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 80^th 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

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!

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!

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!

Last comments on Pokemon

This is my final word on the Pokemon.  Yes, it is fun to wander around town with my friends and play. I have learned something new about my home town that I didn't know before and met some new people who also play.  I will probably leave the game on my phone and play if I am out of town or in town walking, just to learn a bit more about where I am visiting.  I have also learned not to pay any attention to any of the pokemon advice you find on the internet.  Each person has to play their own game. (ie: the expert that said not to go into battle until you reach level 20, failed to mention by doing that, you fill your bag up with so many potions that there is no room for pokeballs!)

Anyway, enjoy the game, be careful and see you here at Ironstone when you come to take over one of the three towers here.

Bad Company coming

Bad Company is coming in on Sunday night along with Lou Gramm and The Voice of Foreigner.  Great concert for a holiday weekend.  Get your tickets at Ticket master only!  Best price you will find.

Weather is looking prefect for this one, nice cool evenings.  Great for Popcorn!  If you are here Sunday night, stop by the popcorn booth and say hello.  

Pokemon Part Two

The Great Adventure begins!  First step is to download PokemonGo to my phone. It's a free app and quickly moved me through the customization of my game personality, sex, hair color, eye color and a few selections of outfit colors.  Pretty basic options, nothing exciting there, and here I was ready for a magenta spike cut with a turquoise cape to charge right out on my new and educational adventure. Not happening here, maybe later?

Capturing Pokemon and checking out stops has been fun while on my walks in the mornings.  Actually learned a few things about the town I live in that I didn't know. The Pokestops normally are historic locations, public areas, plaques and such. The app gives you a nice description and history of the stop that you can read while spinning the photo for items you will need to continue the game.  

Leveling through to level 10 is fairly easy and quick. Then, I went on line and read all the "advice" posts on how to play... I don't need to go into all that here. Take my advice, there is a ton of information on this game on line. Lots of opinions on how to play a better game and earn more rankings, win at the battle towers ... 

The advice I found most useful,  between levels 10 and 20, just take your time, capture pokemon and enjoy the walks and pokestops.  This I can do.  Since I can't get out all that often as I live away from pokemon hot spots, I need to make an effort to get there and take walks around town. I've been walking more and meeting great people out there.

I have discovered you can fill your "bag" with so much stuff, you won't have room for the pokeballs that you need to capture the pokemon. I had to do some battles to use up the revive potions and wound potions to make more room... there is a limit on how much stuff you can have in your item bag.  Doing battle at this stage is a loosing proposition as none of my Pokemon are strong enough to win... just to lose and empty my "bag" of potions healing my failed pokemon.  Oh well, at least I am enjoying the walks and learning more about my community... 

I will touch back on this when I reach level 20 ... later

PokemonGo through the eyes of a novice.

After a weekend of random iphone incidents with Museum guests wandering seemingly aimlessly and blindly through the Museum without lifting eyes to the stunning displays, I had promised myself to expostulate the merits of PokemonGo here in our blog. 

Those of you unfamiliar with the term PokemonGo, it is a game you download to your phone, based on the ever popular classic role playing game developed in Japan in 1996. * http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/History_of_Pok%C3%A9mon

This new version is an interactive, location based reality game played on your phone.
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pok%C3%A9mon_Go

Here in the Museum, our first big rush of players happened on Wednesday, July 27th.  The day of the Sublime w/ Rome, Dirty Heads, Tribal Seeds and Bleeker Concert.  4 bands in one night all here early in the day to enjoy Ironstone and play PokemonGo. 

Between the bands and the stage crews, we had a constant flow of iphone engrossed figures checking into the Pokestops to stock up.
When I inquired as to what in heaven's name were they doing, I was deluged with excited exclamations of the importance of Ironstone, the variety of pokestops and the existence of two towers right here at Ironstone!  What?!?  But don't you know it's NOT REAL!  Look at the 44 pound gold piece!  Check out the meteorite slabs, how about that prehistoric cave bear?  LOOK UP!

