Three Reasons to Celebrate Earth Month
Honoring the land that shapes every vintage.
Earth Day has long held a special place at Iron Horse. Over the years, it has inspired some of our most memorable gatherings, bringing together remarkable people, from high-profile speakers to longtime friends, united by delicious food and wine and a shared commitment to the land. That spirit feels especially meaningful in our 50th anniversary year.
We are deeply honored to have been recognized in three different ways this month: one for the land, one for innovation and community, and one for what’s in the glass.
THE LAND
We are honored to receive the Sonoma County Farm Bureau’s Luther Burbank Conservation Award for our creek restoration project. This recognition means a great deal to us, coming as it does from our friends and neighbors, and it carries special resonance for our family given Luther Burbank’s deep connection to Sebastopol and his understanding of the Gold Ridge soil that defines our special growing area, Green Valley.
It also brings to mind one of the more unexpected moments of my life: visiting Mahatma Gandhi’s home in New Delhi, now a museum. The walls were lined with letters from figures around the world—Tolstoy, Einstein—and among them, one from Luther Burbank. The two never met, but they corresponded. Who would have thought?
The big news from our Earth Day Oysters & Creek Tour earlier this month, was that 900 coho were counted this spring! It felt like a deeply validating measure of what the creek restoration is already beginning to achieve.
INNOVATION & COMMUNITY
We are equally proud to receive the CENIC AIR (AI Research) Pioneering Contribution Award for our role as host site for an agricultural connectivity testbed.
At Iron Horse, that testbed has become a living laboratory for precision farming, bringing together a 10 Gbps fiber connection, sensors in the soil and air, environmental monitoring, ultra-high-resolution imaging, and partnerships with universities and research institutions.
What feels most meaningful is the spirit behind it: this is about community. The research is open, the learning is shared, and students are actively engaged alongside faculty and industry partners. By sending the data quite literally into the cloud, the project is creating a model others can learn from and build on.
If you’re curious to go deeper, we’ve shared a closer look at the testbed on our website.
IN THE GLASS
And, of course, it all comes back to the wine.
We are honored to share that our 2021 Blanc de Blancs received 94 points and Editors’ Choice from Wine Enthusiast, and our 2022 Year of the Horse Blanc de Blancs received 93 points from both Wine Enthusiast and Wine Spectator.
It is especially meaningful to see two Blanc de Blancs recognized, a style in which Iron Horse has long had particular strength, thanks in part to our cool Green Valley location, and perhaps also to my father’s fondness for it. He liked to say, with a smile, that Blanc de Blancs lovers have the most sophisticated taste… though not everyone in the family agreed.
