Blog Posts matching FOOD:Oh What A Night! Friday, May 14th 2010 by
Michael Kelly Brown, Director of Consumer Sales and Marketing
Last Thursday I had the pleasure of attending one of the nicest wine dinners I have ever been a part of. The team at Tina’s Restaurant in Dundee, Oregon did an exceptional job of creating a wine centric menu that not only highlighted Sokol Blosser wines but also showed the kitchen's exceptional skill. We started with house made crackers topped with a pacific salmon spread paired with our 2009 Rosé of Pinot Noir. While we mingled in the front of the restaurant and got to know each other this little hors d'oeuvres and wine pairing helped ease us into the event. When we sat, we were greeted with a plate of freshly picked radishes and house made speck (a type of smoked prosciutto). Shortly after they began pouring our Estate Pinot Gris from 2008, and halibut arrived served over braised fennel and topped with pesto. The Pinot Gris was just coming into its prime and tasted spectacular with the fish. On to my favorite pairing of the night! Our 1999 Willamette Valley Pinot Noir matched perfectly with a roasted quail. This was a match made in heaven. A perfectly aged wine with a gorgeously prepared dish. The short ribs that came next let us know our journey was far from over. A light smokiness and hint of citrus made the tender meat a stage on which our wines performed. The 2007 Goosepen Block and the 2005 Dundee Hills Pinots were a fun juxtaposition of vintages to compare side by side. Topping off the night was an olive oil cake and vintage 2002 White Riesling Dessert Wine - it was a perfect end to a perfect night. Thank you to our friends at Tina's for the wonderful evening! 
Click Here to ReTweet This! Evolution & Pickerel in Winnipeg Monday, May 17th 2010 by
Our gal on the street, Staci Pettus, shows us how Evolution pairs with Winnipeg cuisine - pickerel and Evolution, anyone?
Click Here to ReTweet This! Our Biggest Midwestern Fan Tuesday, May 18th 2010 by
You might not be aware of this - Sokol Blosser is constantly on the road! Right now, we're visiting Milwaukee, Wisconsin and happened to meet Danny Martin at La Merenda (125 E National Ave). He says he is "seriously our biggest Midwestern fan", and we believe him!
Click Here to ReTweet This! Sokol Blosser at Mona Lisa's in Eau Claire, WI Wednesday, May 19th 2010 by
Lee Medina, Regional Brand Ambassador
Lee Medina here - I had a great dinner at Mona Lisa's in Eau Claire, Wisconsin last night: seared Ahi tuna rare with fresh morels in a light ginger & lime cream sauce, paired with Evolution! So so tasty! I was the leader of the clean plate club... Great restaurant, owner Lisa is wonderful and fun staff. Lisa is a big fan of Sokol Blosser Winery and making fans for us in Eau Claire! Thank you Lisa!
Click Here to ReTweet This! Evolution Pairs Well with (Nearly) Everything! Monday, June 7th 2010 by
I was recently challenged at Whole Foods to try Evolution wine and they claimed that it goes with everything including a peanut butter and banana sandwich. Well, it's true. Here is the proof! - Jason Horne, Arlington, TX
Before...
After!
Click Here to ReTweet This! Pizza Antica Wednesday, June 9th 2010 by
Our man on the streets, Lee Medina, is visiting the Bay Area this week. Here he is, enjoying a chilled glass of Evolution before his meal arrives at Pizza Antica in Mill Valley, Callifornia. If you're in the area, be sure to stop by and say hi to Erica at Pizza Antica (and have a glass of Evolution!). 
Cheers!
Click Here to ReTweet This! Alison Sokol Blosser at Aspen Food & Wine Classic Monday, June 21st 2010 by
Alison Sokol Blosser just returned from one of our favorite events - the Aspen Food & Wine Classic! See Alison's journey at this fabulous multi-day yearly event in the pictures below. Cheers!
Alison shows off Sokol Blosser wines during one of the tastings.
Beautiful Aspen blue skies!
Enjoying wine on the rooftop.
Alison and friend Nichelle - enjoying the beautiful weather!
Getting ready for the Oregon media picnic. Yum!
