Beaufort is a raw cow's milk Alpine cheese from Savoie in the French Alps, made under AOP rules from the milk of Tarine and Abondance herds grazing high mountain pastures. The cheese they call the prince of Gruyère. This is a cooked-curd, pressed wheel with a natural rind, aged in cool cellars where it builds a dense, supple paste that breaks into clean shards under the knife. The flavor is deeply nutty, with toasted hazelnut and brown butter through the middle, a baked-pastry sweetness underneath, and a long finish that lingers well past the bite. A faint green-pasture note from the alpine grazing sits behind it all, clean and never barnyardy. For anyone who already loves a Comté or a Gruyère, Beaufort is the next step up the Alpine ladder. Bigger, sweeter, more decadent on the palate, and built to anchor a board or melt into the most serious fondue you'll make all winter.
