Pouligny-Saint-Pierre is a goats' milk cheese in the shape of a pyramid, 12.5cm tall. Made in Berry since the 18th century, it is produced in the smallest delimited zone for a listed French cheese, and has the oldest AOC for French goats' cheese (1972). There are two different labels, a green one for farm-produced cheese and a red one for dairy-produced cheese.
This unpasteurised goats' milk cheese has a thin blue-toned rind and a soft, white, creamy centre. It usually gives off a pleasant, straw-like aroma. Originally, the cheese-makers tried to produce Pouligny-Saint-Pierre cheese in the shape of the church belltower from the village of the same name.
Quite like its neighbour, Valençay, about 300 tonnes of Pouligny-Saint-Pierre is made each year, 40% of which is farm-produced. It goes very well with a small glass of Chinon, Reuilly or white Sancerre.
At the beginning of September, there is a festival at Pouligny-Saint-Pierre, the Goat and Cheese Festival (Fête de la Chèvre et du Fromage), where there is a farmers' market, an antiques fair, evening entertainment, a contest to see who can eat the most fromage blanc, and an initiation ceremony of the Pouligny-Saint-Pierre Brotherhood.