Napa Valley Wine Trolley Experience

As an optional tour experience, attendees enjoyed the scenery, aromas and tastes of Napa Valley's world-class wineries on a private trolley tour. The tour visited two charming Napa Valley wineries and enjoyed lunch.

Optional tour is not included in the Conference Pass.
Additional ticket required. Limited availability.

Chef Demonstrations at the Food & Wine Center
Josh Johnson, Guittard Chocolate Company

Experience expertly taught chef demonstrations at the Food & Wine Center, part of Vista Collina Resort, winner of the 2019 SHAPE Healthy Travel Award. The Food & Wine Center includes an exhibition kitchen with two fully equipped commercial cooking stations, four high-definition televisions and multiple interactive guest work stations. Learning new skills, or honing existing ones, has never been more delectable.

 Josh Johnson is the Pastry Chef at Guittard Chocolate Company, the revered San Francisco Bay area family-owned chocolate maker, where he brings his celebrated craft, artistry and palate in developing new recipes and ideas with Executive Pastry Chef Donald Wressell.

Josh has competed in and won the National Pastry Team Championship with team captain Donald Wressell and teammates. The team went on to win Best Dégustation and silver medal overall at the 2012 World Pastry Championship in Las Vegas. Josh also competed in the 2015 Coupe du Monde de la Pâtisserie where his team brought home the bronze medal.

Josh started working in pastry as a teenager in his uncle’s pastry shop and honed his skills training under the tutelage of mentor Sébastien Canonne, M.O.F., and pastry chefs En-Ming Hsu, World Pastry Champion, and François Payard. He was Executive Pastry Chef at Everest in Chicago, co-owner of Cocoa Bean Fine Desserts in Geneva, Illinois, an instructor at The French Pastry School and, most recently, Head Pastry Chef at Destination Kohler in Kohler, Wisconsin. He is inspired by chocolate’s infinite variety of flavor profiles and its versatility as an ingredient that can also be sculpted and shaped to delicious and delightful effect.

Do you want to know the secrets to making exceptional confections? Join this open discussion where confectionery professionals ask questions and share knowledge on the topics of chocolate techniques, production, regulatory affairs, labeling laws, business ownership and more.

This family-owned candy manufacturer has been in operation since 1898 and is currently run by the fourth, fifth and sixth generations of the candy family. Known for decades for candy corn, the company came into worldwide prominence with the creation of Jelly Belly jelly beans after Ronald Reagan was seen eating them on the presidential campaign trail in 1980. Today, Jelly Belly makes over 100 jelly bean flavors, the largest selection on the market, plus over 50 other gourmet candies including jells, gummies, chocolate-covered treats and seasonal sweets for the major holidays. Headquartered in Fairfield, California, the company operates three plants in California, Illinois and Thailand serving consumers in over 60 countries. Tour the 215,000 sq. ft. production plant and public tour center to see state-of-the-art robotics in action and machinery innovations that improve efficiencies.

Jelly Belly Chocolate & Wine Experience

The flavors of wine country and confections meet in this unique tasting experience, featuring select wines from Suisun Valley Wineries, handmade confections from the Jelly Belly Chocolate Shoppe and chocolate confections from the makers of Jelly Belly.