Iron Horse Vineyards

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Pillar of our Prestige

Iron Horse continues to be served at the White House, most recently at the First Family's Holiday Dinner 2008. It is very exciting to think that November will decide who will become (with luck and commitment to quality) the fifth consecutive administration to serve our wines.

The Wine of Presidents, Kings, Queens...and Now the Pope.

We are very proud that the White House served Iron Horse "Russian River Cuvée" at the dinner honoring the Pope on his visit to the United States. (This is a special label exclusively for the White House, as they will not serve Russian Cuvée because of the name, even though it is the same wine.) The next day we received a call from the White House letting us know that it was such a great success that Laura Bush was considering it for Jenna's wedding on May 10th.

As it turns out, the bride will be toasted with Wedding Cuvée instead.

Auspicious Beginning for 2008

Fantastic coverage on Good Morning America Now, with numerous, gorgeous close ups of our bottles, beginning with the quote that you don't have to look beyond the U.S. borders for great bubbly, followed by the assertion that Iron Horse is their favorite from America.

http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=4054688

Then listen to the segment on NPR.

http://www.wnyc.org/shows/lopate/episodes/2007/12/28/segments/91116

with thanks to Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg, James Beard Award-winning authors, WHAT TO DRINK WITH WHAT YOU EAT and Wine columnists, THE WASHINGTON POST

ICON

Iron Horse Vineyards was named an "American Icon" in a coffe table reference book published by Random House in July 2007 alongside American Express, Coca Cola, Harley Davidson, Ipod, Harvard University, the New York Yankees, and Tiffany.

Stellar Accolades

Wine Enthusiast Nominee for best American Winery. Selected one of the top 100 international wineries of the year in Wine & Spirits magazine with Iron Horse 2002 Classic Vintage Brut as one of the top 100 wines of the year. Iron horse was also named as one of "America's Best wineries" by winewriter Dan Berger. Alder Yarrow, whose Vinography is the most widely read wine blog of the net, called Joy! the best California Sparkling he has ever tasted.

Wines that Pair with the Summer Sun: Dry Rosés

"Among my favorites domestically are the two from Iron Horse Vineyards, one made from Pinot Noir and the other from Sangiovese."

--Robert Whitley, San Diego Union-Tribune

Tiffany Diamonds & Iron Horse

Iron Horse’s Joy Sterling has been invited to present the family’s wines at several private dinners Tiffany hosts for their best customers in Atlanta, Palm Beach, and Washington, D.C.

Where Chefs Go

Chef Charlie Palmer’s top pick is Iron Horse. “The Green Valley literally blossoms in the spring,” he says, “Nothing beats sipping Iron Horse and looking down into the vineyards.” Palmer owns nine restaurants, including Aureole in New York and Las Vegas and Healdsburg’s Dry Creek Kitchen.

Eric Ripert, chef and owner of Le Bernardin restaurant in New York, writes in his Wine Spectator guest blog that one of his most memorable wine moments was visiting Iron Horse with Jean Louis Paladin.

Chefs' and Sommeliers' Quotes

"At last an un-oaked Chardonnay from Sonoma! A sommelier's dream wine to pair with dishes, this one is full bodied with tangy notes of Granny Smith apple, lemon and kiwi fruit. The long finish lingers on the palate with a hint of Jolly Rancher candy."

--Virginia Philip, Master Sommelier, The Breakers, Palm Beach, Florida

"Whenever I'm grilling fish with spicy flavors or slow-roasting chicken crusted with fresh herbs, I always reach for Iron Horse Chardonnay. It's a perfect partner for the foods I like to cook."

--Bobby Flay, Chef, Restauranteur, Cookbook Author, TV Personality

Rustic Elegence

The San Francisco Chronicle rated Iron Horse's "Tasting Room" three stars. "Good bubbly and a great view." Check out the article here.

