Photos — Frances Rivetti
Sunday mornings in Sonoma County in August are fairly often fogged in. The marine layer lends its cool blanket to the start of day, which is actually quite ideal for a beach cleanup volunteer stint.
It didn't take too much to talk me into signing up for a session combing for washed up and disgarded plastics and other items that don't belong out at beautiful Doran Regional Park and beach in our beloved Sonoma coastal region. Especially as my husband, Timo and I would find ourselves in such wonderful company.
Cleanup day sponsor Iron Horse Vineyards is where rustic meets elegance. What a perfect combo when paired with the Sonoma Coast Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation. This pioneering and generously philanthropic estate winery was founded in Green Valley in the Russian River, in 1976, handcrafting California’s most celebrated Sparkling Wines.
Iron Horse is renowned for its Sparkling Wines, which have been served at the White House for six consecutive presidential administrations, beginning with the historic Reagan-Gorbachev Summit Meetings ending the Cold War. The winery's Chardonnays are also radiant and Pinot Noir is its rising star.
The winery's CEO, Joy Sterling is a member of the California State Food & Agriculture Board, appointed by the Governor and most recently appointed by the State Senate to the California Coastal Conservancy so it's not surprising a cleanup collaboration such as Sunday's was such a delight.
Winery club members and friends who signed up for the day enjoyed an awesome Iron Horse after party with oysters and Ocean Reserve Blanc de Blancs at Nick's Cove late morning.
Doran is one of our regular go-to beaches for dog walks and picnics. It was in remarkably good shape for a weekend morning and a reminder that we have an extremely good community of eco-minded beach-goers in this region, for the most part. There's always the little things that get away from a pack-in, pack-out beach day, such as hair ties, zip ties, ring tops, sandwich and dog poop bags and clothing.
It was our first time volunteering with Surfrider Foundation. Everyone was super friendly and helpful in sending us out along the coastline and dunes to scour the sand for items that shouldn't be there. We heard some recent stories from neighboring beach cleanups in which volunteers retrieved an old microwave from the dunes and a groundwork digger that had been pushed off a cliff. Thankfully it was only smallish items that had washed up or been dropped at Doran.
The experience really made me think though and I will endeavor to keep a bag and gloves in the car whenever I'm out at the beach. Waiting for someone else to pick up trash is not the move. If we all pitch in, our beaches will become more pristine than they already generally are.
Iron Horse produces exclusively estate-bottled still and sparkling wines with a distinct “sense of place”. They are specific to the Green Valley of the Russian River Valley AVA, plus the uniqueness of our vineyard, and the vintage at hand. As a result, wines are elegant, bright, focused, highly nuanced, and silky smooth. They exude quality, grace and optimism.
I was excited to taste Iron Horse's Giving Wine, it's spectacular Cuvee 2019 Ocean Reserve Blanc de Blancs —a blend of two Chardonnay clones – Clone 4 and Rued Clone, hand harvested – from six different blocks on the winery's Russian River estate. The raw bar at Nick's was fresh and delicious. Nothing beats oysters shucked at the source, though poached prawns came a close second.
If you'd like to visit Iron Horse Vineyards, click here to reserve a tasting.
Find out more about volunteering for Surfrider Founding at this link.
Nick's Cove is located on the shores of Tomales Bay in neighboring Marin County. Click here to find out more about Nick's Cove's cottages, bar, restaurant and private party rooms. Good news is the former boat shack (lost to a fire) at the end of the pier at Nick's is due to be reconstructed this fall.
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