Halloween at SB!
Lisa as Pirate, Jeff Knapp as Mime, Lauren as Medusa, Kitri as Track Star, Anna as Baby Bee, Brooke as Mama Bee, Ryan as Steve Zissou, Kevin Knapp as Jeff Knapp.
Happy Halloween, everyone! Cheers!
« September 2009 | Main | November 2009 »
October 30, 2009
October 29, 2009
Evo & Med in Las Vegas!
Evolution and Meditrina make an appearance at First Restaurant in Las Vegas!
October 28, 2009
Drain, Press, Barrel - We're Making Pinot Noir!
October 23, 2009
Some Fall Vineyard Haiku
Inspired by the blustery fall weather in the vineyard today, I found my head randomly creating haiku:
Gold in the vineyard
Vines on fire, orange and red
Soon they'll be asleep
Rain in the vineyard
But it's toasty here inside
With my glass of wine!
And from our Twitter friend @finespirits: How 'bout a Wisconsin shout-out?
The cold has arrived
but fruit still hangs on the vine
Why you ask? Eiswein!
Send us yours: www.twitter.com/sokolblosser or www.facebook.com/sokolblosser. Cheers!
October 20, 2009
Vineyard in Gold
The vineyard is beautiful right now - now that the grapes have been harvested, our Pinot Noir vines are beginning the slow trek to their winter dormancy. Our Tasting Room is open 10am-4pm daily - come on out and see the lovely autumn colors!
October 15, 2009
Pinot Noir on Bravo's Top Chef!
We are very excited that our Dundee Hills Pinot Noir has appeared the last two weeks on Bravo's fabulous show, Top Chef! Sokol Blosser Dundee Hills Pinot Noir was paired with chef Kevin's winning dish on last night's episode. Go Kevin!
October 14, 2009
Chicago Tribune Pinot Gris Review
Thank you to Bill Daley of the Chicago Tribune for this fabulous review of our Dundee Hills Pinot Gris:
Meet food friends, fruity pinot gris
"2008 Sokol Blosser Pinot Gris: This white from Oregon's Dundee Hills wine region has a spicy nose and a tart, refreshing flavor redolent of green apples. Good citrusy finish. Serve with chicken tikka, knockwurst, grilled salmon. Three corkscrews."
To read the full article, please click here!
October 12, 2009
Tons and Tons of Crush Fun
That's all she wrote, folks - crush 2009 is officially over! Our winemaking team is taking a short but well deserved break (inbetween punchdowns!) and we all feel great about what an excellent harvest it has been.
Total Tonnage from 2009:
189.9 T white varietals
213.1 T red varietals
403.0 T TOTAL
Week 2 of harvest takes the cake with 103.9 T white varietals and 158.5 T red varietals brought in, for a total of 262.4 tons in just that week. Phew! Thanks to everyone who cheered us on, we appreciate it! Now, on to making those grapes into some great wine!
October 09, 2009
Müller Time - The Video
Cellarmaster Mario Carbajal, Winemaker Russ Rosner and Assistant Winemaker Doug Vuylsteke all help out with the Müller-Thurgau harvest at Sokol Blosser Winery.
October 08, 2009
It's Müller Time
It's Müller Time! We've got 2 blocks left after this: our own estate Red House Block White Riesling and Stater Pinot Blanc.
Almost listo! Arriba!
October 05, 2009
Evolution Cajun Chicken & Sausage Jambalaya
It's Fall! Check out this great recipe from the "Fall" page of our Evolution website, www.evolutionwine.com. Bon appetit, and cheers!
Evolution Cajun Chicken & Sausage Jambalaya
6 boneless chicken thighs, with skins removed, cut into I-inch pieces
1/2 package (about 8 oz.) of Polish Kielbasa or smoked sausage,
sliced into 1/2 inch thick slices
1/2 bell pepper, finely chopped
5 stalks of celery with leaves removed, finely chopped
3 large onions, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/4 cup vegetable or olive oil
2 cups uncooked white rice (not the quick-cooking type)
2-1/2 cups (20 oz.) water (may opt for 10 oz. chicken broth, if desired)
12 oz. Evolution white wine
Flour to coat chicken (about 1/2 cup)
1-1/2 tsp. rosemary
1 tsp. thyme
1/4 cup chopped parsley (loosely packed)
Salt and pepper taste
Evolution Cajun Seasoning
Optional: 1/2 pound each of clams, mussels or shrimp
1. Rinse chicken and pat dry with paper towel. Cover bottom of a salad-sized
plate with Evolution Cajun Seasoning and coat chicken completely on all sides.
Add more seasoning as needed to fully cover the chicken, because this will
season the rest of the dish. Set aside for 15 minutes.
