History from our supplier: "In the 17th century, the Beaufortain valley produced Gruyère type cheeses under the name grovire presenting good storage and transport skills. Very quickly the manufacture of grovire spread to the neighbouring valleys of Tarentaise and Maurienne. Its quality created notoriety outside its native mountains and during the French Revolution, the committee of public safety brought in 10,000 quintals (that's 10,000 kg!) to feed Paris. It was not until 1865 that this grovire was called Beaufort. The origin of the concave heel of the grinding wheel would have two explanations: facilitate the transport of cheeses on the back of a mule and prevent the cheese from collapsing during ripening. Beaufort production fell after the war but persisted until receiving the AOP in 1968."