Wine of the week: Iron Horse, 2019 Classic Vintage Brut

Audrey Sterling jokes that she and her late husband Barry were upstarts when they started making chardonnay and pinot noir at Sebastopol’s Iron Horse Vineyards in the 1970s. Today, they’re lauded as pioneers.

Their flagship sparkler — the Iron Horse, 2019 Classic Vintage Brut — edged out the other contenders in our wine of the week lineup because it over-delivers for its price. The $58 bubbly is crafted from estate grapes grown on the property in Green Valley of Russian River Valley. While rich with brioche and toasty notes, this bubbly is buoyed by crisp acid and has pitch-perfect balance.

“What sets this sparkling wine apart is the vineyard,” said Joy Sterling, partner, CEO and the daughter of Iron Horse’s founders. “Iron Horse is a classic ‘grower-producer,’ site-specific operation. We have a magical location that yields unique and delicious flavors.”

Joy Sterling said all their wines are estate-bottled and offer a “gorgeous expression” of their property.

“My brother Laurence (Sterling) replanted 82 of the original 110 acres about 12 years ago, so those sections of the vineyard are now in their prime,” she said.

Audrey and Barry Sterling first saw the property in 1976 in the pouring rain. At the time, they said the 300 acres of rolling hills looked like Camelot. They bought the property within two weeks and built their house of bubbly.

Over the years, one of the winery’s pillars of its prestige is that its wines have been served at the White House for seven consecutive presidential administrations.

“Our goal (with our sparklers) is to achieve the elegance, lift and finesse that set off memory bells that say ‘champagne’ but with fruit that is unmistakably California, Sonoma County, Russian River, Green Valley and most specifically, Iron Horse,” Joy Sterling said.

Today the winery produces roughly 22,000 cases of sparkling, chardonnay and pinot noir from 164 acres, with winemaker David Munksgard at the helm.

“Part of why David is such a great sparkling winemaker is his mastery and creativity with dosage,” Joy Sterling said, referring to the sweetness added to the bubbly, whether sugar or a combination of wine and sugar. “It’s the finishing element that sets the style of the wine. It’s not just the degree of dryness, but the composition of the dosage, down to what kind of sugar.”

The winemaker, the CEO said, never succumbs to recipe winemaking. WIth every vintage, he strives to outdo himself.

Munksgard, 74, began his wine odyssey in 1974 while on a personal tour with winemaker Robert Mondavi. Mondavi recommended Munksgard pursue winemaking at Fresno State. Intrigued by wine, he followed Mondavi’s suggestion. He graduated in 1980 with a bachelor of science degree in enology and viticulture. His professor, mentor and friend Ken Fugelsang, suggested he focus on sparkling wine because he believed it would become important in California.

Munksgard’s first job after graduating was at Kenwood’s Chateau St. Jean. Then he was off to the Finger Lakes in New York from 1989 to 1995. He joined Iron Horse in 1996, where he continually strives to raise the bar.

“I’m creative, curious and tenacious,” Munksgard said. “I’m never completely happy knowing there could always be something different I could do to make it that little bit better.”

You can reach Wine Writer Peg Melnik at 707-521-5310 or peg.melnik@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @pegmelnik.