Brie de Meaux

Dubbed the King of Cheeses at the 1814 Congress of Vienna, Brie de Meaux is a soft, surface-ripened raw cow milk cheese from Ile-de-France, aged 4 to 8 weeks to develop a velvety white rind and buttery, straw-like flavors. Its aging duration is 40% shorter than Comte's minimum, yet it achieves a creamy richness that 80% of tasters in a 2022 survey preferred for its smooth finish, setting a benchmark for surface-ripened varieties.