David Lane, Alison Sokol Blosser, Jay Schuppert (president of Cuvaison), Jo Terlato, John Terlato, Bryan Del Bondio (president of Markham) and Steve Fennel (winemaker at Sanford). Cheers!
Click Here to ReTweet This! Wine Dinner at Park Kitchen Thursday, July 8th 2010 by
 Join Alison Sokol Blosser at a fun and decadant 4 course wine dinner at Park Kitchen in the Pearl District!
Dinner is $60 per person and includes food, wine and gratuity. To make your reservations, please call Park Kitchen at 503-223-7275. MENU:
AMUSE Crostini of duck liver, bacon, and fava beans paired with 2008 Sokol Blosser Pinot Gris SMALL PLATE Compressed peaches, green beans, amaranth and sunflower seeds paired with 2009 Sokol Blosser Rose of Pinot Noir LARGE PLATE Hay braised lamb, long cooked summer beans and cherries paired with 2007 Sokol Blosser Estate Pinot Noir and 2007 Sokol Blosser Dundee Hills Pinot Noir DESSERT Chocolate and lavender semifreddo with apricot sauce paired with 2009 Sokol Blosser White Riesling
Click Here to ReTweet This! BBBQ (the extra B is for blog!) Thursday, July 22nd 2010 by
Something that people probably wouldn’t guess about me on first glance is that I am a sucker for anything really cheesy (cheese itself is another blog post altogether). I have a (not-so) secret love for silly movies, karaoke, 80’s theme parties, velvet paintings of Elvis….you get the idea! I think this is why I get along so well with our cellar club manager, Jeff, who shares in my not-so-secret love for the cheesy stuff (he won me over in the first week I met him by dropping a really well-timed DeBarge reference). It’s also why the Grape & Grill BBQ is one of my favorite events of the year. He doesn’t just throw your average “sit around with a drink and a burger in your backyard” kind of barbeque. Instead, it’s a Western extravaganza replete with live bluegrass band and bales of hay. You heard me, bales of hay! Jeff really goes all out. I showed up to work Saturday morning to find him running around our courtyard putting the finishing touches on everything, donning a bandana and a western shirt. For solidarity with Jeff in all our western cheesiness, I had “borrowed” (read: taken without asking) a plaid shirt from my roommate and threw on my cowboy boots for good measure. I was excited that I got to pour at the Pinot Noir tent by the crush pad, because I had a perfect view of the whole courtyard, including the GTM String Band, a bluegrass trio (of which one of the players is a Club member) rocking out some great classic folk numbers and a few bluegrassified modern tunes. The weather couldn’t have been better: high 70s and sunny, I started to wish we could have the tastings outside every nice weekend! With the wine and music flowing and the sun shining, everyone was in great spirits, staking out every available picnic table, chair, or bale for a seat. By the late afternoon, the whole courtyard was filled with people enjoying the wine, the tunes, and the delicious Carlton Farms barbecued pork from Phresh Organic Catering. Better yet, everyone was indulging in their cheesy side by wearing the complimentary bandanas we were handing out in various creative styles. To put the event over the top, Noah and his crew from SOL Pops in Portland were right there in the courtyard with us serving up amazing organic hand-crafted popsicles. Thankfully, they were kind enough to sweetly tolerate my many repeat visits to their charming blue popsicle cart so I could decide on which was the best flavor (my pick for the afternoon: Strawberry Basil). If it weren’t so much fun to chat with guests about our wines (the definite favorite of the day was our soon-to-be-sold-out 2009 Estate Rosé of Pinot Noir) I would have seriously considered a career change as a popsicle taste tester…
 The GTM String Band
 Ales Sokol Blosser and Noah from Sol Pops
 Kendra pours Meditrina for visitors
 Alison Sokol Blosser and friends
Click Here to ReTweet This! Summer Grilling & Pinot Noir Wednesday, July 28th 2010 by
Jeff Knapp, Hospitality & Tasting Room Manager
The other night my wife Liz and I fired up the old Weber grill with some mesquite hardwood charcoal and cooked up some venison tenderloins that some friends of ours had given us. We cracked open a bottle of 2006 Big Tree Pinot Noir to pair with dinner and what followed was a sublime experience. 2006 was an extremely warm year for growing Pinot Noir in Oregon. Typically the wines from that vintage are much more fruit forward and larger bodied. Big Tree Pinot Noir is a single block pinot noir that our winemaker, Russ Rosner describes as “more structured and focused, tending more towards elegance and finesse than power. There’s more minerality and mocha overlying the forest floor earthiness, and the texture is more tightly knit.” I could not have put it better.
