Our viewing room and retail is now open every day from 9-4! Best viewing times are Mon-Fri 10-2. Willow Hill Farm award-winning Cheeses and Sheep Milk Yogurt...
Cheese has been made for thousands of years from sheep's milk. Some well-known cheeses made from ewes' milk are: Roquefort, Pecorino Romano, Feta (genuine Greek, Bulgarian, etc.), and Ricotta (industry now makes it from cows' milk in the USA). Due to the composition of sheep's milk, it takes very little milk compared to other species to make one pound of cheese. In the beginning of a lactation yields can average 5 lbs milk/ 1 lb of cheese--at the end of a lactation it can then be around 2 lbs milk/ 1 lb of cheese. That's a lot of cheese! We also offer rich sheep milk yogurt made in the European style. Thick, creamy, with a bit of a fresh tang. Nationally award-winning, we handcraft sheep yogurt seasonally in micro batches when the sheep graze lush Vermont hillside pastures-- Available between May and October.......one of Saveur magazine's "Top 100 Foods" (Jan.2004) "Creme fraiche-like..." Eating Well Magazine (Oct 2006).....
The Caves....... Our underground caves provide the optimal humidity and temperature control for our cheeses. Constructed out of concrete eight feet underground, with a back wall of Vermont's natural bedrock, the tiny fissures in the rock seep water into the rooms dependent upon the seasons above ground. This makes for small nuances in each cheese throughout the seasons. And a challenge to the affineur! (person who cares and guides the ripening of the cheeses). Our cave is the only one of its kind in the USA-somewhat like a mini-Roquefort with its back wall providing natural molds indigenous to this farm and droplets of water at all times.
For mail order, please contact: Fresh Market in Burlington, Vermont at 1-800-447-1205 Formaggio Kitchen, Southend Formaggio in Boston at 1-888-212-3224 Artisan Made Northeast in Connecticut at 203-264-2883 and Thank You!
What's new? Since November 2005 we have been constructing a new cheese house to accommodate visitors and school tours into viewing our cheese making processes-finally! For over ten years folks have come to the farm but we were unable to allow them into our cheese room (for food sanitation reasons). Now we have a room complete with a viewing window and small self-serve retail space for cheese (and our grass-fed meats by appt). For each season, the different cheeses we make will be available in the fridge! (see availability below).......Open now every day (including holidays) from 9-5! (Please note we are open 9-4 every day from Dec-March due to our rural road conditions)....We welcome you and please enjoy your visit. Also..... In honor of generations of cowboys that have worked our family ranch for 160 years in Hawaii, we are introducing a new cheese named 'Paniolo'...........which means 'cowboy' in Hawaiian. This rich, creamy, yet meaty cheese finishes with a kick! Not for the faint of heart, this one begins with a buttery tang like a young sharp cheddar but matures to a complex unctuous character! Just like a cowboy......Avail Yr-round......... WILLOW HILL FARM cheese is unique in that each one is created from our own original farmhouse recipe and ripened in our underground caves--thus, each wheel carries with it flavors indicative of the native flora and fauna of the farm. It is truly of the land! (we use only non-GMO vegetarian rennet)
photo
by Jordan Silverman
"This wonderfully balanced raw milk cheese is a Smokejacks favorite" L. Meyers, chef-owner Smokejacks Restaurant
NEW! BLUE MOON- creamy mild sheep milk blue that begins with a bit of tang and finishes with buttery blue earthiness! Gets its namesake from the fact that we only make this cheese once in a blue moon when our ewes' milk is richest from late summer and fall pasture grasses. Approx 4 pound wheel (Avail Sept-March) Featured on Saveur Magazine's Top 5 Food Towns list! (Oct 2006)
LA FLEURIE- This little morsel is like a mini-Camembert! Disc-shaped, bloomy rind cow's milk cheese from our own rich Brown Swiss cows' milk. It begins young like a richer Chaource then ripens to a mushroomy and buttery round- Approx 9 ounce round (Avail Yr-round)
MOUNTAIN TOMME- this cheese is a delightful blend of sheep and cow's milk in the style of Pyrenees' mountain cheeses. Aged at least five months, it is both woodsy and buttery with a hazelnut-like finish. This cheese is made only when the cows and sheep are grazing lush hillside Vermont pastures. Approx 5 pound wheel (avail Oct-April)
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Last updated 01/23/2008
Willow Hill Farm All Rights Reserved © 2008 Milton, Vermont 802.893.2963
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Sheep have been
milked since before civilization as we know it today when nomads roamed the hills and
valleys and needed the animals' meat, 
SHEEP
YOGURT-3rd place 2002, Highest Scoring Yogurt 2003, 2004, highest
scoring yogurt 2006, 2nd place 2007- tangy, creamy
and thick, this yogurt is only made when the ewes are on lush hillside
pastures between May and October. 16ozs. (Avail May-Oct) Includes live cultures and probiotics and sheep milk,
nothin' else!!! Sublime garnished with some Vermont Maple Syrup and fresh berries!
creamy natural
rind cheese is made from the fresh rich milk of the farm's own ewes. Its flavor is
reminiscent of wild woodland mushrooms with a full mouth feel! Approx. 2 1/2 lb wheel (Avail
Late Aug-Feb) 
Blue
Moon cave
