Comte© is defined by its key notes of butter, but without denying toasted hazelnut and a touch of wood. Springy, pliant, and floral, this is a young cheese with an old soul.

The Flavor Experience

The 6-month profile from Marcel Petite, Comte© Fleur is an exemplar of the style's flavor profile, with a springiness in its paste that cuts easily and loves to be melted. Fear not the youth of these wheels: the flavor is there. Fleur's key notes of butter, toasted nut, and a touch of wood play the main theme of Comte©.

The Story

Comte© Fleur is made from the milk of the red-pied (think Holstein-y splotches of rusty brown instead of black) Montbeliarde cows, one of two breeds permitted by the Comte© AOC designation (the other is the French Simmental, in case you're keeping count). This cheese is produced and aged in the Jura Mountains of France. This range and its 200-million-year-old fossil beds give us the term "Jurassic." The region may be home to fascinating fossils, but, aged only 6 months, Comte© Fleur shows us you need not be old to be great.

Usage Tips

THIS is the Comte© you want to melt. Comte© Fleur with a raclette style and something sharp and grate-y (try the four-year aged Emmentaler to keep the Alpine theme) for a gooey mass of macaroni and cheese (they serve it up with applesauce and fried onions in the Alps). Try this cheese on your French toast, perhaps with roast turkey and ham. You might as well use Blis Bourbon-Barrel-Aged Maple Syrup to smother this, Monte Cristo.

Quick Facts

Country of Origin: France
Milk Type/Treatment: Raw Cow
Rennet Type: Animal