Rodney Strong, 78; Former Dancer and Vineyard Founder Championed Wines of Sonoma County
from the LA Times
Rodney Strong, a dancer turned winemaker who was a renowned champion of Northern California’s Sonoma County wine-growing region, died Sunday in Healdsburg, Calif. He was 78. Strong died of complications from a stroke, said Michele Prinz, spokeswoman for Rodney Strong Vineyards.
Elegant and well-spoken, Strong was known for promoting high-quality winemaking practices in Sonoma County and for traveling the country to promote the region’s wines.
“The guy just was phenomenally erudite,” said Richard Arrowood, wine master of Arrowood Vineyards and Winery in Sonoma County, who remembered Strong as a generous mentor and a tough act to follow on the speaking circuit. “He just was a great artist, no two ways about it, and was a heck of a friend to boot.”
Born March 8, 1927, in Camas, Wash., Strong trained as a dancer and spent four years in Paris, where he developed an interest in fine wines. He concentrated on the latter, he was known to say, after realizing it was easier to be an old winemaker than an old dancer.
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