President's Weekend at Ironstone

Dahlynn & Ken McKowen, co-authors of the new "Wine-Oh! Guide to California's Sierra Wine region" were here Saturday to sign copies of the great book as well as participate in a fun and very entertaining cooking demo with our very own Chef James.  Chef James has the ability to not only entertain and educate the audience, but make them feel very much a part of what he is doing.  Without missing a step, Chef James was able to make fresh pasta dough, brown meat, knead the dough, mix the sauce, cut the dough into a nice flat pasta, and put it all together with hands and flour flying everywhere.  Tasting his masterpiece was the icing on the cake, so to speak.  This all took no time at all! Check out the slide show to the right...

Meanwhile up in the tasting room, Carla tasted guests from a barrel of 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon. Even though still not quite ready, this wine is showing very well.  All around thumbs up from guests.

Just outside, Garden King Larry placed a few daffodils at the BBQ table.  Great Ribs, Yummy!

Warehouse sale downstairs was hopp'n all day!  Incredable deals on some great wines. Stock up time with cases flying out the door. The Ironstone Team was having a great time with our regulars who come out for every sale.  Lots of new guests with all the wineries offering specials for CWA glass holders. With the sun shinning and lots of people, we had a great time at Ironstone this weekend.  We are gearing up for a wild March!  Take a look at the Ironstone website at http://www.ironstonevineyards.com/ for all the activities, it is wild!  See you at Ironstone! 

Come and Gone! Sorry you missed them...

Dahlynn & Ken McKowen, authors of the new

The Wine-OH! Guide to California's Sierra Foothills


This is one of most complete and up to date guides I have seen to date.
I even discovered information about our own area I hadn't realized before.
We do have the book in stock now if you don't want to wait till February 13th.
to read it!  Just bring it back in for the authors signatures. 
Note: Dahlynn & Ken have also co authored several of the "Chicken Soup for the Soul" books.

Ironstone's 13th Annual Spring Obsession Art Show, Competition & Sale is looking to be one of the best exhibits on record. Open Division entries are arriving daily from throughout the United States. Theme Division Accepted Originals are arriving this weekend. Excited is not a powerful enough term to describe how I feel!

Benitoite Gem Display

Collector Brett Keller works on his display of Benitoite for Ironstone's Heritage Museum.  Scheduled to be on display through March 7th., this collection of rare and unique Benitoite gems and crystalls is beautiful.  The rich blue hues found in these formations are breath taking.

Brett has won numerous awards with this display and has qualified for the National Show later this year.  He hopes to take home another prize for this beautiful collection. 

Come see it and cheer Brett on.  If you aren't sure what Benitoite is, lets start with the "official Gemstone of California".  And what a more appropriate place for this display than next to the "official Mineral of California"... GOLD! and the 44tlb specimen!

Gem quality Benitoite is found in only one mine in the world approximately 20 miles north of Colinga, CA. in an area now called the Clear Creek Recreational Area.  It was first discovered here in 1907 by James Marshall Couch.  These first blue crystals were thought to be Sapphire or Spinel, but their softness, with a Mohs hardness of only 6.5 made them much too soft for either of those stones.  It was University of California at Berkeley Professor George Louderbach who first identified this gem as a new mineral and named it Benitoite due to its origin in the headwaters of the San Benito River. 

Considered one of the ten rarest gemstones in the world, Benitoite is enormously popular among mineral collectors for its beauty and rarity.  With the mine now closed and mosted played out, this collection is even more rare and most certainly worth a visit to see for yourself.  Slide show coming soon.