Off to See the Cheese Wizard

[robert brown]

Bernard Antony’s street address, 5 rue de la Montagne, in southern Alsace due west of Basel, conjures up a bucolic, isolated setting, perhaps even with cows on the property. Yet the truth is that he lives on a short, small road of rather close-together houses within a stone’s throw of a village with no character, Vieux-Ferrett. Antony’s house, however, identified only by a small carved wood sign above the front door stating “Sundgauer Kasekellar” is spacious and more Alsatian in design than those of most of his neighbors. He has a small parking area in front where, having arrived a few minutes before Antony reopens after lunch and our reservation time for a cheese degustation, we sat in the car and waited. Precisely at 2:00, Jean-Francois Antony, Bernard’s son, signaled us to come in where we were shown to the tasting room where his father greeted us. Apparently Bernard thought at first we were American neophytes in search of adding a renown culinary name we could say we visited in spite of our having ordered a couple of shipments from him the year before. Our two plates with about a dozen little slices of different cheeses fanned were quickly identified for us by Antony. He then showed me a paper with just a couple of half-bottles of wine we could have with the cheese, and then went and retrieved my selection of an Alsatian Pinot Noir before leaving us to ourselves. We quickly finished the cheese plate, after which I started to look at the rather large collection of wine for sale spaced around the room. When Antony returned, I commented about his interesting selection, at which point he retrieved for me a very thick album that was a combination scrap book with photos of him with his family, friends and various gastronomic luminaries and a lengthy list of the wines he had for sale. My interest in his wines provoked a shift in his attitude, as from then for another hour we discussed recent culinary history, restaurants and chefs we liked, gastronomy in American and Italy, followed by advice about the mixed case of wines I wished to buy. My wife had returned to the reception area where Jean-Francois stood behind a typical cheese counter that contained several, but hardly all, of what you can purchase. Even though Antony doesn’t allow casual visitors to his ageing rooms, we could see a section of them from where we stood.

Jean-Francois put our cheese in a carton which arrived intact with our luggage at the Nice Airport. Since then we have finished off the extraordinary and scarce Bleu de Termignon, which is made by one woman in the Savoie; a Chevre du Tarn; most of a Camembert (it being the peak time of year for this cheese); and my favorite among our purchase, a Saint-Felicien with a delicacy, butteriness and hint of sweetness that can only be tasted here in France. We adore Antony’s Comte (this one from 2003) which is the cheese he’s best known for; and are waiting to unwrap a Galette de Chartreuse, a firm, chalky goat cheese.

Even if you have nowhere in France to keep a variety of cheese for several days, a visit to Antony’s is worth a significant detour. In such circumstances, bypass his normal degustation as the pieces on the plate are too small to sink your teeth into in order to get the full brunt. Instead (and I don’t think Antony would mind) I recommend buying small cheeses or smallish portions of larger cheeses and eat them in the degustation room, as well as buying a half or whole bottle of wine from his inventory to have with it. This should allow for enjoying to the maximum one of the most compelling and memorable culinary stops in the world.

Edited May 28, 2007 by robert brown (log)

[Margaret Pilgrim]

For quite a few years it has been my dream to do exactly what you have described, Robert. Thanks for the detailed "road map" on how to best enjoy this extraordinary address.

Edited to add that perhaps now that there is the Paris-Strasbourg TGV link it will not require such malice of forethought.

Edited May 28, 2007 by Margaret Pilgrim (log)

[John Whiting]

Robert, it's good to see that your retirement from eGullet hosting does not mean that you've taken a vow of culinary abstinence. You've given me another compulsory destination.

[robert brown]

Thank you so much, Margaret and John. Basel or Mulhouse are the nearest cities to Antony. Mulhouse I don't know at all. Basel I like quite a bit, though it's not a great culinary town. We like the food departments in the Globus department stores in Geneva and Basel, however.

Antony mentions on his site a cheese ceremony he has on Wednesdays, though I can't imagine people really showing up for it since no one else came to his door when we were there. As best I can tell, it's a cheese and wine pairing event. You may want to ask him about it if you plan to go on a Wednesday.

[docsconz]

Robert, this sounds like a true life-enriching experience. What do you think most sets him apart from other fine affineurs?

[robert brown]

John, I haven't got a lot to go on in terms of comparing his product to others. The one other I am most familiar with is Edouard Ceneri who has a store in Cannes which I don't like very much. I think he often puts his cheeses out for sale before they are ready, and I find his wife (I'm pretty sure it's his wife) pushy, aggressive and not truthful. When I was there in late February or early March, it was the start of the season for fresh goat cheeses. When I asked her if she had any, she pointed to a cheese that had clearly been made months before, perhaps with frozen curds. It had that waterlogged appearance of goat cheeses that you see out of season or back home. Ceneri also offers almost nothing unusual or from very small producers..

On the other hand, Antony is just a down-to-earth fellow with no pretense and a spirit of generosity. When I ordered from him last year, he was very mindful of the risk in shipping cheese overnight and his son warned me away from any cheese that might be compromised. Perhaps all affineurs would do that, I don't know, never having had cheese shipped to me before. I'm not a big fan of mold cheeses, but his Bleu de Termignan is something special. I prefer generally young, soft cow's milk cheese and almost all goat cheeses, which are what Antony handles impoeccably.

We bought some yogurt that Antony sells that comes from a colleague. It's really good yogurt. When I went to the website http://www.pascalbeillevaire.net/of this man, I was turned off by the commercism of his enterprise. Antony, however, keeps his business limited to ageing the most interest cheeses in France. If you believe that modesty usually goes hand-in-hand with integrity, then a visit will likely warm your heart and edify your soul.

[docsconz]

John, I haven't got a lot to go on in terms of comparing his product to others. The one other I am most familiar with is Edouard Ceneri who has a store in Cannes which I don't like very much. I think he often puts his cheeses out for sale before they are ready, and I find his wife (I'm pretty sure it's his wife) pushy, aggressive and not truthful. When I was there in late February or early March, it was the start of the season for fresh goat cheeses. When I asked her if she had any, she pointed to a cheese that had clearly been made months before, perhaps with frozen curds. It had that waterlogged appearance of goat cheeses that you see out of season or back home. Ceneri also offers almost nothing unusual or from very small producers..

On the other hand, Antony is just a down-to-earth fellow with no pretense and a spirit of generosity. When I ordered from him last year, he was very mindful of the risk in shipping cheese overnight and his son warned me away from any cheese that might be compromised. Perhaps all affineurs would do that, I don't know, never having had cheese shipped to me before. I'm not a big fan of mold cheeses, but his Bleu de Termignan is something special. I prefer generally young, soft cow's milk cheese and almost all goat cheeses, which are what Antony handles impoeccably.

We bought some yogurt that Antony sells that comes from a colleague. It's really good yogurt. When I went to the website http://www.pascalbeillevaire.net/of this man, I was turned off by the commercism of his enterprise. Antony, however, keeps his business limited to ageing the most interest cheeses in France. If you believe that modesty usually goes hand-in-hand with integrity, then a visit will likely warm your heart and edify your soul.

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Robert, thank you for these insights. It sounds like a place and a person (not to mention the cheeses!) that I would very much enjoy.