 As we sat savoring our Pinot and venison, a deer walked out of the forest and stood staring at us. It took a few minutes for the irony to set in. We were staring at a deer and eating grilled venison. The best I could do was to raise a glass and toast him. (Insert wry smile here.) For those of you (carnivore or vegetarian) that have a bottle of 2006 Big Tree, it might be a good time to open it up and enjoy. Salud! Jeff Knapp
Cellar Club Manager
 Click Here to ReTweet This! Spinach Salad with Pepper Jelly Dressing Friday, August 6th 2010 by
A mistake led to a wonderful discovery last Sunday night at McGuire Family Sunday Dinner. Normally, Mom and Pop McGuire make dinner for the 6 of us. In an effort to help out this week, I offered to bring a salad. I spent a good amount of time at home making a tasty looking Greek salad with tomatoes, feta, kalamata olives, spinach and other fresh greens, and a homemade lemon-Dijon dressing.
And... then I forgot it on the counter. Because my in-laws live about 45 minutes away and we didn't realize our (my!) mistake until we were nearly there, there was no going back.
Feeling like a total and complete goober, I explained what happened to my mother-in-law, who didn't even bat an eye. "No problem!" she said, and commenced to whip up one of the most delicious salads I've had in a long time: Spinach Salad with Pepper Jelly Dressing, which of course we paired with Evolution.
There was just the right amount of spice in the dressing, and with a few handfuls of candied walnuts to bring a little sweetness to the dish, I vowed to forget food at home more often just so she would have to make this salad again. Below is a recipe I found on AllRecipes.com that is very similar to hers. Enjoy!
Spinach Salad with Pepper Jelly Dressing
Ingredients
3 tablespoons mild pepper jelly 2 tablespoons olive oil 1/8 teaspoon salt 1/8 teaspoon Dijon mustard 2 cups baby spinach leaves 2 ounces goat cheese, sliced 2 tablespoons chopped walnuts Directions
Click Here to ReTweet This! Alex Sokol Blosser Visits Japan Thursday, September 9th 2010 by
Alex Sokol Blosser, Co-President & Second Generation Winegrower
We love visiting Japan! I fly across the Pacific to visit our friends and partners in Osaka and Tokyo once or twice every year. Here are some pictures of my current visit:
 Mr. Miyagawa and me at the Orca annual tasting in Tokyo.
 I hosted a wine dinner at restaurant Dazzle in the Ginza part of Tokyo. The dinner included an amazing five course meal with a highlight of duck with a sweet red mizo glaze. 75 people attended and we all had a great time! The awesome staff a Dazzle made it all happen.
Click Here to ReTweet This! Cellar Club Harvest Party Monday, September 13 2010 by
Thanks to all of our Cellar Club members who attended our Cellar Club Harvest Party! The weather couldn't have been nicer for the event, which is one of our favorites all year. See below for some fun images from the festivities - cheers!
 Rio con Brio impressed an entire courtyard full of Club members with their grooves. Thanks guys!
 Club members chill out in the courtyard before dinner begins, enjoying the sunny evening.
 Melissa Griffin, one of our fabulous Tasting Room Associates, greets Club Members in the Winery before dinner starts.
 Chef Eric from Nick's Italian Café in McMinnville (a wine country standard for over 30 years!) prepares the family style dishes.
 Michael Kelly Brown, Direct Sales Manager, was our acting auctioneer for the evening's Live Charity Rare Wine Auction. The Auction featured rare Sokol Blosser library wines (including a 1988 Redland Pinot Noir and a 1992 Cabernet Sauvignon!) and benefitted the McMinnville Education Foundation (total proceeds topped $3,300!).
 The bidding gets heated - and a great time was had by all!
