So are we being too anal about "cave" temperatures for aging? I'm sure these cheeses must be aged at cooler temps before they get to the cheese shop. But, their inventory can't turn over THAT fast, so they continue to age at the much higher store temperatures. The fact is, bacteria will grow much better at the higher temperatures. However, molds generally favor cooler temps.
Technically, as I said in another post, after 60 days there is no food left in our cheeses for bacteria to feed on. At that point, it might make sense to move a cheese out of the cave and into a room temp environment for longer aging. That might speed up a sharp cheddar from 1 year to 4 months or a picante Parmesan from 2 years to 6 months.
Do the French, Spanish, English and other countries sell cheese in unrefrigerated stores like that???