Cato Corner Farm

Went back yesterday since it’s been forever since I’ve been here and what a perfect experience! Decided to make a trip to some of Connecticut’s wineries in the Southeast corner and Cato Corner Farm was the first stop.
The farm is beautiful and set in quaint Colchester. The small building where the cheese is served is small but it’s great. The employee’s are very helpful and they have an extensive knowledge of the cheese (s) and are more than willing to provide you with samples that cater directly to your preferences.
Winded up getting 3 different cheeses. The bloomsday, The dairyeye reserve and the womanchego The Womanchego is definitely my favorite.
I’ll be back here sooner than later as this is a must stop pre wineries. Also, they offer local handmade soaps and have a small fridge where they sell beef, veal, etc.

Hands down the finest cheese I have ever had in my entire life.
I am a huge fan of Manchego cheese, so while out to dinner with my wife at Grant’s, I saw the Womanchego on the menu from Cato Corner Farm. I couldn’t resist and I was instantly blown away.
Fast forward 2 weeks and my wife and I are driving down to Colchester to go right to the farm for more because we couldn’t stop thinking about it.
We visited the cheese shop and had a wonderful experience learning about the cheeses and trying a variety of samples. This stuff will literally blow your mind. If you like cheese and live in in CT, treat yourself and indulge in this perfection.

I was very pleased to find this place!
We left with 4 different cheeses. The staff explained that their selections change often. Looking forward to my next trip there.
Other reviewers complained of a smell, but it did not bother me. I smelled manure, cheese, and some sort of cleaning supplies… All normal on a dairy farm that makes cheese.

Awsome experience for kids. and wonderful cheese made on the
kids loved the experience of seeing the cows being milked and had a great lesson on where milk comes from:)

The employees are very helpful and enthusiastic about their cheeses! Watch out for the ducks when you pull in/​out. My personal favs were Dairyere and Vivace but honestly I tried them all and was not disappointed with any!

5 star on the cheese… but only 1 — 2 star service.
We went to the area to visit Beltane Farm and the owner there recommended that we stop at Cato Corner on our way home. When we arrived, there was none of the warm hospitality we received at Beltane Farm. People walking around don’t acknowledge you. The tasting room is a small room that looks dirty, with a funny smell (not at all like cheese) and lots of flies. The latter part seemed especially weird on a cool fall day.
As soon as I saw the cheese display I remembered that we had gotten some fabulous cheese from the farm at the CT wine festival, so I was excited to taste and buy some yummy cheese. But then we waited… and waited… and waited for the woman to finish up a tasting with the people in front of us. She was working alone because someone else called in sick… we got to hear ALL about it. She wasn’t great at multi-​tasking, so I would have preferred to skip the endless complaining in favor of expediting the service process. We were next in line and about 10 people came in behind us. We only wanted to taste a few cheeses but she decided to do a group tasting, which quickly turned into a fiasco. She decided she didn’t have enough of some of the varieties for all of us to have a taste, so you could only taste «if you’re interested in buying it.» Well… I thought that was the whole point? I’m potentially interested, so I taste and decide. So when I expressed interest in one of the cheeses (not all, just one), she gave me an exasperated sigh, followed by «I told you I don’t have enough for everyone to taste it.» Okay, I’m one person, not «everyone» and please excuse me, I must have been mistaken when I walked into the «tasting room» that the point was to taste and purchase cheese? We then ended up being the last if the group to be served, missed out on some cheeses that sold out, and just generally could not wait to leave this place. 25 minutes and $ 17 later, we were on our way to the next destination.
Bottom line, the cheese is great… but you’ll probably have a better experience tasting when you see Cato Corner at a festival or farmers market. Good cheese, bad attitude… at least when we visited.

CHEEEEESE. I love it. Its the best thing ever.
I’ve been a fan of Cato Corner cheeses since I first did a tasting at the CT Wine Festival a few years ago (where my friend and I purchased chunks of cheese that we devoured in the car ride back to Hartford). Since then, I’ve enjoyed the Cato cheese plate at Firebox and ones I’ve made at home after shopping at Whole Foods. I definitely needed to visit the farm itself.
The actual cheese shop is a tiny, no frills operation– exactly what I like to see. No lame cheese tchotckies or shirts (except for the ones made specifically for the farm), just delicious cheeses that range from mild to stinky. The woman working was really friendly and gave us many samples, offering suggestions for wine pairings (we mentioned we were on our way to the winery down the street).
I told her that their super stinky Hooligan was my favorite, and was offered a sample of a brand new cheese that was similar to Hooligan with a slightly mellower flavor. We took a chunk of that not-​yet-​named cheese along with their Vivace, and aged Bloomsday Cheddar (I’ve had the regular, 6 month Bloomsday several times before, but this 1 year variety was much sharper and stronger).
It’s worth noting that Priam, a stop in the Ct Wine Trail is about 4 minutes down the road, which is where we enjoyed our cheeses with a nice bottle of red and absolutely gorgeous view. That’s how you do it!
Visit the farm, pick out your favorites, and say hi to the cows. Although they can accept credit cards, it’s a pretty archaic setup and cash would be easier.

