One of the highlights of this semester was the SSU Wine Club tasting with Iron Horse Vineyards located in the Green Valley AVA of Sonoma County. Green Valley is a small special section of the Russian River Valley which has a cooler climate and more fog than surrounding areas. Located just 13 miles from the Pacific Ocean, it is an ideal place to grow chardonnay and pinot noir. Iron Horse is one of the largest of the 8 wineries in this appellation, and has become quite famous for its sparkling wines.
The wine tasting was hosted by Joy Sterling, CEO of the winery. According to one participant, “Joy has the most amazing charisma and was really able to relate to the students.” Joy described the vineyards, winemaking, and told great stories about happenings at the winery.
Six different wines were tasted, but the two favorites of the evening were a sparkling and a chardonnay. Coming in first place with the most votes was the 2004 Iron Horse Classic Vintage Brut ($33) with a rich creamy mouth feel, citrus and a yeasty brioche finish with crisp acidity. It is a blend of 75% Pinot Noir and 25% Chardonnay, and was aged 4 years on the lees. Joy said it would pair quite well with sushi and other spicy foods.
The second favorite was the 2007 Iron Horse UnOaked Chardonnay ($26) which had an intense minerality and a wonderful hint of mandarin orange. Very fruity, but with good texture due to time spent on lees….and no oak! Joy suggested pairing this was salad, shrimp, or pasta with white sauce.
For more information on Iron Horse Vineyards and their wines, see: http://www.ironhorsevineyards.com/



The SSU Wine Tasting Club met recently to taste some of the magnificent wines of Michel Schlumberger located in the Dry Creek AVA of Sonoma County. This winery specializes in Bordeaux varietals and organically grown grapes. When I visited you enter through some very impressive gates, and are invited to go on a vineyard tour to learn how they farm organically. Afterwards you enjoy an informal tasting of their wonderful wines. You must call in advance to schedule an appointment, but the tasting and tour are definitely worth it! (
Last night in my wine business class we evaluated 4 interesting wine from Greece and South Africa. The last South African wine, a deep red pinotage with the distinctive red berry, greenstick, earth and spices that it is known for, also included a very strong smell of rotten eggs. Immediately one of my students suggested we put a penny in our glass, and I agreed. In less than 10 seconds the stinky smell had dissipated in the wine and we were able to evaluate it more fairly. Looking around the classroom, I saw some puzzlement on the faces of other students, so I thought it would be useful to take a few minutes to explain why we put pennies in the wine.
Sebastiani wines. For this first tasting, the room was filled to capacity with over 50 Millennials. Julie Butler from Sebastiani’s Hospitality group brought 6 wines to taste. Three were from Sebastiani Vineyards and Winery located in Sonoma, California, plus an additional 3 wines from Firestone Winery in Santa Barbara County. You may not be aware that the 100+ year old Sebastiani Winery was acquired by Foley Family Wines in December of 2008. Foley Family also owns 8 other wineries, including Firestone, Merus in Napa and several others in California and New Zealand.
petite verdot and petite sirah to add complexity.
(By guest author Pete Lobash) Tolosa Winery is located in San Luis Obispo (www.tolosawinery.com). I went here with some friends and had a great time. Tolosa has a tasting room some wineries would die for! Think of an extremely nice wine bar and then add even more. On entry of this tasting room I immediately noticed how modern looking everything was. In most tasting rooms a rustic or Italian look is sought after — yet at Tolosa it’s all about a contemporary look. This room really caters and attracts those from the ages of twenty one to mid thirties. I really liked the way the room felt, it was something that seemed familiar yet new. Even to this day I still haven’t been to a tasting room that has looked anything like Tolosa’s. They truly have something unique that can be geared more toward the Millennial generation.
As a wine professor, my Millennial students often ask me for advice on buying an expensive bottle of wine for a special occasion. Sometimes it is a guy who wants to impress a girlfriend, or a group of friends who want to buy a very nice bottle of wine for a wine-loving friend or family members. Generally in this blog, we focus on more affordable wines, but there are times when you want to splurge and buy something really special.
Right now I’m at the 2009 Wine Blogger’s Conference at the Flamingo Hotel in Santa Rosa, California. It was while I was at this same conference last year that I was inspired to launch a wine blog research project with the Millennial students in my Bus 305W class. We divided into 8 teams of 5 students each and I gave them the list of Alden Yarrow’s Complete List of Wine Blogs available at
(By guest author, Angela Atkinson) One of my favorite winery tasting rooms is a small, locally owned and operated winery in downtown San Anselmo. It has provided customers with some great wines since 1987. The winery has a warm and inviting tasting room in the front, but behind the scenes in back is where the alchemy happens – truly a very cool place. The tasting room has a large vaulted ceiling giving in an open and spacious feeling while still feeling welcoming and unique. There is a small retail area with bottle openers, stoppers, and art from local artists.