Comté from the Jura mountains of eastern France, aged out to 24 months and right in the sweet spot where the fruit of a younger wheel has dried down into something deeper. Raw cow's milk, natural rind, AOP-protected, made the way it's been made in the mountain fruitières for centuries. The paste is firm and dense, a pale straw color that breaks into clean slabs under the knife with the occasional tiny crunch of crystal. On the palate it opens with brown butter and toasted hazelnut, then pulls into a long caramel and butterscotch finish that lingers well past the swallow. There's a savory depth underneath the sweetness that's the calling card of a properly aged Comté. At 24 months this wheel sits right at the point where the cheese still has enough moisture to eat in big shards off a board, but it's developed the full library of aged-alpine flavor. One of the great cheeses of France, and a cheese that rewards a little patience on the cheeseboard, in a fondue, or shaved over a warm tart.
