Coming Of Age

Slowly matured in the right conditions, Jura’s Comté cheese becomes something special, writes Will Studd.

- Will Studd

Comté, or Gruyère de Comté as it’s sometimes known, is the most popular raw-milk cheese in France. It ticks all the boxes for provenance and over the past decade has developed an impressive reputation overseas, including here in Australia. You’ll find Comté in all well-respected cheese shops, but don’t make the mistake of assuming all cheese bearing the famous name is the same. More than a million large, flat, crusty-rind wheels are produced each year in a strictly designated region extending 1,400 square kilometres across the Jura Mountains of eastern France. Yet there’s no such thing as a large producer, and every cheese is different.

Comté is produced under a cooperative system that links farmers, small dairies (known as fruitières) and affineurs under some of the strictest regulations of the French appellation system. For example, all milk used for cheese making must be produced from Simmental or Montbéliarde breeds with at least one hectare of natural pasture per beast. Animal welfare is considered important for producing good milk, and the average Comté dairy farmer milks less than 50 cows despite economic pressures to expand production.