Raw Auvergne sheep's milk, gentle and sweet despite its bold rind.
Lavort is a raw Lacaune sheep's milk cheese from France's Auvergne region, made at Fromagerie de Terre Dieu by Patrick Beaumont, who reinvented the recipe in 1989. The wheel itself is the giveaway, a flattened boule with a cratered top that looks a little like a sinkhole or a tiny volcano, finished in a rustic stony rind shot through with native molds.
The paste is ivory, semi-hard, with a delicate open texture that breaks rather than cuts. Aged on fir wood boards for three to six months, it picks up real woodsy character from the boards, the kind of thing you can smell before you taste it. Flavor leans sweet and buttery up front, then opens into hay, toasted hazelnut, a little smoke, and that meaty, bacon-like savoriness that good raw sheep's milk gives you. Long finish, all sheep's milk sweetness.
This is one of those Auvergne cheeses that wears its terroir on the outside. The rind looks intense, but the paste is gentle and elegant, the kind of cheese that surprises people who expect a raw sheep's milk to come at them hard. One of my favorites for showing what a small producer in the Massif Central can do.
Real reviews from The Cheese Store of Beverly Hills Google Business Profile. Curated by Dom and his team since 1967.
Domenico and his team are fantastic. I’m a chef and I often get my supplies from The Cheese Store — unique products, carefully selected, from top Italian and French cheeses to excellent local ones.
Absolutely loved the cheese store! Everyone was super helpful and friendly. Lena helped us — she was very knowledgeable on all the cheeses: where they came from, what the region is like, what they are known for. It was like wine tasting for cheese.
Ordered several cheeses from them and the wrong items were delivered. Contacted the store and they recognized the error and immediately sent the correct order the next day without any fuss. Really appreciate the promptness and professionalism.
Hand-cut to order the day it ships.
Choose Your Weight →Ships nationwide
