Soumaintrain Berthaut is a washed-rind cow's milk cheese from Burgundy, France, made by the Berthaut family in Époisses, the same town that gave the better-known Époisses its name. This is the quieter, slightly younger cousin in the family of Burgundian washed rinds, but it carries the same pedigree. The rind is sticky and orange, washed in brine and Marc de Bourgogne, the local pomace brandy, which is what builds that aromatic pull and the sweet edge underneath the funk. The paste shifts as the cheese ripens. Young, it stays a little chalky in the center with a soft buttery cream line under the rind. Give it time and the whole interior turns spoonable, almost liquid, and the flavor opens up into something savory, buttery, and faintly sweet from the brandy wash. Properly ripe, this is a cheese you eat with a spoon. The nose is pungent, classic washed-rind territory, but the palate is gentler than you might expect, more mushroomy than aggressive. There's a lot of Burgundy in the glass and on the plate that wants exactly this cheese next to it.
