Product Profile:

Description:
Comté is one of the richest and most popular cheeses in France, and represents the largest volume of cheese protected by the AOC. It is traditionally produced in the Jura Mountains, where local farmers bring their milk down for the cooperatives (fruitieres), which are managed by a group of villages, to make the cheese. It takes as many as 530 litres of milk to make one wheel of Comte. The AOC restricts production to the Franche-Comté, eastern Bourgogne, and parts of Lorraine, Champagne, and the Rhone-Alpes. Affineur Marcel Petite selects young wheels for maturation under a cold maturation system at 1,100 metres above sea level, within the old underground fort of Saint Antoine.

Aged for at least 16 months, Comté Le Fort has a creamy coloured pâté that has irregular crystalline formations. It is firm and dense, with a slightly elastic mouth-feel when chewed. The flavour is sweet with a concentrated nutty lingering finish, reflecting the rich milk of the Montbeliard cows that graze the natural mountains pastures.

Information for this profile sourced from AOAP Staff, Calendar Cheese Co & http://www.comte-petite.com/