Under the Mistletoe

December in the vineyard—and what’s coming as we head into our 50th year.

We’re in the heart of the holiday season, and hanging mistletoe is one of my favorite traditions. A simple invitation to pause and share a moment of affection and joy, laughter, and definitely kissing. We’re fortunate to have an abundance of wild mistletoe growing here.

It’s native to California and thrives along our riparian corridors. In winter, when the willows stand bare along the creek, you can spot it easily: round, nest-like ball perched high in the branches. Not especially beautiful as full bushes, almost unrecognizable at first. We’re so accustomed to seeing mistletoe as a single sprig, not the whole living structure.

In the vineyard, while the calendar still says December, we are already solidly in 2026. Pruning is in full swing—quiet, exacting work that shapes not just the coming harvest, but the one after that as well. Each vintage is interconnected. Every decision reaches forward.

We’re looking at a tangle of dormant canes—last season’s shoots, now woody and bare—woven through the trellis. At first glance it can feel chaotic. This is where judgment comes in: deciding which canes to keep, which buds to trust, and which futures to let go. It’s careful, precise, deeply forward-looking work.

Where we cut determines how many shoots we’ll train, how they’ll be positioned, and how the vine will function for years to come. In winter, the buds are already visible on the cane. Pruning becomes an act of choosing which possibilities to carry forward.

Each bud holds tiny cluster primordia that will emerge in spring as inflorescences—the flower clusters that bloom and develop into grapes. The shoots that grow this year will carry the buds that form the 2027 vintage. It’s a two-year cycle, even as the architecture of the vine is shaped over decades.

We remove far more buds than we keep—often two-thirds or more per vine. There’s no fixed formula. Pruning relies on reading each vine and deciding what it can carry well. The goal is balance: even ripening, healthy airflow and light, and a vine resilient enough to thrive for generations.

My brother Laurence happens to love this work. He finds it very Zen.

It feels especially fitting to begin this mindful, forward-looking work as we approach 2026—a year that brings together five extraordinary milestones for my family and for Iron Horse: our 50th anniversary, America’s 250th, my mother and Iron Horse co-founder Audrey Sterling’s 95th birthday, our winemaker David Munksgard’s 30th vintage at Iron Horse, and the Lunar Year of the Horse.

We’re marking the year with three commemorative cuvées created specifically for the anniversary, beginning with our Year of the Horse Blanc de Blancs, which starts shipping to our Wine Club in January.

It is a Brut Zero—completely dry, limited in production—and it drinks like unbridled optimism. A fitting tribute for everyone born in a Horse year: 1942, 1954, 1966, 1978, 1990, 2002, 2014, and now 2026.

I happen to be a Horse in the lunar zodiac, as is my niece Barrie, our Wine Club Manager Max Nedwick, and 321 fellow Horses in the Wine Club. Clearly, it’s written in the stars that you should celebrate the Year of the Horse with us. Lunar New Year begins February 17.

In March, we’ll release Spirit of ’76, celebrating our 50th alongside America’s 250th, with a contribution to Disabled American Veterans. Iron Horse was founded in 1976 during the Bicentennial, and marking our 50th as the nation reaches its 250th creates a rare symmetry when our history and America’s move forward together.

The wine is our 2019 Brut Late Disgorged, labeled last month after five years aging en tirage. We produced 500 cases of 750ml bottles and 76 limited-edition jeroboams. Only 18 jeroboams remain.

The final reveal of the year will be our Golden Cuvée—a 2018 Brut Late Disgorged produced exclusively in magnum. Rich, vibrant, and age-worthy, it feels like the perfect capstone to a year filled with meaning, celebration, and possibility.

We’re planning multiple gatherings throughout the year; all rooted here in the vineyard. Our guiding spirit, as always, is to celebrate everything until further notice.

For Earth Day, we’ll open the vineyard an eco-tour of our creek restoration project. The timing should be perfect. Now, in mid-December, the adult coho begin their return from the Pacific to Green Valley Creek. By mid-January they’re carving out their redds, and by the time we come together on April 26, their tiny fry should be swimming in the restored side channels. I cannot wait.

On May 5, 2026 which is of course Cinco de Mayo and happens to fall on a Tuesday, we’ll celebrate my mother’s 95th birthday with a taco truck at the winery for a haut Taco Tuesday, Iron Horse–style. Harvest will be momentous as our 50th and David’s 30th at Iron Horse, which we’ll celebrate with a Harvest Lunch in September inspired by the legendary gatherings my mother hosted for so many years. People still talk about them.

One of my favorite ways we’re commemorating this year is through a series of Instagram interviews featuring 14 employees who have been part of the Iron Horse story for more than 20 years, four of us for over 40.

We’ll also be recognizing our longest-standing club members. It’s a tremendous source of pride that 99 Club Members have been with us for 15 to 20 years.

To all of you who’ve been part of this journey—whether for years or just now—thank you. I can’t wait to share everything 2026 has in store: new releases, special gatherings, and moments that honor where we’ve been and where we’re going.

With deep appreciation and great excitement for the year ahead, it feels like an opportunity that invites both gratitude and discovery—an invitation to honor the past, savor the present, and open our arms to what’s still to come.