The best time to taste Comté is from September.
Twelve months of maturing, at least, for the Comté to release its aromas of hazelnut and Jura flowers.
Time is also the one that we can go back because according to historians, "the first traces that evoke the manufacture of large #cheese date back to the 13th century. We were talking about fructerie, that is to say the place where the peasants pooled their milk.This collective spirit of the county sector."
This place is now called the Fruitière. And this sector with a collective spirit is a unique exception in France, based on three actors. We find the cow breeders who produce the milk. Then there are the cheese makers who collect the milk and put it to fruition in cheese fields. And then comes the last link in the chain, the affineurs, who play the role of revealing the aromas of the Comté in the secrecy of their cellar.
From forts to huge galleries for #county refining center.
One of the main maturing sites is inside an old fort, in Métabief in the Doubs, through huge galleries. The most impressive, once in this former military fort built under the Second Empire, are these galleries: "The largest is 214 meters, it is one of the most impressive galleries of the fort. The stone is fabulous, it is an extraordinary material, it is perfect. And the arch shape is decisive in creating a very slow movement of air."
Comté, a cheese that takes its time!
Slowness, time, always time. Comté goes well with walnuts, apples and white grapes. It can be eaten alone with bread, or in a more chic way with a brioche served warm and a little #champagne .
