Comté Aged 12 Months

Comté is a raw cow's milk AOP cheese from the Jura mountains of Franche-Comté in eastern France, made in big 70-pound wheels from the milk of Montbéliarde cows grazing the high pastures. This one is aged for twelve months, right in the sweet spot where the paste has firmed up and the flavor has started to build, but it still has enough moisture to melt cleanly into a fondue or a gratin.

The paste is close and ivory-gold, firm but pliable, breaking into smooth slabs rather than shattering the way the longer-aged wheels do. Toasted almond is the lead flavor, with brown butter through the middle and a quiet hay note from the summer pastures carrying through to the finish. You'll catch a hint of fruit on the back end, something close to dried apricot, before it eases off into warm cream.

A twelve-month is the everyday Comté, the one that does everything well. Slice it for a board, shave it into a salad, grate it over potatoes, or melt it down with a splash of white wine for the most classic fondue there is.