Click Here to ReTweet This! Chicago Gourmet 2010 Monday, September 27th 2010 by
Thanks to everyone who came to see us in Chicago this weekend at the Chicago Gourmet event at Millennium Park, sponsored by Bon Appétit magazine! Check out the event in pictures below:
 The Chicago Gourmet event entrance!
 Alison Sokol Blosser pouring her wines at Chicago Gourmet.
 The tent where Sokol Blosser wines were being poured. Beautiful!
Click Here to ReTweet This! Benefit Event for Cascade AIDS Project Wednesday, October 20th 2010 by
Join us at this complimentary event, featuring great food, Sokol Blosser wines, and a lot more! The event is free, but there are many opportunities to donate to the great work that CAP (Cascade AIDS Project) does in our community - we'll see you there!
Click Here to ReTweet This! Alison Sokol Blosser in NY/NJ Tuesday, October 26th 2010 by
Alison Sokol Blosser just returned from a very fun (and very busy) trip to New York/New Jersey to bring more Sokol Blosser wine into the city. A wine dinner at the Wall Street Capital Grille, a tasting at Joe Canal's (see pic below) and an evening with 2nd row (!!!) seats to a pre-season Knicks game, well - sounds like a successful trip to me! Welcome home, Alison!
Click Here to ReTweet This! My Own Pinot Gris & Seafood Weekend Monday, January 24th 2011 by
Sometimes it’s hard for me to not think about work on my days off. My brain always has a tendency to crunch on projects until they’ve met resolution, and it doesn’t help matters when my phone makes a cute electronic chime every time I receive a work email, eliciting a Pavlovian urge to check it. So even when I’m actively trying not to think about work during my weekend, I end up thinking about it anyway. See: oysters. I’ve had oysters on the brain all month in preparation for our annual Pinot Gris & Seafood Weekend. This year, we’ve decided that it would be both delicious and apropos to celebrate the fact that the gloomy and stormy weather in Oregon during January has the pleasant side effect of being ideal for the production of amazing local oysters. So we’re getting ourselves a boatload of Oregon Coast oysters, enlisting some skilled shuckers, and hauling a lot of vintage Pinot Gris from our wine library with the hopefully pleasant side effect of having a very great party in very un-great weather. You should really come. There’s probably no better way to spend what will very likely be another gloomy and stormy January weekend in Oregon. So here I am, at home on a Wednesday, and I really want to have my own Pinot Gris & Seafood weekend. Alas, I can’t really justify the extravagance of oysters for a solo lunch in the middle of the week, probably like most normal people. If you can, you should email me so we can be friends. Luckily, I do have some Pinot Gris on hand—a pleasant side effect of working for a winery that makes a killer Pinot Gris. In lieu of real-deal oysters, I reach into the cupboard for my bottle of oyster sauce, a kind of condiment made from oysters commonly used in Dim Sum restaurants to make boringly healthy steamed greens taste really completely delicious. This is my gameplan. It’s not oysters on the half shell, but it’ll have to do.
When the water boils, I plunge the baby bok choy into the pot, and let them linger for about two minutes, but not much longer. The idea is to blanch them just enough to take the hard crunch out of them. The ideal result will be a vegetable that’s silky but still al dente, not soggy. I drain them into a colander in the sink and shake off the water before plating them atop the now-warm rice. In a bowl, I use a fork to whisk a few glugs of oyster sauce together with just a drizzle of peanut oil to thin it out. You can use any kind of neutral (not olive) oil, and any brand of oyster sauce.
 Mine happens to come from Thailand and has illustrations of oysters on it, and a delightfully strange recursive photo of a woman standing over a wok yielding the very bottle of oyster sauce with the same photo on it. If you find that creepy, other brands found in grocery stores have cute drawings of pandas or tigers on the labels.  I pour the sauce over the veggies and rice, and finish by pouring myself a glass of our 2009 Willamette Valley Pinot Gris (I don’t have any back vintages to toast with, unfortunately). The sauce is kind of sweet and briny and the wine crisp and bracing. I eat the whole thing standing at my kitchen cart, alone on a Wednesday afternoon. The bok choy tastes too good to be healthy even if inwardly I know it is, and the wine makes it extra indulgent feeling. It’s certainly not the same as a big party with real oysters and library wine, but for my day off it will definitely do.