Throughout the next few weeks, we witnessed a growing number of visitors with eyes glued to their phones. My immediate reaction was to clear all below eye level displays and post bright colored signs in attempts to avoid head on collisions with static posts and walls. This is ridiculous! I have to write something!  I kept muttering under my breath, "but it's not REAL, can't they see that?", "Oh Wait, no they can't cause its not on the screen!".

With a sigh of relief, most did take a moment up from the phone to examine the gold. Some even wandered through the store and checked out some of the art and jewelry. Take a deep breath ... 

Then came the first bend in my thought process... a family trio came in to the Museum, father, son and grandfather. Father & son were glued to their respective phones while grandfather browsed through the museum and shop. I approached him in my anti-pokemon mode, and asked if the other two were going to stop and look up.  His reply was "eventually ... want to know something?" 

Without waiting for my replay, he continued with a story of a household of strangers, father in front of a TV or off with friends and a son in his room on his computer with friends. Both in their own worlds, very much apart. Then along came PokemonGo... 

Grandfather explained to me how the game has brought them together into the same world.  They now travel, the three of them, to places he never imagined they would visit, conferring on their captures, the sights they see and the fun they are having. 

Time to start my research ... 

24 hours of lemons car rally coming through!

24 hours of lemons car rally coming through!  What a hoot.  With a toy in hand, each team is charging in for a photo shoot with the Gold Crystalline. As if Pokemon Go weren't enough, now we have a parking lot of clunkers and laughter.  And yes, some are also playing PokemonGo as well.  

As explained to me, signups are online, cars can't cost more than $500 and they earn points for photos of their "mascot" at designated side stops as well as a whole list of extra point items.  You really must check out their website. Pretty fun group.


https://www.24hoursoflemons.com/rally

Chris Young Concert Sunday night

Here we are already half way through our summer concert series. As they say, time flies when you're having fun!  And what a great season it has been so far. Off with a bang with Darius Rucker, Dan & Shay and Michael Ray.  Rocking the house.  Goo Goo Dolls, Collective Soul and Tribe Society had a great showing.. New to the venue this year were sounds and setup of Sublime with Rome, Dirty Heads, Tribal Seeds and Bleeker.  No reserve chairs on this concert. Everyone was on their feet and danc'n.  Despite the heat, opening bands put on a wonderful show.  However, contrary to popular belief, this was NOT a popcorn crowd.  Now, the brownies from the food court were a great hit I hear....
And last week Train with the English Beat.  Again, standing crowd only danc'n the night away, and, they love popcorn! We love the popcorn lov'n crowds.

Tomorrow night comes Chris Young, Jon Pardi & Tyler Rich.  Country swinging. Great people watching night too. Lots of wanna be cowgirls in sharp looking cowboy boots and hats. And the guys not looking too bad either.  Bring your sketch books, its gonna be a fun night.  It is going to be a warm one, so if you haven't got your ticket yet, I would recommend getting a reserved seat. This way you won't have to rush out in the heat of the afternoon to snag a good spot on the lawn. Mosy on in after the rush, hang back in the food court with friends and move into your seats at your leisure, no problemo.

Did I mention that the Dirty Heads, Tribal Seeds and Bleeker introduced us to Pokeymon Go?  Yep, seems Ironstone is a hot spot for you pokeymon hunters.  Many of the band members are adament gamers and showed us here in the Museum what they found here. More on that later. 

See you tomorrow at the Chris Young Concert!

Spring Obsession 2017

2017 will mark the 20th Anniversary of Ironstone's Spring Obsession event.  Quite a wonderful history to this event.

Begun 1998, we were looking for a fun way to celebrate our Symphony Obsession Wine, Ironstone's number one best seller world wide.  Back then, the newest release came out right around spring time, perfect for a fun Spring Event.  Marketing joined in the planning and found many of the restaurants throughout the United States and Canada serving Ironstone's Obsession had outstanding chefs creating entres or deserts that were made with Obsession wine or paired with the wine.

Our first few years of the event included an International Chef Competition.  Chef's from all over the US and Canada submitted recipes for a main entree and or desert that was made with or paired with Ironstone's Obsession.  The two winning chefs were flown to Murphys for the Irish Days weekend where they presented free cooking demonstrations both Saturday and Sunday of the event.  That Saturday evening was an amazing Gala Dinner featuring the winning entree and winning desert, with both Chef's in attendance.  Ironstone's own executive chef prepared all the remaining dishes, all paired with the Obsession wine.  

