Chaource

This is something I haven't done in a while. It's time for the featured cheese of the month! This is the beginning of the prime season to enjoy this cheese. Chaource.
It is a soft creamy cheese made from cows milk using a technique quite like the production of brie. It has a white edible rind of penicillum candidum bacteria like brie.
It has been produced in the village of Chaource in the Champaigne-Ardenne region since the middle ages. It is still only produced in a tightly controlled region in the Departments of Yonne and Aube. It was granted its AOC status in 1970.
I like this cheese very much and look forward to the summer months when it is fully ripe. It is at its peak from July through October.
It ages after prodsuction for 4 to 6 weeks. When the cheese is young, it is firm with a light creamy yellow cast. As it ages, it begins to run.
The taste is lightly salted and quite different from Brie. To me, there is a real aroma and flavor that reminds me of hay. It is a grand cheese to enjoy at the end of a meal.
It is produced in cylinders, perhaps 10cm in diameter and 6 cm in height.
It is pretty good melted on fresh baked new potatoes, but I really have never cooked with this cheese. It is a classic unique flavor and it stands alone with a good red wine.
Here is a photo of the packaging of the brand we usually get.