Sokol Blosser Wine Blog

OREGON WINE INDUSTRY AWARDS RECOGNIZE LUMINARIES FOR THEIR CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE INDUSTRY

Awards Given at 2008 Oregon Wine Industry Symposium

PORTLAND, February 26, 2008 – The success of the Oregon wine industry is attributed to many people’s hard work and commitment. The Oregon Wine Industry Awards were created in 1985 to recognize those who have gone above and beyond in their contributions. The awards ceremony took place on Monday, February 11, during the Oregon Wine Industry Symposium.

The 2008 Oregon Wine Industry Awards recipients are:

• Lifetime Achievement Award, Susan Sokol Blosser and Bill Blosser, Sokol Blosser Winery
• Founders’ Award, Dick Daniel, Canary Hill Vineyard
• Outstanding Service Award, Michael Donovan, RoxyAnn; Rob and Maria Stuart, R. Stuart & Co.; Eric Lemelson, Lemelson Vineyards; Steven Cary, Yamhill Valley Vineyards
• Industry Partner Award, Corey Guinnee and Gordon and Marjorie Burns, ETS Laboratories; Sharon and Jim Van Loan and Patricia Lee, Steamboat Inn

“It is important to recognize individuals who have significantly shaped the industry because they helped get us to where we are today,” said Ted Farthing, executive director of the Oregon Wine Board. “It is a small token of appreciation for their dedication, hard work and commitment. And what makes it particularly special is that the awards are presented by their peers.”

Award recipients are nominated by peers in the industry and selected by the Oregon Wine Board Directors. The Lifetime Achievement Award is given to a person whose work is pioneering and spans not only a personal lifetime, but the lifetime of the industry. Past recipients include, Dick and Nancy Ponzi (2007), Dick Erath (2006), and David and Diana Lett (2005).

The Founders' Award is given to a person whose long time work in and for the industry has laid the groundwork for the direction and accomplishments of the industry and whose efforts have helped foster cooperation among growers and winemakers. The Outstanding Service Award is given to a person who has shown exemplary commitment, leadership and service to the industry. The Industry Partner Award is given to a purveyor or service provider, who in the course of doing business, has significantly assisted the growth and success of the Oregon wine industry and its members.
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Posted by Kitri Culbertson, Marketing Coordinator at 02:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Enjoy these wonderful, fun recipes - straight from the kitchen of our Founder Susan Sokol Blosser and Winemaker Russ Rosner!

SUSAN SOKOL BLOSSER’S MANGO SALSA
Serve with chilled Sokol Blosser Evolution

This salsa dresses up halibut steaks or chicken breasts (grilled, baked, or poached). It’s also is great as an appetizer with tortilla chips.

1 large ripe mango
1 red bell pepper
1 small jalapeno pepper
½ to 1 cup chopped, fresh cilantro leaves
juice of 2 limes
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

1. Section the mango into quarters, remove from the seed and peel. Dice into small pieces and put into a glass or ceramic mixing bowl.
2. Core and finely dice the bell pepper and jalapeno pepper and combine with mango.
3. Add the chopped cilantro.
4. In a separate bowl, wisk together the lime juice and olive oil. Pour it over the mango mixture. Stir carefully. Add salt and pepper to taste.
5. Let the salsa marinate for at least an hour before serving.

Makes about 1 ½ pints.

RUSS' PEPPER CRUSTED TUNA STEAKS WITH PINEAPPLE SALSA

Ingredients for four servings:
• Four Ahi tuna steaks, about ¾”-1” thick. Sashimi-grade Ahi tuna is the best, because the inside after cooking will be so rare that it is virtually sashimi. Look for steaks which look fresh and bright, and uniform in thickness. Allow about one-third pound per person.
• Coarsely ground black pepper (or mix of black, rose, and green pepper)
• Extra virgin olive oil
• One-half (~2 cups) sweet onion, diced (Maui, Mayan, Walla Walla,Vidalia)
• One-half (~4 cups) fresh pineapple, cut in ¼” chunks
• One red bell pepper, diced

Salsa
Sauté the chopped onion in a tablespoon of olive oil over low heat until the onion is soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the diced pineapple and red pepper and cook over med-low heat until pepper is soft. Keep warm until serving time.

