The case at a well-stocked cheese shop or supermarket cheese counter is full of much-lauded European cheeses with centuries or even millennia of history. But one wheel—Comté—rules them all, especially in the eyes of cheesemongers. What’s so special about this particular French cheese?
First, the basics: Comté is made in the Jura Mountains along France’s border with Switzerland. In cheese industry-speak, it’s a cooked, pressed cheese—meaning that tiny curds the size of rice grains are gently heated before they’re drained, and the freshly hooped curds are pressed with heavy weights to expel as much whey as possible.
The cheese can be sold as young as four months, with nutty flavors and a smooth, supple texture, though it can age for more than four years. Over time, the cheese firms up and develops complex flavors as wide-ranging as celery leaves, nutmeg, dried pineapple, or baked mac ‘n’ cheese (there’s a reason Comté has its own special flavor wheel).
Versatility
Philadelphia-based cheesemonger David Jeffrey Harper first tasted Comté early in his career while working at Whole Foods. At the time, the store got one shipment of a single variety each year—a moment of excitement for the cheese team. Later, working at Di Bruno Bros., Harper got to experience a much wider spectrum of Comté. The store stocks the cheese at four different ages, from young to a special reserve that, pre-Covid, a lucky monger was chosen to go to France to taste and select.
When communicating with customers about the cheese, Harper starts with how they plan to use it. He’ll recommend a young variety for cooking or sandwiches, while longer-aged batches shine on a simple cheese board.
“Comté is the little black dress of cheeses. It goes with some red wines, some white wines, some beers. You can pair it sweet or savory. It’s great for cooking or on its own,” Harper said. “I always say, don’t trust a monger who isn’t a fan of Comté, and I can’t think of any mongers I know who don’t love Comté.”
Comté is protected by a European Union PDO that details strict standards around its production. These standards cover which breeds of cows can be milked (Montbeliarde or French Simmental), their feed (fresh grass in summer and dry hay in winter, with a small supplement of non-GMO grain), and how much grazing space for each (at least two acres).
Production
For Cheese Professor contributor Jennifer Greco, a Paris-based cheese writer who leads food tours in the city, Comté’s unique allure lies in its strong ties to the place it’s made and the traditional methods used to make it.
“Between the use of mostly Montbéliarde cow’s milk and their diet of Alpine grasses, herbs, and flowers, Comté is not a cheese that can be replicated just anywhere, or with the milk of just any breed,” she said. “The breed and feed factors combine to give Comté its distinctive and exceptional flavors and aromas.”
The production process is strictly defined, too. Cows must be milked no more than 16 miles from the fruitières, or cooperative cheesemaking facilities, at which Comté is produced to ensure the milk is as fresh and rich in flavor-creating microflora as possible. The milk must be heated in copper vats, and it’s cultured by saving whey from the previous day’s make and adding mesophilic and thermophilic cultures. Makers using the traditional form of rennet, the salted fourth stomach of a calf, will add it to the thermophilic starter to infuse the mixture with its coagulating enzymes.
This ultra-specific production process ties Comté specifically to its region. All Comté is made in just three French departments of Jura, Doubs, and Ain at around 150 fruitières. A few weeks after wheels are produced affineurs, or cheese agers, take over the process. Here’s where things really get interesting.
Comté is sold at several different ages: During aging, the affineur must carefully calibrate the temperature and humidity of the cheese to develop the right kind of bacteria that will lead to the richest flavor development. Wheels are evaluated for flavor and aroma and graded to be sold or matured further.
Aging
For Julia Hallman, general manager of Formaggio Kitchen in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Comté provides a fascinating example of how a cheese develops during aging.
“It’s rare to find a cheese at so many different ages, where you can really see the nuance of the different ages and how it affects each wheel, because every little detail that goes into cheesemaking can dramatically impact the final outcome,” she said. “It’s a really rare opportunity to see such a steady increase in the age of a cheese and how it affects flavor.”
In France, said Greco, most cheese shops will stock at least two ages of Comté. “It’s versatile, delicious, and has such a broad range of flavors. Younger wheels are more fruity and lactic and can be used as a melting or cooking cheese. Older wheels have more complex, nutty, caramel and butterscotch flavors and are perfect for snacking.”
On both sides of the Atlantic, cheese experts invoke the Comté rainbow to show tasters how aging can transform a cheese. On her food tours, Greco typically uses a middle-aged wheel—12 to 18 months—and contrasts it with a three-year wheel to illustrate the difference and help tasters decide which they like best. Formaggio Kitchen stocks up to seven different styles of Comté at any given time, from fruity, eight-month Melodie to three-year-old Comté Extra Grand Cru by legendary maker Marcel Petite.
“We firmly believe that each cheese has purpose and place,” said Hallman. “What’s fun for us is that each batch is so different, and it’s great to be able to taste through them and see the nuances.”
Greco recommends tasting your way through the oldest Comté you can find—she prefers a 24 to 36-month wheel for snacking—to figure out your favorite. “Comté is very complex, and it requires a slow tasting to appreciate what an incredible cheese it is.”