This was the coolest place I have been to in a long time. Their selection of cheeses is amazing and even the non-​cheese-​lovers of our group found one they enjoyed. I went with a big group (7 people) and we filled the whole cheese house, so it was nice that it was an off time because we would have held up the people behind us.
The cheese lady let us try as many different kinds of cheese as we wanted and explained how they tasted to us. If I had more money I would have bought more cheeses!

Amazing, amazing cheeses. The Bloomsday and Aged Bloomsday are my favorites. I highly, highly recommend Cato Corner.

Thoroughly enjoyed visiting this cheese shop — i was offered to taste each cheese — making it very hard which ones to choose. Support your local farmers and stop in next weekend. They have a small selection of frozen cuts of veal & eggs too. cash/​check only.

If you live within driving distance of Colchester, CT and haven’t been here yet, you’ll kick yourself once you do for all the years of missed cheese opportunity.
Outstanding products for every cheese-​loving taste from the stinkiest (yum!) to the mildest.
We’ve met two friends there and had a 4-​person tasting that was unrushed and relaxing. There were no other customers there at the time, so staff took it slow and we all yacked about the flavors together. The woman who helped us was also quite the foodie. :)
We bought a ton of cheese and took advantage of the preprinted labels to identify all the chunks we bought. It barely lasted the week as our children devoured it too.
Our same friends later bought quite a large selection of cheeses for serving at their wedding reception, and their caterer laid out a Cato Corner Farm cheese tasting table alongside the dessert course at the venue. It was a spectacular hit (hint hint for all those folks looking to do something gastronimically different at a reception and/​or other event).
Shopping at an independent purveyor and farmer also is a special thing.

Cheesus that was good! This is why I love Unilocal!
DH and I have a motorcycle and go out to the Colchester area frequently for rides. We had been past the sign for this place several times, and after reading the Unilocal reviews, I asked him to stop today. It was TOTALLY worth the wait!
As we drove down the road, we thought we must have missed it but then there it was, just as he was giving up. It is an unassuming little place, on the right hand side of the road, almost a mile and a quarter after the turn off from Rt 16.
We did a ‘cheese tasting’ which is like a wine tasting but with… cheese…glorious, wonderful cheese. All cheeses are unpasteurized (caution to pregnant women) cows milk. Today there were 12 cheeses, ranging from pretty mild (think mild gouda) to a super strong ‘stinky’ cheese, which was pretty intense. We had a hard time settling on which ones to buy, and settled on Mwfanwy which was my favorite„ hard to describe, and evidently they don’t have too often. We also got some Aged Bloomsday, which is like an aged cheddar. We plan on eating them this evening while watching the fireworks, with some wine and fruit… maybe some almonds. I can hardly wait.
The ONLY reasons this is not a 5 star review is 1) DH had a hard time getting the motorcycle up the gravel and dirt road/​hill leading to the shop. (YES, I KNOW it is a farm, but it detracted from our experience) and 2) the other woman in the shop (NOT the girl we were dealing with) was a bit pushy, and I felt bad for the people who came in behind us.
The next time we go out that way I will be bringing a small cooler, cash and will make some larger purchases. Can’t wait!

Don’t expect much by way of ambiance. It’s a farm. It smells like poop. The cheese shop it teeny tiny (and we got a kick out of the «Cheese» sign above the door). But… the cheese… oh the cheese. We were doing a tasting at the winery down the road and they recommended we pop into Cato for some cheese before we sat down with our bottle. Great idea — wine and CHEESE! They let us each taste every single one of the cheeses before making our selections. Wow! It’s very pricey, but it’s homemade, local and worth every penny. I highly recommend stopping in on your way to the winery! Bring cash — they don’t take cards.

