Always Sparkling, A Way of Living - #1
Joy Sterling in the Vineyards
Owner and CEO Joy Sterling talks about what living in Paris as a teenager taught her about life and how it ultimately led her back to joining the family sparkling wine business.
Why Joy?
She is the second-generation CEO of Iron Horse Vineyards, a premiere Sonoma sparkling house, whose wines have been served at the White House for six consecutive presidential administrations, beginning with the historic Reagan-Gorbachev Summit Meetings ending the Cold War.
As a person, Joy is the essence of bubbly, with a zest for life that was shaped in her teenage years living in Paris and a belief that she can accomplish anything, which was cultivated by her parents and accentuated when she climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro.
Here is Part 1 of my conversation with Joy.
How Living in Paris Shaped My Life
Vicky
You and your family moved to Paris when you were a young teenager. What took you there?
Joy
My parents were Francophiles. My mother took my father on their first trip to Europe for his 30th birthday. The story is that they were drinking Champagne on a balcony in Paris and my father got down on one knee and said, “We’re going to live here.” And seven years later we did.
Vicky
So, they went there for “life” not for work. You’ve said that living in Paris shaped your life. What were the things that most impacted you from that experience?
Joy
Joy Sterling with Glass of Bubbles in the Garden
Yes, they went there for life. And it gave me an incredible insight, inspiration, and love for life, food and wine, and gracious living. I realized that the height of luxury is a perfect, fresh-picked garden tomato. Having gorgeous coffee, great baguettes and wine is part of a way of life.
Sparkling Wine is in my DNA!
Vicky
When did you start tasting and liking sparkling wine?
Joy
I have no recollection of my first sip. I have no recollection of making a conscious decision that this is the wine for me. I think I was just to the manor born. It’s in my DNA. My grandfather was known to drink Champagne out of teacups during Prohibition.
If I had to make up my earliest experience, I would say that I have a distinct recollection - or I may have just dreamed it - that I was drinking Champagne at a birthday party at Castel’s [a private club in Paris] in the ‘60’s.
Joining the Family Business Was a Case of Ready, Fire, Aim
Vicky
OK, let’s go with that story! Now let’s fast forward to 1985 when you joined the family business. After they moved back from France, your parents bought the property that is now Iron Horse Vineyards in 1976. You were on your own path. After graduating from Yale, you had a career in the television news world. Was your move into the family business part of a succession plan?
Joy
No, not at all. I celebrated my 10-year anniversary of my news career by quitting. I realized I didn’t want to become my boss and I just quit. My brother says my epitaph will be “ready, fire, aim.” That’s when I showed up at Iron Horse and said, “Aren’t you excited that I’m here?”
Vicky
OK. It wasn’t a plan, but was it in the back of your mind that you would take over the family business?
“Does that mean you are not going to be President of the United States?”
Joy
I think Iron Horse was always my home. Long before I joined the winery, when I would describe myself, Iron Horse and my family were always the center of my universe. But it wasn’t in my plan.
When I graduated from college, I announced that I was going into journalism and not going to law school. My dad said to me, “Does that mean you are not going to be President of the United States?” That was a remarkable thing for a father to say to a daughter in 1975. My entire life has been a feeling that I can do anything I want. Now, I feel especially lucky to be doing exactly what I love.
All images courtesy of Iron Horse Vineyards
Check out all my conversations with Joy
