by Sophia Stern
Why we love the cheese
One of France’s more popular cheeses, Comté is the perfect table cheese to keep in your pantry (or fridge). Comté has a firm, flexible texture, some crystallization, and a lovely melt-in-your-mouth fudgy quality, rare in harder cheeses. This large-format mountain milk cheese can only be made in the historic and cultural Comté region in eastern France, nestled up against the border of Switzerland. Though similar to Switzerland’s Gruyere, Comté has gentler notes of butter and grass. We carry the Essex Street selection of Marcel Petiet Comté, which champions notes of hazelnuts, fried onion, fresh-cut grass, and spring berries.
Why we love the wine
Txakoli (Cha-ko-lee) has been gaining popularity in recent years for good reason. This Basque white wine is super acidic, crisp, and mineral in style and is perfect to cool you down on a humid, hot summer’s day. The Mokoroa winery was founded in 2008 by Jose Antonio Mokoroa and his family. They have 6 hectares of vineyards, all trellised and on slopes, facing the Cantabrian Sea. Between sea breezes and the ancient sea floor making up the vineyard soils, Mokoroa has a distinct saline quality of ocean salt and slate. The wine’s minerality is balanced with tart flavors of pity orange, green stone fruit, and white flowers.
Why we love the pairing
Though Comté is milder than its Swiss cousin Gruyère, it's just as rich and delicious. The Mokoroa Txakoli's high acidity handles the cheese's decadence, while not clouding this cream-of-the-crop Comté's nuanced flavor. The wine's tangy notes of stone fruit and white flowers break through the flavors of caramelized onions and hazelnuts in the cheese while being light and bright enough to not drown all the beautiful notes of cultured butter.
What else you should do with it
Comté is a wonderful cheese for summer pizza topping! Think summer squash, basil pesto, and Comté. Or go for caramelized onions, arugula, and prosciutto with Comté of course. These non-red sauce pies will pair amazingly with the Mokoroa, which will also keep you cool while monitoring your pizza in the hot oven.