Comté Reserve
Raw Cow’s Milk
AOC Designation (Cooperative Producers)
Jura Region, France

France’s Jura Region, characterized by highland forests and snow covered plateaus, has been producing Comté, arguably France’s most important cheese, for several thousand years. Comté’s AOC designation stipulates that the milk must come from Montbéliarde or French Simmental cows. Produced in 40 Kg wheels, or millstones, (meules), total French Comté production comes from the pooled milk of 3250 farms; each farm has on average 45 cows and must be located within 25 Km of a Fruitières, the village cheesemaking facility where on average 20 wheels of cheese are made a day. Comté must undergo a rigorous grading process in accordance with the AOC rules. Those cheeses not making the grade are rejected and sold as (French) Gruyère. Comté has a pale yellow interior, is firm and supple in texture and the rind should be thin and hard. The flavour is savoury, nutty, and sweet, almost like toffee. Comté must be aged a minimum of 4 months but talented French affineurs push the aging period to as a long as 18 months. Try it with a dry Riesling or other full flavoured white wine (doesn’t pair so well with reds) and imagine the echo of cowbells in mountainside pastures as you savour this age-old treat.

Click on any thumbnail or [MORE] for a larger image and full description. Available cheeses change on a regular basis. Cheeses listed will not necessarily be available at any given time.

Beemster Extra Old
Pasteurized Cow’s Milk
Het Beemsterwapen (Industrial)
Holland

Beemster exhibits the traditional characteristics, [MORE]

Bleu d’Élizabeth
Raw Cows Milk
Fromagerie du Presbytère (Farmstead Organic)
Central Quebec

Bleu d’Élizabeth is an organic, cheese [MORE]

Cantal
Raw Cow’s Milk
AOC (Industrial)
Auvergne, France

Cantal, according to Steve Jenkins, (The Cheese Primer), [MORE]

Cape Vessey
Pasteurized Goat
Fifth Town Artisan Cheese Co,
Picton, Ontario

This is a chewy, pungent, cheese [MORE]

Le Chèvre Noir
Low Temperature Pasteurized Goat
Fromagerie Tournevent
Chesterville, Quebec

This internationally acclaimed goat milk cheddar [MORE]

Ciel de Charlevoix
Raw Cow’s Milk (artisan)
La Maison d’Affinage, Maurice Dufour, Baie-Saint Paul,
Quebec

Whole milk from a single herd is used [MORE]

Comté Reserve
Raw Cow’s Milk
AOC Designation (Cooperative Producers)
Jura Region, France

France’s Jura Region, [MORE]

Evanturel
Pasteurized Cow’s Milk
Thornloe Cheese (Artisan)
Ontario

Only recently developed, [MORE]

Fleur en Lait
Pasteurized cow
Glengarry Fine Cheeses
Lancaster, Ontario

Fleur en lait, a newcomer [MORE]

Gorgonzola Dolce
Pasteurized Cow’s Milk
AOC (Industrial)
Lombardy, Italy

Gorgonzola, a blue veined cheese [MORE]

Grey Owl
Pasteurized Goat’s Milk
Fromagerie la Detour (Artisan)
Notre-Dame-du-Lac, Québec

Fromagerie La Detour’s newest cheese [MORE]

Gruyère de Grotte (cave aged)
Unpasteurized Cow’s Milk
AOC Designation
Switzerland

The medieval town of Gruyères [MORE]

Hercule du Charlevoix
Raw Cow Milk
Laiterie Charlevois
Baie-St.-Paul, Québec

The Hercule is one of Canada’s unique cheeses [MORE]

Lankaaster
Pasteurized cow (Holstein)
Glengarry Fine Cheeses
Lancaster, Ontario

According to cheese maker Margaret Morris, [MORE]

Lighthall Tomme
Pasteurized Goat
Fifth Town Artisan Cheese Co, Petra Cooper
Head Cheese maker: Stephanie Diamant
Picton, Ontario

Named after Petra’s mother-in-law, Lighthall Tomme [MORE]

Niagara Gold
Pasteurized Cow Milk
Upper Canada Cheese Company (artisan)
Jordan Station, Ontario

An Oka-style, semi-soft cheese, [MORE]

Paillot de chèvre
Pasteurized Goat
La Fromagerie Alexis de Portneuf (Industrial/specialty)
Quebec

This is a soft, surface ripened cheese, [MORE]

Provincial Smoke
Thermalized Cow’s Milk
Provincial Fine Foods
Toronto, Ontario

A smooth and creamy smoked cheddar. [MORE]