEC des Baratons
Guided visit of a goat dairy making Picodon AOP, with a free tasting; guided visits are compulsory for individuals and groups. Group rates start at 20 people, and groups can be up to 55.
Cheese tastings at La Chazère, Valence
Tastings of local cheeses at the Valence fromagerie from June to September, with registration at the shop.
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.
Saint-Marcellin: questions
Why is a Dauphiné cheese in a Lyon guide?
The consortium says the soft style came from the Lyon cheesemonger Mère Richard, and French Wikipedia lists Saint-Marcellin first on the Lyon cheese board.
How big is it?
About 7 cm across and 2 cm high, at least 80 g, per the EU single document, which allows 65 to 80 mm by 20 to 25 mm.
What is the difference between dry and soft?
INAO says the dry one corresponds to the local tradition, the other being the soft; the consortium also describes a blue style.
When was Saint-Marcellin protected?
As an IGP in 2013 (EU Regulation 1214/2013), after a French order of 17 September 2010 approved its specification. The EU single document adds that the cheese had an official French description from 1935, made regulatory in 1942, but the IGP is the first protection of the name.
Same cheeseboard
More cheeses from Beaujolais
Plan the trip
Visit Saint-Marcellin 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 Beaujolais
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Sources: protection register, www.fromage-saint-marcellin.fr, www.inao.gouv.fr. The drawing is made from the cheese's recorded shape, rind and paste, not a photograph.
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