Click Here to ReTweet This! Pinot Gris & Seafood Weekend Thursday, January 27th 2011 by
Aw, shucks! Beat the bad weather and join the team at Sokol Blosser on either Saturday or Sunday, January 29 or 30 from 10am-4pm each day for a fun-filled, delicious weekend celebrating Oregon Pinot Gris and local oysters!
Watch our shucking team at our custom raw bar as they prepare fresh oysters for you to pair with a full flight of Sokol Blosser Pinot Gris, including several hard to find vintages. Don't enjoy your oysters straight from the shell? Not to worry - we'll be grilling them as well for a full variety of flavor.
We'll look forward to seeing you here at the Winery! Cheers!
At left: Jenny Mosbacher, Tasting Room Supervisor, pours Pinot Gris for a staff tasting.
Click Here to ReTweet This! Staci's Seafood Spread Monday, February 28th 2011 by
So, this time around for my Food and Wine night, I chose to do a decadent seafood spread. Being from Seattle, I can never get enough Dungeness crab! So, I wanted to turn my Texas friends on to their greatness. The crab down here is Blue Crab, tiny little things that we order by the dozen and half dozen to feed just one person. I like to call them the high maintenance crab! When I was growing up on Lake Sammamish in Issaquah my mom would throw newspaper over the kitchen table and put the crab in the middle of the table and the family would go to town with crackers, butter, and cocktail sauce. When we were finished she would roll the paper up and throw the whole deal in the trash. I took it a step further with my friends Mary, Sly, and Blair. I covered the table in plastic wrap then topped it with newspaper; I didn’t want to ruin my beautiful antique table my father gave me for Christmas years ago. I decided to go very primitive with no plates or silverware just crab crackers. The girls couldn’t get behind it, they all asked for forks and plates. I might need new more adventurous friends!
 I kept it true and ate with my fingers. The table was decked out with a beet salad, mussels, bread, crab, corn, red potatoes, butter, and cocktail sauce. I was in Pacific Northwest Heaven! I paired the meal with Sokol Blosser 2009 Willamette Valley Pinot Gris and Evolution they were a perfect flavor fit for this meal! I chose two recipes from Food & Wine this time, Beet and Blood Orange Salad with Mint (November 2010), and Mussels in Sailor’s Sauce (September 2004). I would definitely make both recipes again they were equally fantastic, and everyone wanted the beet salad recipe to take home, except Sly - the only vegetable she eats are potatoes. The fact that the girls wanted the recipe gave me a new hosting idea, in the future I am going to print out copies of the recipes for each of my guests to take home. I’m feeling like Martha Stewart today, and only for a minute!We had a great time, well everyone but Sly who kept saying “I have to work for my dinner, this sucks”…she’s a meat and potato girl she can’t be cultured. Serve her a steak and a potato and she is a happy girl. When the gluttony had ended we put all the dishes in the sink and rolled up the demolished crab shells and through them in the trash. The table was clear I put some wine and Snickerdoodles on the table and that was Food and Wine night for February. Dinner was a great success; the next morning was a whole different deal. We all met at 10:59 at Herrera’s (they open at 11) our favorite rot gut Mexican food spot in Dallas. We were all hung-over and needed grease. The moral to the story….crab is not a good base for a night of drinking and gabbing with the girls!
