The fruitières that produce the cheeses look after them for two to three weeks; they are then collected by the affineurs and kept in a cool, damp place for anything between 12 and 48 months. In 1966, high in the Jura mountains, the eponymous founder of the Marcel Petite affineurs happened upon Fort Lucotte de Saint Antoine: an imposing 19th century garrison. In the cool, still, damp environment of the fort, Petite saw the possibility of ‘affinage lent’, or slow maturation: allowing nature, the seasons and his senses to guide his affinage, rather than the pressure of time or market forces. Today, the fort is home to over 100,000 wheels of Comté, and the routine turning, salting, brushing and washing is carried out by a team of robots – but the philosophy of selling the cheeses only when they’re at their absolute best remains. Being situated high in the Jura mountains means Marcel Petite has access to the milk from higher, smaller cooperatives, where pastures are rich with a diversity of flowers and herbs on which the cows graze – particularly in the summer, when most of the cheese is made.

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