Woman starts cheese Creamery with 15 Goats in Altura

ALTURA -- A Winona County woman has started her own creamery after studying cheese making from a young age.

Utica native Katie Wiste began Capra Nera Creamery earlier this year by utilizing the milk her goats produce during their natural birthing cycle to create varieties of goat cheese.

Wiste's interest in making cheese started when she won a goat in a 4-H essay competition. That's how she acquired Blossom, the matriarch of her cheese operation.

In college, Wiste studied cheese making at Vermont Institute of Artisan Cheese and in Perugia, Italy.

Wiste's operation includes 15 goats and a fully functioning production room, aging room and milking parlor.

Wiste's cheeses are sold in restaurants in Rochester as well as a grocery store in Spring Grove. She says the supply these days hardly keeps up with the demand.