Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/267019
7 4 V I N E YA R D & W I N E RY M A N A G E M E N T | M a r - A p r 2 014 w w w. v w m m e d i a . c o m Sterling, a former director of the Wine Institute, has served on the U.S. Commerce Department's Industry Sector Advisory Council for Consumer Goods. In 2002, he was appointed by Gov. Gray Davis to the California Recreational Trails Committee. He is also past presi- dent of the board of the Redwood Empire Food Bank. V & W M s p o k e w i t h S t e r l i n g about Iron Horse's ongoing com- mitment to a style of wine is aimed more at the dinner table than at point-scorers. Vineyard & Winery Management [ V&WM ] How much influence does consumer preference have on the winemaking style at Iron Horse? Laurence Sterling [ LS ] Like it or not, you gotta listen to the con- sumer. But there is a difference between what the consumers may or may not like and what some key tastemakers are telling them they are supposed to like. Some experts prefer more complex (sparkling wines) and many consumers prefer simpler ones. We have to be aware of the differences. At Iron Horse, the first rule is, we only want to make wine we want to drink, and we have stayed true to our principles in that sense. [ V&WM ] So have there been any noticeable changes at Iron Horse since you got there in 1990? [ LS ] Yes, and most of those changes are in the vineyard, to improve fruit quality. We credit the majority of those changes to (viticultural consultant Dr.) Daniel Roberts. That is where we have shifted the most, with Daniel and the replant program we embarked upon in the 1990s. We are taking a much harder look at smaller sec- tions within each vineyard to see which areas make the most dis- tinctive wines, and we are keep- ing those lots separate so we can make wines that reflect where they were grown. David (Munksgard) has taken us as far as we could go in the wine- making, and now working with the vines, and with better clones, bet- ter field sorting, and more precise harvest dates, we have been able