Laurence G. Sterling Director of Operations

Laurence Sterling is Director of Operations at Iron Horse. He has overseen the replanting of 82 acres on the estate, an eight-year undertaking to enhance the quality of Iron Horse wines. This endeavor has created a new generation of small block, single clone Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs for the winery. He secured the estate’s water future by partnering with the town of Forestville to recharge our reservoir with high-quality, treated water and brought the vineyards into compliance with certified sustainability.

Laurence grew up in Paris, and then attended Rugby School, one of England’s oldest and most prestigious “public” schools. He attended Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service in Washington, D.C., and the Fordham University School of Law, becoming a corporate lawyer in Los Angeles, specializing in mergers and acquisitions.

Since joining the winery in 1990, he has served as a director of The Wine Institute and chaired many of its sub-committees. He was appointed to the U.S. Commerce Department’s Industry Sector Advisory Council for Consumer Goods. Governor Gray Davis named him to the California Recreational Trails Committee. He also served as President of the Board of the Redwood Empire Food Bank.

His passion project is restoring the coho salmon habitat in Green Valley Creek. He has partnered with Gold Ridge Resource Conservation District and California Department of Fish and Wildlife on a multi-phase project that will provide better access to the stream and create additional fish refuge, control bank erosion, and maintain deep pools. The family is donating low laying land to the cause. “This will without a doubt leave the land better than when we arrived,” he says.

Laurence, his wife, Terry, and their children live on the property in the home they built overlooking the vineyards.