Rouzaire Chaource AOC (8.8oz/ 250g)

Chaource takes its name from a small village of just over a thousand people in the Aube, on the border of Champagne and Burgundy, where the cheese's roots reach back to at least the 12th century — legend holds it was presented to King Philip the Fair on a visit through the village in the 14th century, and that Marguerite of Burgundy later insisted on having it served at her own court. Originally made for local farm consumption, it grew into a regional staple through the 19th century, carried by traveling merchants to markets as far as Paris, Lyon, and Dijon, until formal standards were set and Chaource earned AOC status in 1970, fully codified by 1977. This version comes from Fromagerie Rouzaire, a family cheesemaking house now three generations deep, rooted in the neighboring Brie region and known for time-tested techniques like hand-molding on natural straw mats. True to the appellation's slow, lactic-set tradition, it's soft, creamy, and faintly crumbly beneath a delicate white bloomy rind — rich and buttery with a light, tangy edge, and often considered the ancestral cheese behind France's celebrated triple-crèmes like Brillat-Savarin.