Top Stories » Headlines » Perishables

The Eighth Annual Sonoma Valley Cheese Conference, an annual gathering of movers and shakers in the artisan cheese industry, will take place Feb. 2-March 2, offering attendees an opportunity to network with fellow cheesemakers, retailers, distributors, food writers and cheese enthusiasts.

Hosted by Sheana Davis of The Epicurean Connection in Sonoma, Calif., the highly respected conference is a premier destination for cheese industry opinion leaders from across the nation and this year will honor the memory of Jim Boyce, president of the Marin French Cheese Co., who died in 2010.

Conference festivities kick off a day early, Feb. 26, in San Francisco, with Cheese Plus hosting a public Winter Artisan Cheese Fair from noon to 3 p.m. The event will showcase cheesemakers leading the artisan and farmstead cheese movement as well as wines and ales from Sonoma County. That evening, Bi-Rite Grocery at 18 Reasons in San Francisco will host a cheesemakers reception.

The conference itself will begin Sunday, Feb. 27, with an afternoon Cheese, Beer and Wine Tasting at The Mac Arthur Place in Sonoma. The annual conference will take place Feb. 28 and March 1, and include seminars and networking sessions at the MacArthur Place in Sonoma. A one-day ZingTrain session led by Ari Weinzweig of Zingerman's on March 2.

Conference tickets are $250 and include all sessions and lunches. The cost to attend ZingTrain is $1,000 per person, and space is limited to 15 people.

For more information, visit www.sheanadavis.com.