We are big fans of Iron Horse Vineyards and the wonderful owners, the Sterling Family. The braindchild of CEO Joy Sterling, their annual Earth Day event continues to outdo itself every year. Joy is a maestro at orchestrating a day of food for the mind, body and soul with top speakers, chefs and the bounty of Sonoma County taking center stage. Mark your calendars!
Celebrate Earth Day in Green Valley | Eat Drink and Be Green | Sunday, April 23 | Noon to 3pm | Iron Horse Vineyards | Sebastopol, CA by Joy Sterling, CEO Iron Horse Vineyards
Iron Horse Vineyards is proud to announce we have scored a fabulous speaker for Celebrate Earth Day in Green Valley. She is California’s Secretary of Agriculture Karen Ross. Her topic is the Future of Food.
The day will be a celebration of how food connects us, nourishes us, and defines us. Food does more than just keep us alive. It plays a central role in connecting us to the land, to our heritage, and to each other.
The date is April 23, the Sunday after “real” Earth Day, which always falls on the 22nd.
This will be our 7th time hosting this event. It doesn’t happen every year. But when it does it means we have a great program. Specifically, Impossible Foods is on board with acclaimed San Francisco Chef Traci Des Jardins to showcase the “Impossible Burger”, made entirely from plants, which I have tasted and is unbelievably delicious. They served it at the Paris Climate Change Conference as tartare.
Past speakers include Governor Jerry Brown, Kevin Jorgensen, who famously free climbed the Dawn Wall of El Capitan, Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, Gil Grosvenor, Chairman Emeritus of National Geographic, Ted Turner and Pulitzer Prize winning scientist Jared Diamond, who wrote Guns, Germs and Steel.
This is a very outdoorsy, celebratory, festival-style event, called Celebrate Earth Day in Green Valley - Green Valley being our special growing area in Western Sonoma County. Participating wineries are: DeLoach Vineyards, Dutton-Goldfield Winery, Freeman Vineyard and Winery, Hartford Family Winery, Iron Horse Vineyards, Lynmar Estate, Marimar Estate, Rubin Family of wines.
There is a one hour VIP meet and greet for 100 people at my parents’ home for bubbles and California sustainably farmed caviar, and a total of 300 attendees at the main event for a walk around food and wine tasting and live music.
As part of the day, National Geographic is mounting a truncated version of an exhibit which looks at how we will farm and eat in the future to meet the needs of an expanding population.
Imperfect Food is providing a spring bounty of “ugly produce” as crudities.
The band Ronstadt Generations will perform, representing five generations of musicians. We hope Linda Ronstadt will be able to attend as a special guest.
And we have enlisted Copia, an app that helps re-distribute excess food from restaurants and events, so leftovers get to those in need rather than going to waste.
Ticket prices:
$65 General Admission ($55 for wine club members) – limited to 300 guests for lunch, wine tasting, keynote and live music.
$250 VIP Reception - one hour meet and greet from 12 noon to 1pm, with bubbles and sustainably farmed California caviar at the home of Iron Horse Founders Audrey and Barry Sterling, limited to 100 guests, who then join the Main Event for lunch, wine tasting, keynote and live music.
Sponsors this year include: The Turner Foundation, Breakthru Beverage, Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits, Riedel Crystal and California Caviar Company.
Please click here to order tickets.
Net proceeds go to the organization of the speaker’s choice. This year, Secretary Ross has chosen Sustainable Conservation, a non-profit organization “uniting people to solve California's toughest environmental challenges” as the beneficiary.
Here’s to all blue skies ahead!
Joy Sterling
Iron Horse Vineyards