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Video length: 2 min.
The France 3 teams set off to discover an unusual place. A ripening cellar for cheese was designed in an old railway tunnel in Pandrignes (Corrèze).
We are in 1903. The steam train that connects Tulle to Argentas stops at Pandrignes station (Correze)before going through a tunnel over a kilometer long. Fifty years older later, the SNCF line was removed and the tunnel reformed. In the early 1980s, Cyprien’s grandfather Duroux buys the underground gallery for only 5,000 francs. The cellars are 250 meters from the entrance, 15 meters underground. 15,000 cheeses are matured for sometimes a whole year.
Only the best coins go through the tunnel
“It’s an almost constant temperature all year round”says Cyprien Durouxcommercial manager of the cheese dairy Duroux. The cheeses are made in a small village on the border between Corrèze and Cantal. This little piece of Limousin is known for its dairy cows. We make Cantal or Corrèze pavement. The refiner then chooses the best pieces, those that will go down the tunnel. “We will take the hardest cheeses”explains Andrew Delbasmaster affineur at the cheese dairy Duroux.