Fleur de Maquis/Brin D'Amour (1.5lb)

Fleur de Maquis, also known as Brin d'Amour, is a sheep's milk cheese from Corsica, the island off the south coast of France where the wild maquis brush grows thick across the hillsides. The wheel is rolled in that same maquis, rosemary, thyme, savory, and a scatter of edible flowers and juniper, so the rind is the first thing you smell and the last thing you taste.

The paste underneath is ivory, semi-soft, and supple, with a softer cream line just under the herb crust and a slightly chalkier center when it's young. On the palate it's a gentle sheep's milk cheese, more buttery than tangy, that lets the herbs do the talking, rosemary up front, thyme and savory through the middle, a light peppery tickle on the finish. Almost minty in its aroma, as we like to say, but the paste itself is one of the most delicate sheep cheeses around.

It looks intense covered in all those herbs, but it's a small cheese that leaves a big impression, the kind of wheel that anchors a Mediterranean board next to a glass of rosé and a few fresh figs.