Comté is a French cheese aged 4-6 months that is produced in the Jura Massif region of Eastern France. The unpasteurised cow's milk used is mainly from Montbeliarde Cattle or French Simmental (or crossbreeds of the two). This hard mountain cheese is matured to perfection in the silence and darkness of special caves where the cheese gets its unique taste, texture and colour. There are several maturing cellars in the region where Comté is ripened for a minimum of 4 months to 18 or 24 months. A few times, Comté gets its name from the cellar where it has ripened such as Comté Fort Saint-Antoine. Comté was one of the first few kinds of cheese to receive an AOC (Appellation d'origine controlee) status in 1958. It is one of the most popular AOC cheeses in France with around 40,000 tonnes of annual production.
