Sokol Blosser Wine Blog

We are again able to ship wine to consumers in Florida!

If you are wondering why were able to ship to Florida, then could not, but now can again, here is some background information: On August 5, a U.S. District Court Judge in Florida signed an order preventing the State from enforcing its prohibitions against direct-to-consumer shipments from out-of-state wineries. While this order effectively opened Florida to unrestricted shipments from out-of-state wineries (or so we thought), we later learned that we could not ship wine to consumers until the Florida Division of Alcoholic Beverages created procedures to allow for legal wine shipments. On February 16, 2006, they finally announced these new procedures. While there are no quantity limitations on what we can ship to consumers in Florida, we are responsible for paying a gallonage excise tax and Florida residents will be responsible for paying a 6% sales tax.

Though we do consider these new regulations to be a positive step forward, it is still possible that Florida state legislature will take up one of the four direct shipping permit bills that have been introduced this session. If you feel strongly about receiving wine shipments from wineries like Sokol Blosser, we encourage you to write your legislators! Visit www.freethegrapes.com for an easy way to do this.

If you have any questions about Sokol Blosser, shipping wine to Florida or anything else, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Posted by Kitri Culbertson, Marketing Coordinator at 04:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

One thing everyone should know about the folks here in the Marketing Department: we’re suckers for good press. Imagine the smiles on our faces when we read through this great article by Simone Diament at SouthFloridaGourmet.com following Susan Sokol Blosser’s recent trip to Miami. Be sure to read her colorful reviews of our 2003 Dundee Hills Pinot Noir, Evolution and Meditrina, as well as descriptions of Sokol Blosser’s techniques for sustainable growing. And as Simone states: “But what are grapes without the art of winemaking?�

Thanks, Simone. We hope to continue the tradition and art of winemaking for many years to come!

http://www.southfloridagourmet.com/newsite/sokol.html

Also, check out the radio interview of Susan Sokol Blosser online here!

Posted by Kitri Culbertson, Marketing Coordinator at 03:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Have you ever wanted to throw a blind tasting for a small group of friends, but haven’t been too sure about how to do it? Here are some tips to make your next tasting a success:

1. First of all, you need to think of whom you wish to invite. For your first blind tasting, you might want to keep the group fairly small. Once this is decided, you can send out invitations.
2. Select 3-6 wines to pour for blind tasting. You usually want to stay with a theme in the wines. For example, select only Pinot Noir from the same vintage. Otherwise, it makes it hard to compare the wines.
3. Taste the wines prior to guest’s arrival to check for corked or spoiled bottles.
4. Set out a placemat with circles marked A-F (depending on the amount of wines) for the number of guests you are expecting along with a glass for each wine.
5. Wrap each bottle in a brown paper bag and write the letter on the outside of the bag.
6. Before guests arrive, pour each wine in the designated glass on the placemat. (Example: pour wine A in the glass that is on top of circle A on the placemat.)
7. Next to the placemat, make sure you also give guests a rating sheet with a pen. (On my rate sheet, I personalized it, but you can just use blank paper if you don’t have time to create something customized.)
8. You might also want to put out small bowls of French bread.
9. If you want to use candles, make sure you buy unscented.
10. Have lots of inventive and colorful appetizers ready for guest’s arrival.
11. Start out the evening by welcoming guests with a glass of refreshing Sokol Blosser Pinot Gris.
12. Once guests have arrived, have them sit at the table and explain how the blind tasting works.
a. Guests should rate the wine. Just be sure they know that 1 is best, higher number is worse. Example: A is 1, meaning it is my favorite.
b. After everyone has tasted and rated the wines, total the ratings and announce the wines in order from least liked to most liked.
c. The fun part is when you unveil the bottles and announce the name and price. You’ll be surprised when the least expensive bottle makes it into the top ratings!
13. Option: After the blind tasting is over, throw in a fun wine quiz. True/ False or Multiple Choice tends to be better for all levels of wine drinkers. Open-ended questions tend to frustrate people.
14. By this time of the evening, guests have tasted a lot of wine. It is nice to offer up something hearty for dinner to absorb some of the alcohol. I like having a big soup or stew cooking in the crock-pot. It’s easy to make and easy for guests to serve themselves throughout the night. This also allows you more time to spend on your fun appetizers.
15. And, that is all you have to do to have a successful blind tasting! Good Luck!

Posted by Patty Meuchel, Tasting Room Manager at 11:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)