2013 JUN Iron Horse Winery, Sebastopol

CLICK HERE for Event Photos

Iron Horse Winery Tasting

9786 Ross Station Rd

Sebastopol CA

Hillsborough Bailliage rendezvous at the Iron Horse Winery in Sebastopol, CA.

Hosted by owner Joy Anne Sterling Bailliage members were treated to a special tapas and wine paring of the Estate’s best wines.

About

A pioneering estate winery founded in 1976, we handcraft California’s most celebrated Sparkling Wines. Our Chardonnays are radiant and Pinot Noir is our rising star. Experience the pleasure of visiting our tasting room in Green Valley of the Russian River Valley, where you'll sip wines from the vineyards that spill out at your feet.

The founding partners, Audrey and Barry Sterling first saw our property in the pouring rain in February 1976. Driving down Ross Station Road, they were sure they were lost until they crested the knoll and viewed 300 acres of gentle rolling hills, which looked like Camelot. Incurable romantics with extraordinary vision, they bought the property in just two weeks.

Iron Horse is renowned for its Sparkling Wines, which have been served at the White House for six consecutive presidential administrations, beginning with the historic Reagan-Gorbachev Summit Meetings ending the Cold War.

Joy Anne Sterling – Partner and CEO

Joy Sterling represents the second generation at Iron Horse. She is the CEO of the winery and a member of the California State Food & Agriculture Board, appointed by the Governor.

There is a strong French influence in Joy’s life. She grew up in Paris, attended a French school and speaks fluent French. Living in Europe and traveling extensively, Joy received an extraordinary education in the appreciation of food and wine.

Joy returned to the United States to attend Yale University where she studied history and economics. She went into journalism. At 29, Joy was Deputy Bureau Chief for ABC Network News in Los Angeles.

In 1985, Joy left ABC’s hierarchy to join her family’s business and made news headlines for the winery with her first achievement at Iron Horse: In November, 1985, the White House selected Iron Horse Sparkling Wine for Ronald Reagan’s toast to peace at the first summit meeting with Mikhail Gorbachev in Geneva.

Joy quietly took up the reins as CEO at the start of 2006 after 20 years presenting the wines across the country, from La Mer at the Halekulani in Honolulu to the Four Seasons in New York. One of her major initiatives is a special cuvée called Ocean Reserve created in partnership with National Geographic. $4 per bottle sold, goes to help establish marine-protected areas and support sustainable fishing around the globe.

She is an adventurer and world traveler – having climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro, run white water rapids on the Bio-Bio River in Chile and the upper reaches of the Yank Sing River in China, trekked in Tibet and Bhutan, traveled to Timbuktu for the Festival in the Desert, currently on hiatus because of unrest in Mali. She witnessed the Monarch migration in Michoacán, Mexico and hiked in the Impenetrable Forest of Uganda to see the Mountain Gorillas.

Joy served on the Board of Trustees of the Leakey Foundation for ten years and is a member of National Geographic’s Grosvenor Council. She is the author of A Cultivated Life, published by Random House.

ATTENDEES (Partial List)

Donn & Carol Ferrero

Harry & Carol Dokouzian

Stan & Lois Gogol

Orley Hatfield

Tom & Karen Lile

Becky & Hal Schuette

Jim & Beverley Zierolf

Gerry & Lily Preiner