"Fashionable" Bubbly

According to wine writer Matt Kramer, “Champagne is all about style …. Some are Armani … others are North Face. If You Like Valentino… Then you'll like the good-taste opulence of Dom Pérignon (complex, weighty yet far from heavy; a champagne with an exquisite "hand," as they say in the fabric trade) [and] Iron Horse Blanc de Blancs LD (the "ld" means late-disgorged; dense, subtle, rich and refined). December 6, 2006 New York Sun

Winery of the Year

Wine & Spirits Magazine named Iron Horse one of its “Top 100 Wineries of the Year” for 2006 … the only American Sparkling producer. This is our eight time to be so honored.”

Charles and Camilla

The White House chose Iron Horse 2002 Wedding Cuvée as the toasting wine for the State Dinner honoring newlyweds Prince Charles and Camilla U.S. visit November, 2005.

Location. Location. Location

Green Valley, the special appelation where Iron Horse is located, was awarded a “Pinot Passion Award” in Gregory Walter's Pinot Report. Green Valley also received an 'A' in the latest report card on Sonoma County's AVAs in Wine Enthusiast for 'making great Pinots and Chards and...some of California's best bubbly.”

The Rest is History

Iron Horse has now been served at the White house for four consecutive presidential administrations, beginning in 1985 with the historic Reagan/Gorbachev Summit Meetings, which ended the Cold War. The first Bush administration served our Sparklings at several State Dinners and brought our Classic Vintage Brut to Moscow for the signing of the START treaty. The Clintons chose Iron Horse for many occasions-most impressively for the offical White House Millenium Dinner New Year's Eve 1999 to toast the new Millennium. Iron Horse was served at the 200th anniversary of the White House attended by all of the living presidents except Ronald Reagan who was too ill to travel to Washington. The first time the current Bush administration served our wines was on the most somber of occassions-September 20, 2001, at a working dinner with Prime Minister Tony Blair, immediately prior to the President's momentous address to Congress outlining U.S. response to 9/11.

Special Cuvées for Top Chefs

Iron Horse is proud to produce special cuvées for some of America's top chefs-Charles Palmer of Aureole in New York, Las Vegas, Healdsburg, and Dallas; Bradley Ogden of Lark Creek Inn, One Market in San Francisco, and Bradley Ogden's in Las Vegas; Commander's Palace in New Orleans; and Michael Mina at all of his restaurants. We also produce a special cuvée for Disney, called Fairy Tale Cuvée.

Another High Point

From Dan Rather's autobiography, “The Camera Never Blinks Twice”, about having lunch with William Paley in 1989: 'Now he was wheeled into the dining rooms and we continued to talk. Paley liked to gossip. We had a bottle of Iron Horse champagne with our veal piccata, and he says, “You know, for years I wouldn't touch this California stuff because I only like the best and I thought that meant French. I can truthfully say that California wine is among the best in the world.” With Mr. Paley, you always had to ask yourself, what's this about. And it lead up to this. He raised his glass, clinking his with mine, and said: “The Evening News is the only thing left at CBS that's on top right now. I don't know how or why it is and neither does anybody else. But take great pride in that. Take time to look around. Take in the view and breathe deeply. You won't be this high many times in your life.”

Mystery Wine

Iron Horse is extensively drunk in Robert B. Parker's adventure novels. In the New York Times Bestseller, Potshot, set in the town of Potshot, Arizona, the Boston PI Spencer gets the lowdown from the local authorities: “What's the most important thing in the desert? Iron Horse Champagne. Next to that. Water.”

The Letter of the Law

In Tim Green's thriller, "The Letter of the Law," a world-famous criminal law professor is accused of murder, he hires his brightest former student to defend him, and she celebrates her victory with Iron Horse Classic Vintage Brut "every bit as good as Dom."

Joy's Books

Joy Sterling, Iron Horse's CEO, has written four books. The first was called “A Cultivated Life”–a diary of the 1991 vintage at Iron Horse, following month by month everything that happened in the vineyard, the winery and the family's entertaining. More recently, Simon & Schuster published “Vineyard” a kind of sourvenir book of Wine Country with beautiful photographs by Andy Katz.