This is why I love Unilocal.
For the last 15 years, the Cato Corner Farm has been in business. I never heard of them, never read an article about them, never saw a TV profile on them, never heard a buddy talk about them. About a month ago, I finally heard of them when they crossed my screen on Unilocal one day. It looked like a mega-​cool place, I book-​marked it, and visited it today. It turned out to be a very cool place indeed.
Buried in the Colchester woods, this is a small farm where they make cheese by hand «with raw milk from our 40 cows». They have a tiny store, with wheels of cheese under plastic domes, and they offer samples and sell you quantities of whatever you like. Some of the Unilocal reviews warned of an unpleasant woman who made the whole tasting and purchase transaction an ordeal, but that wasn’t the case today.
We met Chris, who offered us a tasting of pretty much everything they had. He was very pleasant, very informative, and had a heavy hand with the samples. Starting with the mild cheeses, he worked his way up to the stronger cheeses (cheddars and blues). They were all very good. We ended up with four purchases of about ¼ pound each. Our total was $ 24.
One funny story– the cheese menu mentioned quite a few «stinky cheeses» that had a very strong aroma and taste. Of course I wanted to try a sample. We laughed when he left the room to get the sample, because they keep the stinky cheeses in a separate place! I had a sample that was very strong tasting and kind of gooey. With some Triscuits and a glass of vino –it would be awesome …
They don’t have the broadest hours– but as long as the weather is so beautiful why not take a drive to the country some weekend and check it out. Bring a cooler with ice to store your prize, like we did. The Cheese Room Store is open Saturdays from 10 a.m. — 4 p.m. & Sundays from 11 a.m. — 4 p.m.

I don’t like to give a place full stars when I’m not treated particularly well by owners/​staff, but I just can NOT help it in this case. Yes… the owner was in a particularly foul mood the I showed up but oh… the CHEEESE! Their selection of strong, hard cheeses is really to die for. Their selections are quite expensive, but they are really THAT good.
I haven’t been there in a bit, so I can’t recall which cheese we actually purchased, but all of them were fantastic.
Do yourself a favor and bring cash. They will accept credit cards if hard-​pressed, but they don’t like to.

Cute farm. Watch out for the chickens when you pull in and when you leave because there seem to be plenty of them meandering around. Prices are steep but the cheese is really good. There were nine different cheeses out to taste while we were there, which seems to be a larger selection than what other reviewers mentioned.
Admittedly, I know very little about cheese other than the fact that I like it and I believe it should never come pre-​scliced or in a can. That being said, I favored the Molto Vivace, Womanchego, Aged Bloomsday and what reportedly is their most popular cheese, Bridgid’s Abbey.
Mmmm cheese!

Know that if you made a trip to Colchester, CT to buy some cheeses out of a shed attached to a barn in a gravel driveway with a view of some cow fields, you are in good company. These cheeses have been featured in the finest restaurants in the United States. Per Se (yes that Per Se), Union Square Café, Tocqueville in NYC; the Still River Café here in the CT. The list goes on. They have won prizes from the prestigious American Cheese Society; featured in the New York Times; placed among the top foods in the U.S. by Saveur Magazine; and noted by Jacques Pepin.
Using fresh, raw Jersey cow milk, the animals are pastured, and the cheeses are cave aged (yes, underground, in fact directly under that cheese shed where they only take cash or check for payment). This is food that is hand crafted with love by a mother and son who bring a passion for great food and a commitment to sustainable and humane agriculture, and these cheeses are the songs of their hearts. Every cheese has a unique name («Bloomsday»; first made on the same day from the James Joyce novel) and each cow is known by name as well. This is a farm where, if a calf comes in the middle of too cold weather, they will be found in the house kitchen, keeping warm, instead of the barn.
If you love great food you will not be disappointed. That this food is made by great people adds the icing on that cake.

Absolutely the best cheese! Not cheap (avg $ 20 per pound) but it’s worth it and is such a treat. All are recommended, particularly the Bleck Ledge Blue, womanchengo, drunken monk. They also sell fresh eggs that are great and veal which is delicious!!!

After passing by this place for 12 years, I finally decided to stop. I anticipated a small farmstand and found, instead, a farm with a shed. Insider were several customers. The lady behind the counter was just beginning a tasting of the cheese so I joined in. We tasted about a dozen cheeses and each was profoundly delicious. I particularly enjoyed the Womanchengo. Get it?
I purchased a small amount of three cheeses to share with my family. They don’t take credit cards so bring cash or a check.
Cato’s cheeses are served in the finest New York restaurants. They also offer frozen veal as the male cows aren’t ever going to produce milk. But know that these calves live free range. Of course, the prices are steep.

Cato Corner Farm is family run with about 40 Jersey cows (all hormone free) from which they make about 15 cheeses. They usually have about 6 cheeses at any given time and are prone to running out of some varieties if you go later in the day. Their little store front is open on weekends only from 10 – 3.
They make some fabulous cheeses and as you can imagine they are a bit pricey due to their low volume. Think the $ 20/​pound range. The Black Ledge Blue Cheese is awesome. I knocked it down one star because they tend to be quite frugal with the tasting. Literally, the woman I have run into there will give you a tiny speck of cheese, the size of my smallest finger nail at most. If I am dropping $ 60 on a trip to buy cheese, I don’t think it would kill them to give an adequate sample (to actually taste the cheese).