The Roquefort cellars of Roquefort-sur-Soulzon

Map of 5 locations in Roquefort-sur-Soulzon, France

Seven producers ripen Roquefort in the same place, the cave network under the Combalou plateau, where cracks called fleurines pull cold damp air through the rock and keep it at about 48°F year round. Most of them sit along one street, the Avenue de Lauras, and they differ sharply in how far a visitor gets: some run guided tours and tastings, one opens its workshop to small numbers, and two will not let you past the door at all. This sorts out which is which, and what each house actually does with the mould.

Places in this collection

  • Roquefort Le Vieux Berger — The smallest of the houses still open to callers, run by master cheese maker Vincent Combes, whose family has been making Roquefort here si…
  • Vernières — The Vernières name turns up among Roquefort cellar owners in the mid-17th century, and the firm has been Vernières Frères in its present fo…
  • Les Fromageries Occitanes — The cellars that ripen La Pastourelle, the Roquefort of a producers' cooperative, and an industrial site rather than a visitor one: they ar…
  • Société — The largest-volume Roquefort brand by a wide margin, created in 1863 and owned by Lactalis since the early 1990s. The visit runs through a…
  • Papillon — One of the seven Roquefort houses on the Avenue de Lauras, and the one that still harvests its penicillium spores from rye bread baked on s…

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