Tuna Steaks
Cover steaks all around with coarse pepper. Heat pan, add 2 tablespoons olive oil, and sear all sides of the steaks on high heat. The pan should be very hot before adding the steaks. The object is to create a nice crust on the outside and get the interior hot but virtually uncooked. The outside is firm, even crunchy, and the inside melts in your mouth. The entire cooking time of the steaks should be about 3-4 minutes (about a minute each on the top and bottom, and about 20 seconds each on the sides and ends).

Serve immediately, covering each steak with several spoonfuls of the salsa. Pass the remaining salsa in a bowl. Serve with one of Lundberg Farms organic rice mixtures, a fresh green vegetable in season (broccoli, green beans, peas) and Sokol Blosser Pinot Noir.

Posted by Kitri Culbertson, Marketing Coordinator at 02:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Posted by Alex Sokol Blosser at 04:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

It was a very happy Valentine's Day at Sokol Blosser - especially for one lucky lady, our Controller, Barbara Barks. At exactly 2:45 today, a barber shop quartet came in to our offices - the men were decked out in full tuxes with roses in their breast pockets, while the lone woman in the group wore a sleek black dress. They asked if Mrs. Barbara Barks was available. As she stepped out of her office, the fabulous group (appropriately title Three Guys and a Gayle) handed her a rose and launched into a medley of romantic songs especially picked for Barbara by her husband, Jim. The group ended with a personal favorite of this author, Paper Moon.

What a wonderful way to show you care. Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!

Posted by Kitri Culbertson, Marketing Coordinator at 02:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Sunny and 50 degrees feels like a warm summer day when you find it in the middle of a chilly, wet February. Throw in delicious Pinot Noir and Moonstruck chocolate and it’s no wonder we saw record numbers of people at our estate last weekend for our Pinot Noir and Chocolate celebration. Thank you to all our guests for making it our most successful one yet. Although our Tasting Room felt a bit crowded at times, Mother Nature gave us room to breathe. It looked like a weekend in August with groups of people picnicking on the deck and wandering through our recently pruned walk-through vineyard with wine and chocolate in hand. It felt good to see so many familiar faces enjoying a beautiful day in wine country. Alex Sokol Blosser remarked at the end of the day, “I haven’t seen a winter day like that before. What a rush!”

What a view on such a pretty Winter's day!

Posted by Michael Brown, Hospitality Manager at 02:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

February marks the start of the bottling season here at Sokol Blosser! Right now, we're bottling the 12th Edition of Evolution, our popular white blend. In another month or so, we'll start bottling our Pinot Noir.

Bottling in the cold has it's interesting challenges... not only do your fingers not work as fast as you'd like, but as the temperatures vary, the wine will expand and contract and cause all sorts of filling problems. To make sure that each bottle ends up with exactly 750ml of delicious Evolution and to ensure the quality of the wine, we use a series of warming tanks to heat the wine slightly so that the wine is bottled at the appropriate temperature.

We'll keep you updated on bottling techniques as the weeks pass... until then, stay warm, and cheers!

Our Winery is now full to the brim of empty glass bottles... soon to be filled with Evolution, 12th Edition.

A peek into the mobile bottling line.

A finished pallet... 1 pallet = 56 cases = 672 bottles = 3360 glasses of delicious Evolution, 12th Edition!

Posted by Kitri Culbertson, Marketing Coordinator at 10:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

As Portland and the outlying areas continue to get hit by snow... so do we! The occaisional blankets of white fluff make our vineyard so beautiful. Check it out!

Posted by Kitri Culbertson, Marketing Coordinator at 10:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)