Also as part of the Spring Obsession event we began an art competition with two divisions. The Open Division featured any subject matter - any media, excluding photography and digitally enhanced images.  (We plan on creating a photo exhibit in the near future.) Open Division awards cash prizes for 1st, 2nd & 3rd prizes selected by some of Northern California's premier artists, educators and Fine Arts Museum Directors.

The Theme Division has featured daffodils with the winner featured on a limited edition poster that promotes the Obsession Wine. These posters feature the winning image and the winning artists name and are distributed by our marketing department throughout the US and abroad where Ironstone's Obsession wine is sold.  This winner is selected by the Kautz Family themselves and includes a cash award.

Past years, the Art Show featured a small reception for the artists on the Friday before opening weekend.  Always a fun intimate gathering in the early years, that recepting began to outgrow the Friday night spot and eventually took over the Saturday limelight when the Chef's competition was discontinuted.

Now one of the premier Art Competitions in Northern California, Ironstone's Spring Obsession Art Show is moving into it's 20th year in 2017!. 

Here at Ironstone, we are planning for a fun and exciting weekend of Fine Art and Artists!  Keep an eye here on this blog and on our Webpage for the official Art Prospectus / Entry Form which will be published for you to download.  Should be out early September.

Jewelers of America announce new August Birthstone.

Jewelers of America has just announced they have added Spinel to the official August Birthstone lineup. Now, you might ask what gives them the authority to do this?  Jewelers of America is credited with the establishment the official list of birthstone list in 1912.  Which has gone faily uncontested eversince. Thus, they have the power and own the history.

Going further back in time, gemstones have been assigned to the astrological signs, and even before to the 12 tribes of Israel.  For a great history of birthstones, check out GemSelect's article here: 

http://www.gemselect.com/other-info/birthstone-history.php  

Now, back to the spinel..  Here at Ironstone's Heritage Museum, we always thought light green was the August Birthstone. But, according to this article ...

"Here’s a quick guide to what makes spinel special and why it’s now recognized as a birthstone for August." ... "For those looking for an alternative to higher priced rubies and sapphires, spinel may be the best choice."  

Forget the time honored tradition of lunar symbolism and holistic qualities of the selection of stones as one's birthright, lets go direct into commercialism? Wait, just typo? ... OK. 

From our inhouse research, Spinel has been used as the birthstone for July on an international level for quite a long time.  When we first put together our in house list of birthstones, out of respect for our many international visitors (who actually called us out on our limited list) we have always had spinel listed for July. If you check it out, although the exact stones don't always match the official American birthstone list, colors have remained pretty much the same internationally. 

Jewelers of American is an outstanding source for jewelers and buyers, we were just a bit confused by this article.  Take a look yourself at the full article which was actually putblished June 2 of this year, and I only now discovered it.


http://www.jewelers.org/ja/marketing/resources/marketing-news/590-what-makes-spinel-special?utm_source=prnj&utm_medium=em&utm_campaign=spinel

Well, that was fun!

July 2nd. Independence Celebration was a big hit again this year.

First band up wandered the grounds playing awesome accoustics to the grateful crowds.  As the generators were unloaded, and the stage bands struck up some toons, out on the dance floor more dancers than we have seen in past years were having a ball!  

People were meeting their lawn neighbors, singing along or just visiting with friends, family and neighbors. Amazing what can happen when all cell service is down!  Seems one of the many fires that day took out two towers and left everyone without.  they actually had to spend the day talking to each other or doing something other than text or play on social media.

While up front all looked well, behind the scenes was chaos. Organized chaos mind you. With no power, all the food & beverage vendors were scrambling for generators to keep on functioning.

Ironstone crews were busy relocating massive light towers to locations deemed most critical come dusk, hooking up generators to keep everything running smooth, finding a lost ice delivery truck, the list goes on and on, but all ended with another amazing fire works display that just never ended!

We will all remember this year's event for some time to come.

Now, lets get ready for our first concert!