Mons Selection Coeur du Berger
Provence, Shaped by Hand
Tasting Notes of the Curator
Cœur du Berger may be small, but it holds an entire Provençal landscape within its delicate heart-shaped form. Beneath its fine white bloomy rind lies a supple, melting paste made from raw goat’s milk, with the bright lactic freshness and gentle tang characteristic of young chèvre.
Its texture changes beautifully as it matures. When young, the centre is close, tender, and slightly chalky, offering clean notes of fresh milk, citrus, and sweet grass. With further ripening, the paste becomes softer beneath the rind, developing a more generous creaminess and a deeper, gently earthy character.
Wild thyme flowers provide the cheese with its most distinctive flourish. Their aroma is subtle rather than perfumed, lending touches of dried herbs, warm stone, and sunlit garrigue to the goat’s milk beneath. The cheese remains refined and balanced: tangy without sharpness, herbaceous without bitterness, and creamy without losing its refreshing delicacy.
At approximately 90 grams, it is perfectly proportioned for an intimate cheese course or as the charming centrepiece of a small Provençal-inspired board.
Pairings and Suggestions
Allow Cœur du Berger to come to room temperature before serving so that its texture softens and its thyme fragrance fully emerges.
For the Cheese Board: Pair with a crusty baguette, delicate crackers, fresh figs, grapes, or ripe stone fruit. With Honey: Add a restrained drizzle of lavender or acacia honey to echo its floral and herbal character. In a Salad: Place over young leaves with roasted beetroot, walnuts, and a light honey vinaigrette. Warm from the Oven: Bake briefly until just softened, then serve with toasted sourdough and a spoonful of confit tomatoes. Wine Pairing: Choose a crisp Sauvignon Blanc, a dry Provençal rosé, or a mineral white wine with bright acidity. For Contrast: Serve with olive tapenade, roasted peppers, or a few briny black olives.
Its petite size makes it ideal for sharing between two, although we will not judge anyone who considers one heart a single serving.
Where the Wild Thyme Grows
Cœur du Berger translates to “the shepherd’s heart,” a fitting name for a cheese shaped by pastoral life and the rugged landscape of Provence. It is produced from raw goat’s milk in France’s Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region and finished with sprigs or flowers of wild thyme.
The herb is more than decoration. Thyme grows naturally across the garrigue, the sun-baked Mediterranean scrubland scented with wild herbs, dry earth, and resinous plants. Its presence gives the cheese an aromatic link to the landscape from which it comes.
Mons Fromager Affineur describes the cheese through this sense of place: wild, preserved country, dry garrigue, thyme flowers, and traditional earthen-floored cellars. Under careful affinage, the delicate raw-milk cheese develops a fine rind and a melting centre while retaining the clean, expressive character of goat’s milk.
It is a little cheese with considerable romance—quite literally a piece of Provence offered from the heart.
Storage Instructions
Keep refrigerated between 2°C and 6°C in its original wrapping or loosely wrapped in cheese paper. Avoid sealing it tightly in plastic, as the cheese benefits from gentle airflow.
Remove from the refrigerator approximately 30 minutes before serving. Once cut, rewrap carefully and consume within a few days for the best texture and flavor.
Made with raw goat’s milk.
