Cheeses of Poligny and the Comté country
The Jura town that calls itself the capital of Comté, centre of a land of village fruitières and Montbéliarde cows.
Made, aged and sold here
Best time: June to September, when the cows are on pasture.
Poligny is a small town at the edge of the Jura plateau, where the hills drop to the vineyards of the Revermont. It is the home of the Comté cheese trade body and of a national dairy school, and it calls itself the capital of Comté. Around it, the Jura is dotted with fruitières, village co-operative dairies that turn each day's milk into great wheels of Comté.
Fruitières and Comté
A fruitière is a village dairy owned by local farmers, who pool their milk because one large wheel of Comté needs about 450 litres. The cheese is made every day from raw milk of Montbéliarde and Simmental cows fed on grass and hay, never silage. The young wheels go to ageing cellars for at least four months and often much longer, where they develop flavours of fruit, nuts and toast.
The town and the plateau
Poligny has a collegiate church, old salt-route houses and a visitor centre devoted to Comté. Nearby Arbois is the town of Jura wine and of Louis Pasteur. Up on the plateau, the forests and meadows stretch towards the Swiss border, and the Route du Comté links village dairies and cellars that welcome visitors.
A trail idea for Poligny and the Comté country
- Poligny The Comté visitor centre and the town's cheese shops.
- A village fruitière Watch Comté made in the morning where visits are offered.
- Arbois Taste vin jaune with Comté in the wine town nearby.
- Route du Comté Follow the trail of dairies and cellars across the plateau.
Written by the EveryCheese desk with AI assistance. Background: "Poligny, Jura" on Wikipedia. Opening hours, markets, caves and tours change; check locally before travelling. If something is wrong, tell us.
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