The Grès® brand was born out of a shared passion between Xavier David, the founder of Fromi, and our master cheesemaker Vincent Christophe. Together they registered the brand in 1983, which comprises regional, authentic and traditional cheeses made from cow's or goat's milk. They are all characterised by their attractive oval shape.
The original idea was to adapt the Munster, a famous cheese from Alsace, to contemporary tastes. We imagined an oval shape, similar to that of Galet de l'Est, a cheese with a bloomy rind. We approached its producer, at the time the Retournay cheese dairy in the Vosges, and asked them to try brushing the rind with water. To differentiate it, we wanted to give this cheese an original feature and opted for the fern leaf, an emblematic plant from the Vosges. So we picked some leaves and dried them ourselves to test them. The result met our expectations. The Grès® des Vosges was born!
To the leafletGrès® des Vosges, now known as Grès®d'Alsace, is therefore the very first creation in this range. Its flavour is typical, distinctive and slightly sweet. It became so successful that other variants soon followed: with champagne, cherry brandy, truffles and herbs. The Grès® de Lorraine has a sweeter, melt-in-the-mouth flavour, while the Grès® Champenois is a double cream version. There are also variants with goat's milk, such as the Grès® du Centre-Loire matured, with ash or with herbs. Flavoured versions complete the range with Grès® de Bourgogne, garlic and herbs, cranberries or papaya.
