Matthieu Megard makes artisan cheeses that are identifiably French in style but undeniably Australian. The French-born cheesemaker studied his craft at Rennes in Britany and later at the Écoles Nationales d’Industrie Laitières or National School of Dairy Industries. He made his Australian cheeses in 2010 working alongside the Schultz family at their dairy in Timboon and then at a factory in Geelong.
In recent years he moved to a former pie factory in Mortlake. “Here we are closer to the dairies from which we source our milk,” says Megard. “Two are 100 per cent Jersey herds, known for their rich, creamy milk, and a smaller dairy of Ayrshire dairy cows. All herds are both organic and biodynamic certified.”
The quality of the milk is crucial and Megard uses low-flow pumps and short-length piping to protect the delicate fat molecules in the raw milk. Once pasteurised, the milk is made into a dozen different cheeses. L’Artisan Cheese is well known for its rich and mushroomy Extravagant, a triple cream white mould cheese that becomes piquant with age. The Rouge and Petite Rouge are washed rind cheeses with apricot-hued rinds that develop strong aromas as they age, the interior becoming runny and even more delicious. Another washed rind cheese, this one pressed like a Reblochon, is the well-known Mountain Man. Then there’s Fernier, made in the style of Morbier and aged for three-to-four months – it’s beautiful with a Geelong region chardonnay.
From September to November when the pastures are green and lush, Megard makes an alpine-style semi-hard cheese called Mepunga Gruyère, a nod to the D’Alpage cheeses of France and Switzerland and to the region of Mepunga off the Great Ocean Road where the milk is sourced.
L’Artisan cheeses are sold in cheese shops, in independent grocers, and wholesale through Calendar Cheese.
Products: Fresh cheese, white-mould cheese, washed-rind cheese, cooked-curd cheese.