What if making cheese and wine wasn't so different? The meeting of Armand Heitz and Grégoire Lincet, director of the Fromagerie Gaugry de Brochon, is the meeting of two people sharing a common love, that of the terroir and of better consumption.

Making cheese and wine, same fight

At the Gaugry cheese factory in Brochon, cheese production is essentially based on two traditional recipes. That of Époisses and that of Soumaintrain. And finally, when you visit the cheese dairy, you quickly realize that making cheese and making wine are not so different.

It all starts with a base, milk for cheese and grapes for wine. And in the same spirit as to make a great wine it all starts from the vine, to make a great cheese it all starts from the cows. At Gaugry, the milk is purchased directly from producers who are carefully selected based on precise quality criteria.

The milk arrives at the cheese dairy, and will follow steps similar to those of grape juice to be transformed into wine. First of all, milk ferments with lactic ferments like juice turns into alcohol thanks to yeasts. Then, it solidifies little by little a bit like grape juice is alcoholized to turn into wine. The solid and liquid parts are then separated to keep only the future cheese, in the same way as must and marc are separated. Finally, after having taken its final shape and after being salted, the cheese is placed in the cellar for several weeks to be refined with marc de Bourgogne, in the same way that wine is placed in barrels so that it develops completely. its aromas.

The notable difference between making an Epoisses and a Pommard, or any other wine for that matter, is that there is a new vintage every day for Epoisses. And as each vintage is different, you have to constantly adapt. Especially since at Gaugry, the choice is made to keep part of the production with raw milk, that is to say without pasteurizing it. A traditional method much more difficult to apply than the cheese factory is the last to be practiced. But, despite the difficulty of this one, she intends to keep the tradition, because to make a success of an Époisses or a soumaintrain with raw milk, for Grégoire it is like making a "work of art" and there is nothing comparable with an Époisses made with pasteurized milk.

Between tradition and excellence

Among the cheeses produced by the cheese dairy, icons such as Époisses AOP, Soumaintrain IGP, but also lesser-known ones such as Petit Gaugry or Ami du Chambertin. The latter two are made using the Époisses recipe but in smaller formats. And as with a half bottle of wine, the texture and aromas developed will be different.

In addition to this range of cheeses, there are other cheeses produced by the Gaugry cheese dairy and the Lincet cheese dairy (parent company of the Gaugry cheese dairy) such as Brillat-Savarin IGP, Chaource AOP, etc. . All are produced with the desire to respect the "taste of the real", the taste of the terroir.

And if you're looking to accompany these cheeses with wine, Grégoire's advice is to seek a balance between the two. The idea is not to associate a powerful cheese with a powerful wine. With an Epoisses, for example, which is a rather fatty and powerful cheese, you shouldn't be afraid to seek out the minerality and freshness of a Chablis, a Coteaux de l'Auxois or of a Crémant de Bourgogne.

A common vision

The philosophy of Grégoire, director of the Brochon cheese dairy, is similar to that of Armand Both seek to develop authentic products, local products. What matters is to offer quality products, with an ethical and responsible approach to allow the customer to know what he is eating.

Eating a Gaugry cheese, beyond the excellence of the product, is the assurance of eating a local product that has not circled the Earth four times before arriving on our table . It is also the assurance of an exceptional product whose manufacture is respectful of the environment, animal welfare, with milk producers remunerated at fair value for their work.

And it is on these points that Armand agrees with Grégoire. The important thing is to do things well, so as to move society and our way of consuming in the right direction.

The partnership with the Gaugry cheese dairy

The idea of ​​a partnership came from the first meeting between Grégoire and Armand. Discussing values, philosophy and tasting a few bottles brought by Armand and a few cheeses brought by Grégoire, it immediately matched.

Grégoire wanted to offer a quality wine to perfectly accompany his cheeses during visits to the cheese dairy and Armand wanted to consume better. So today, if you visit the cheese dairy with the tasting formula, you will have the opportunity to taste our Red Burgundy and if you participate in an event at the domain, you will undoubtedly be able to taste the cheeses of the Gaugry cheese dairy.

Leo Plassard

Photo credits: Jib Peter / Fromagerie Gaugry

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