Saturday, November 5, 2016

Day of the Dead Celebration

Today here in Murphys we are celebrating the Day of the Dead.  




You will find alters throughout town as well as here at Ironstone honoring some very special people.




Ironstone has chosen George Wendt to honor.  Having a very special place in all our hearts, George was an amazing human being and very much missed by all who had the pleasure of knowing him.



George doing what he loved most

“Wine on the River”
A collaboration of O.A.R.S. and Ironstone Vineyards
Stephen Kautz on a "Wine on the River" trip with OARS

 Story by Stephen Kautz:

"I have always had a love for the outdoors in any form. When I was a kid I got my first taste of rafting down the Stanislaus River with OARS in those early days before the dam was built. I kept that love of rivers and fishing in them, but had moved away from the rafting part. Then my grandmother (moms side) invited me to go on a rafting trip with her through OARS, down the Alsek River in the Canadian Yukon. Yes, the story is true, it was for her 80th birthday.  Well, I was again hooked on rafting.  I came home and bought my own boat and started running rivers across the 11 western states. The only problem I had is a common one for rafting folks like me – work kept getting in the way.  I was doing a lot of winemaker dinners and tasting events across the country and one day was sharing that with George Wendt and his marketing guy Eric Grathwal, somewhat complaining that I wasn’t getting enough time on the river. They both looked at me and asked if I would do something like that on a river trip for OARS.  Let me see - wine, good food, river rafting and getting paid to do it!!!!!  YES, dream come true.
The first Wine on the River trip, started in 1997, was down the Middle Fork of the Salmon River in Idaho through the Frank Church Wilderness area, one of the most beautiful trips you can take. I took along my executive chef a bunch of good Ironstone Wine and away we went.  Some of the best memories in my life have come during those trips.  I can remember 12 of our group huddled under a tarp, sitting in the raft on a beach in the pouring rain.  We were laughing at my description of our Symphony Wine when Chef Clyde pops underneath the tarp and starts passing out hot broth, asking what wine paired best with it….I think we tried them all.  The Middle Fork of the Salmon, the Main Salmon, The Rouge River, The American River, The Tuolumne River, or any river where you can enjoy nature, great food and wine and the experiences of life, that is what Wine on the River is all about."


Stephen Kautz

Wednesday, November 2, 2016

CALL to Artists! 20th Annual Spring Obsession Art Show

Entry Forms now available for Ironstone's 20th Annual Spring Obsession Art Show.

Ironstone's 20th Annual Spring Obsession Art Show is just around the corner. 

Entry deadlines are January 6, 2016 for the THEME Division and January 28, 2016 for the OPEN Division.

Entries will be juried. Notification will go out to artists of accepted art work 3 weeks prior to delivery dates.  All works must be original art completed by entering artists. 

Theme Division prize $500 with image recreated in Ironstone's 2017 Poster.

Open Division 1st. prize = $1000. 2nd prize = $500.  3rd. prize = $250.

This exhibit is not for photographs or digitally enhanced images nor 3 dimensional sculpture.

Please see complete rules and details on prospectus downloadable from this blog site.

You may download the prospectus/entry form from the pages on this blog or go to www.ironstonevineyards.com  to download from Ironstone's web page.

Should you wish to have the forms emailed, please Click Here
*place "Entry Form" in the subject matter 

Chris will respond to your email with the forms as attachments.  Be sure to mark the above email as NOT junk mail.

Stay tuned for more details!

Friday, October 28, 2016

Pumpkin Contest at the Silent Movie tonight!

If you are coming to Ironstone's "Phantom of the Opera" Silent Movie tonight or for the Matinee Saturday, you will be casting your vote for your favorite decorated pumpkin.

Ironstone Vineyards has a wonderful tradition of each department creating a pumpkin and submitting it to the guests at the Silent Movie night.  Guests vote for their favorite pumpkin. Next day, all the pumpkins go to the Tasting Room for display "while they last".

Here are a few images from past years.  Great fun for everyone!












Tuesday, September 20, 2016

This Saturday Ironstone is proud to be host for the annual Concours d'Elegance. Fundraising for the California 4H and FFA scholarship programs, this event has evolved into one of the United States #1 Classic Auto Shows.  With over 300 vehicles gracing the impecable lawns of Ironstone Vineyards, it is a site to behold. 

Quoting the foundation website, 

Honored vehicle marques vary but this year include BMW, Corvette, Studebaker, Packard, Duesenberg, Pierce-Arrow, Bentley and Rolls-Royce. Special classes spotlight early Fords, streamlined cars, sports cars, exotics, race cars, coachbuilt luxury marques, plus unrestored and original automobiles. " 


Joining the festivities this year is celebrity, Wayne Carini of "Chasing Classic Cars".  Wayne will be on site all day Saturday. 

My favorite part of Concours are the many tallented artists painting on site for the day.  This year, Charles Pyle, Director of the Illustration Department of the Academy of Art University of San Francisco will be amoung the artists along with several of his painting buddies.  Charles has graced Ironstone's Spring Obsession event many years as judge for the Open Division Art Show & Competition.

If you would like more information on the event itself, here is the link to their website.  

http://www.ironstonefoundation.org/

See you Saturday!