Mistralou

The young Francois and Vanessa Masto took over an abandoned farm on the hillside.  They rebuilt it and populated it with an ancient breed of goat, the Rove.  This breed had almost become extinct as the popularity of goat meat has waned. The Rove originate from that area of Provence but are now rarely farmed, although in recent years the quality of their milk has been discovered – they produce an incredibly rich milk (but not much!) so Francois and Vanessa, wanting to produce a truly special cheese have bought up the last few Rove goats and have now expanded their herd to 70.

Using the milk enhanced by the diverse pasture the goats graze, the Francois and Vanessa created Fromagerie Le Simon where they now make Mistralou (as well as their famous Brousse du Rove, Buchette de Manon and Banon).  Due to the richness of the milk, only minimal salting is needed; the Mistralou cheese is lactic set and exhibits the perfumed, honey rich flavours of the Rove milk, with a chestnutty, tannin note from the sweet chestnut leaf the cheese is wrapped in.

The chestnut leaf wrapping dates from a time before wax paper and cling film became available – when farmers would wrap their cheeses in leaves to protect them from the dusty roads as they travelled to market.  Enhancing and contributing to the flavour, chestnut-leaf wrapping is still continued today.