2. Place flour, pepper, and a few shakes of the Evolution Cajun Seasoning
into a 1-gallon plastic bag. Place a few of the chicken pieces at a time in
the bag. Shake to coat.
3. In a large cast iron skillet (or other thick-bottomed pan) heat oil over
medium-high heat. Sauté the chicken pieces in the oil until they are golden
brown, turning as needed.
4. Once the chicken is browned, add the onions, celery, garlic and pepper and
sauté until the onions are transparent, about 10 minutes. Stir in rosemary, thyme
and parsley, and cook for two minutes.
5. Add the sausage and about 1/2 cup of water/stock, stir the mixture, and cover.
Simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
6. While the jambalaya is simmering, wash rice and set aside. In a medium
saucepan, slowly bring the wine and remaining water/stock to simmer.
7. After the jambalaya has simmered 30 minutes, stir in the rice and warm
wine/water, cover and simmer for 30 more minutes, until rice is tender. If
adding seafood, stir in during last 10 minutes of cooking.
8. Adjust final seasoning with salt, pepper, and additional Evolution Cajun
Seasoning as desired.
October 02, 2009
Making Tomato Soup with Produce from our Employee Garden
Sokol Blosser Wine Club Shipments Become Carbon-Neutral
September 29, 2009 (DUNDEE, OR) – Sokol Blosser Winery has paired with Greenshipping.com to offset the carbon generated during shipping of wine to its wine club members.
Sokol Blosser Winery has been tracking carbon usage in all areas of business in response to Governor Ted Kulongoski’s Carbon-Neutral Challenge for Oregon Wineries & Vineyards since 2007. After realizing that four wine club shipments per year created a bigger carbon footprint and was an inefficient use of resources, it consolidated its wine club shipments to just two per year and began researching carbon offsets for the remainder of carbon used.
To accomplish carbon-neutrality for Sokol Blosser’s wine club, Greenshipping.com’s automated service analyzes each club member’s shipment and calculates the carbon generated by that shipment based on the weight, traveled distance, and mode of transportation. Greenshipping.com then purchases on behalf of Sokol Blosser an equal amount of carbon offsets from Bonneville Environmental Foundation (BEF), one of the nation’s leading carbon offset providers. BEF is endorsed by several leading environmental organizations including The Natural Resources Defense Council. The carbon offsets purchased are focused on wind energy projects based in the United States.
Bill Irving of Green Shipping stated, “We are targeting the wine industry as a key market for our service. Many wineries are making great strides in making their operations more sustainable; however, in the past they have not had a good way to account for the carbon generated by their shipments. Greenshipping.com provides wineries an easy, inexpensive, and automated method for calculating and then offsetting carbon generated by their customer shipments. We are very proud to make our entrance into the wine industry with Sokol Blosser, a recognized leader in sustainability.”
“Full wine bottles in a cardboard shipper box are heavy and our typical wine club shipment weighs 18 pounds. We want to do the right thing for the environment and our customers by offsetting the carbon footprint of each of our wine shipments.” said Alison Sokol Blosser, second-generation winegrower and co-president of Sokol Blosser Winery with her brother Alex. “Working with Greenshipping.com made it so easy. Now we can focus on making world renowned wines in a sustainable manner and trust that our customers will receive them in a timely, safe and carbon-neutral method.”
Sokol Blosser Winery pursues environmentally friendly practices in all phases of its business, including farming their estate vineyards to USDA certified organic standards, using biodiesel in farm tractors, and purchasing unbleached paper products for labels and wine boxes. Sokol Blosser’s 25kW photovoltaic solar panel system provides for one third of the Winery’s energy needs, and their underground barrel cellar, built to U.S. Green Building Council standards, became the first winery building in the country to earn the prestigious LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification.
About Sokol Blosser Winery
The Sokol Blosser family planted their first grapevines in 1971 in the Dundee Hills and now farms over 85 certified organic acres. As one of the pioneering wineries of the region, Sokol Blosser has played a key role in developing and shaping the now-prominent Oregon wine industry. The winery works to create wines of world-class quality, produced in a sustainable manner, which reflect the distinctive flavors of the grapes, soil, and climate, as well as the winery's values and sense of place. The winery, which is wholly family owned and operated by the second generation, produces Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris, Evolution (a proprietary white wine blend of nine varieties) and Meditrina (proprietary red blend), along with small quantities of Single Block Pinot Noirs in selected vintages. Learn more at www.sokolblosser.com.
About Greenshipping.com
Shipping generates over 10% of the world’s green house gas emissions. Greenshipping.com’s service allows businesses and individuals to ship in a carbon neutral manner by providing an accurate method to measure and offset the carbon footprint of their shipments. Greenshipping.com is a subsidiary of Green Ventures, Inc located in Hood River, OR. To sign up for your free account go to www.greenshipping.com or call 800.208.5776.
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