Among the tomme de savoie, abondance, raclette, tomme boudanne and various goat’s cheeses for sale, I spotted the small white discs of crioutin, a fresh cow’s milk cheese created by cheese farmer Aurore Delesmillières at Ferme du Criou and which is a local staple.
With wine comes its best pal, cheese, and the Fromagerie Fruitière des Hauts de Savoie, the village’s cheese cooperative and food shop where farmers bring their milk to be transformed into reblochon, is a must-visit.
Under the stone vaulted ceilings of the village’s former stables, I met Adrien Vallier, whose Domaine Vallier is about six miles from Samoëns and produces agreeably dry white wine from the indigenous gringet grape within the Ayse appellation.
I had the excellent fortune to be here during the Vignerons font du ski, a wine festival held every January in which producers from around France join local winemakers to offer tastings to anyone who pays €5 for a wine glass.
I had already tasted another speciality from Samoëns at the restaurant of my hotel, the Neige et Roc: soupe châtrée, which turns the simple combination of stale bread, heaps of tomme de savoie and a slow-cooked onion broth, into something quite luscious.
