Comté cheese and Vin Jaune pairing with local producers

How to Complete

4 steps curated by Wine Memories

1. ⛰️ 1

   Enter the 200-Meter Cheese Cathedral

   adventure $

   The Charles Arnaud cave is longer than two football fields.

   Book online at fort-des-rousses.com (mandatory reservation). Tour is 1h30, €11.80 adults, family pack €35. Dress warmly - it's 8°C inside year-round. Enter the 'Charles Arnaud' cave first - at 200m long, it's the most majestic. Look up at the stone vaults and count the rows of cheese wheels stretching into the distance. Over 100,000 wheels age here (some sources say 190,000). Ask your guide which wheel has been here longest.

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2. 📜 2

   Find Napoleon's Original Blueprint

   Optional

   history Free

   This fort took 70 years to build on Napoleon's orders.

   During the tour, ask about Napoleon's strategic vision. Construction started in 1800 to defend against European threats and took 70 years with 1,500 builders. The fort spans 21 hectares with 50,000m² of vaulted rooms and could hold 2,500 men and 2,000 horses. It was a commando training center until 1997, then converted to cheese caves in 1998. Look for the 'Napoléon' cellar - named for the emperor who started it all.

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3. 🍷 3

   Taste 24-Month Comté with Vin Jaune

   wine $$

   The canonical Jura pairing in the place where the cheese is born.

   After the cave tour, visit the tasting shop. Request Comté aged at least 24 months - the crystals that form are amino acids from extended aging. Pair with Vin Jaune from a local producer (ask which they recommend). The nutty, oxidative wine and crystalline cheese share the same terroir and echo each other. Buy a wheel to take home - properly aged Comté is nearly impossible to find outside Jura. Budget €15-25 per person for cheese and wine.

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4. ⛰️ 4

   Walk the Ramparts for the Full Story

   Optional

   adventure Free

   Explanatory panels reveal the fort's military past.

   After exiting the caves, walk the rampart trail around the exterior. Explanatory panels tell the military history in detail. France's second-largest fortress now ages cheese instead of housing soldiers - find the panel that explains the 1998 conversion. The outer wall was built 1840-1870. On clear days, you can see the Jura peaks. If you have kids, the Commando Games obstacle courses use the original military training grounds.

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