St-Nectaire is an appellation contrôlée, to which only cheeses made from herds grazing in a limited area to the south of the Monts-Dore are entitled. It is made in two stages. First, a white creamy cheese or tomme is produced. This is matured for two to three months in a cellar at a constant temperature, resulting in the growth of a mould on the skin of the cheese which produces the characteristic smell, taste and whitish or yellowy-grey colour.There are two kinds: St-Nectaire fermier and St-Nectaire laitier. The fermier is the strongest and tastiest and some of it is still made entirely on the farm. Increasingly, however, individual farmers make the tomme stage, but then sell it on to wholesalers for the refining. The laitier is much more an "industrial" product, made from the milk of lots of different herds, sold onto a co-operative or cheese manufacturer for all its stages.
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