Iron Horse Winery
9786 Ross Station Rd, Sebastopol, CA 95472
Website: http://www.ironhorsevineyards.com/
Iron Horse is a little off the beaten path, located in the middle of Sonoma in the Green Valley appellation. This area is not too far from the coast where it’s cool and foggy, and has the perfect growing conditions for Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. This is a family owned estate winery established by Audrey and Barry Sterling in 1976. They both grew up in California and Barry was an attorney in LA. Barry and Audrey lived in France for almost a decade, which fueled their desire to live on a vineyard. When they couldn’t find land in France, they returned to California and discovered the Iron Horse property. Today there are three generations who live on the property ranging from 19 to 84 years old. Iron Horse was named after a railroad stop that passed through it in 1890. The logo on the wine label is a horse on a weathervane that came from a 19th century weathervane discovered on the property during construction. Rodney Strong, one of the Sonoma pioneers, planted the first 55 acres of Chardonnay in 1970. The first vintage of estate Chardonnay was produced in 1978. The first Pinot Noir vintage was in 1979 and also marked the official opening of the winery. 1980 was the first vintage of sparkling wine.
Iron Horse’s outdoor tasting bar
This winery is worth seeking out. The drive to the winery is along a one lane road with tall palm trees lining each side of the road. The winery itself looks like a farm house, but the best part is the gorgeous views of rolling hills. I visited in the fall and the vines were covered in golden leaves making the landscape look like a painting. There is a very rustic, outdoor tasting area. The tables are made from large planks of wood held up by wine barrels. The tasting menu is written on a chalkboard and there are no dump buckets. When we wanted to get rid of our wine we were instructed to walk over to the side of the hill and dump it. Our server was very nice and taught us that “the smaller the bubbles, the better the sparkling wine”.
Iron Horse’s wines have received loads of accolades in wine magazines. They are well-known for their sparkling wine. Their wines are often served at the White House and have been tried by dignitaries around the world. One of their popular sparkling wines for parties is the Wedding Cuvée. They also produce a limited Oceans Reserve Blanc de Blancs where $4 of every bottle sold goes to National Geographic’s Oceans initiative. All of the sparkling wines are worth a try in my opinion and I’m not usually drawn to sparkling wine. I really enjoyed all of the Chardonnays as well. My personal favorites were the Rued Clone Chardonnay that was light and lemony and the buttery Heritage Clone Chardonnay. I took a couple bottles home with me. This is definitely a winery I’d return to and recommend to friends.
A beautiful view from Iron Horse Ranch