Winter Artisan Cheese Fair

The Ninth Annual Sonoma Valley Cheese Conference - an annual gathering of American artisan cheesemakers, retailers, distributors, food writers and cheese enthusiasts, is set for Feb. 25 – 29, 2012, in Sonoma, Calif.

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 in 2012, will honor the memory of Ig Vella, Sonoma native and godfather of artisan cheese.

Conference festivities kick off a day early in San Francisco on Saturday, Feb. 25, with Cheese Plus hosting a public Winter Artisan Cheese Fair from 1 to 4 p.m. The event showcases cheesemakers leading the artisan and farmstead cheese movement, as well as wines and ales from Sonoma County. That evening, 18 Reasons in San Francisco hosts a cheesemaker reception. The conference proper begins Sunday, Feb. 26 with an afternoon Sonoma Winter Artisan Cheese Fair, featuring artisan cow, sheep and goat cheese producers, wines, brews, guest chefs and a “Winter Mac & Cheese Cook-off” at The Mac Arthur Place in Sonoma. The next two days feature seminars and networking sessions at the MacArthur Place in Sonoma, and wraps up with a special one-day ZingTrain session led by Ari Weinzweig of Zingerman's.