Recipes: Beet and Blood Orange Salad with Mint
45 minutes, Serves 10 (I split the recipe and still had left over’s) 2 LBS Golden Beets peeled and cut into ¾ inch pieces
8 blood oranges ¼ Cup chopped parsley ¼ Cup chopped mint 3 TBS freshly squeezed lemon juice 3 TBS Champagne vinegar 1 small shallot 1 TSPN honey 1/8 TSPN sumac, plus more for sprinkling ½ Cup plus 1 TBS olive oil Salt and pepper 3 Oz. Feta cheese Cook beets until tender about 15 minutes (mine took more like 30) transfer the beets and let cool completely. Peel the oranges removing all the white pith and quarter. Add oranges to the beets along with the parsley and mint (I used more mint and less parsley). In a small bowl whisk the lemon juice, vinegar, shallot, honey, and 1/8 TSPN of sumac, whisk in olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss gently, add the feta and toss again, sprinkle the salad with sumac and serve. You can make this dish one day in advance. I could have done without the sumac, as I didn’t see much added flavor to the salad. But it was fun to use a spice I had never used before. Mussels in Sailor’s Sauce
20 minutes, Serves 4 ¼ Cup olive oil
1 small onion, chopped 2 medium garlic cloves, finely chopped (I used 5, I love garlic!) 1 jalapeno, finely chopped (I didn’t use it because Mary is a wuss!) 1 large tomato, peeled seeded and coarsely chopped (I wish I’d used 2) ½ TSPN dried oregano Large pinch of Saffron, lightly crumbled ½ TSPN flour ½ Cup of dry white wine (I used 2009 Sokol Blosser Pinot Gris) 2 LBS mussels ½ Cup of fish stock or clam juice (I’m wishing I had used Clamato here I wanted more of a tomato base) 2 TBSP finely chopped flat leaf parsley 1 ½ TSPN fresh lemon juice Crusty country bread for serving In a large heavy sauce pan heat olive oil, add onion, jalapeno, and garlic and cook over medium high heat stirring until soft about 3 minutes. Add tomato and saffron and cook for a couple minutes more stirring often. Sprinkle the flour and mix well, add the mussels cover for 1 minute and stir adding the stock, parsley, and lemon cook over high heat about 5 minutes stirring until mussels open discard any unopened mussels. Serve in deep bowls with the crusty bread for dipping. I didn’t add the cost of this meal…I stopped counting when I hit the $150.00 mark. I just decided to enjoy and stop adding! Food and Wine Magazine: http://www.foodandwine.com/ Enjoy and stay tuned for next month’s Food and Wine New Year’s resolution recipe….cheers!
Click Here to ReTweet This! Recipe: Ahi Poke on Fried Rice Cakes with Evolution White Wednesday, February 22nd 2012 by
Ahi Poke on fried rice cakes paired with Evolution White 1/2 lb sushi grade Ahi
Click Here to ReTweet This! Alex Travels Across The Pond! Wednesday, April 11th 2012 by
Twix , Wine Poodle
Here are a few snap shots he took as he tours around the great city of London. The first picture is of the beautiful façade of Westminster Abby. After a few hours of walking it was time for lunch. Today, Alex had Octopus Carpaccio at 10 Greek Street in Soho, which he said was “Amazing!” The next shot is of the world famous Tower Bridge. Looks like an amazing trip so far, Alex! 
Click Here to ReTweet This! A Brunch-y Toast Monday, April 16th 2012 by
A new tradition has begun between good friends who love good food. That is good food that we good friends like to cook together, everything from scratch, with ingredients we mostly happen to have in our respective pantries. I can’t think of a better thing to do on a lazy Sunday morning (okay… afternoon, I definitely sleep in on Sunday). The meal usually takes at least two hours to make, but packed in those two hours are culinary lessons, laughter and a respectable Mimosa or Bloody Mary… or two. This past Sunday the theme was set for biscuits and gravy. I love these gatherings for several reasons but one reason is that I always learn something. This Sunday, while I did learn to make biscuits (buttery, flakey biscuits that acted as a wonderful pillow to homemade sausage gravy) the true lesson was in taking off the culinary safety ‘floaties’ and jumping into the pool when inspiration strikes. For example, we had a combination of ingredients we all collectively brought including a pommelo, honey grapefruit and asparagus spears that we wanted to serve on the side but weren’t sure quite how. That’s when I realized the beauty in culinary experimentation. Chef Mary ended up adding asiago cheese with the above ingredients to create a salad that was surprisingly refreshing, savory, tangy and simply delicious. What’s better is that I had brought a bottle of Sokol Blosser 2011 Estate Rose of Pinot Noir. The rhubarb, watermelon and grapefruit characteristics were a great counterpoint to the heavy biscuits and gravy and even stood up beautifully to the asparagus salad. This past Sunday was definitely a lesson in more ways than one: take that lazy Sunday morning and turn it into a culinary dream fest to share with friends as a chance to experiment and have a few laughs while you're at it. What else will you be doing these rainy spring Sundays while you’re waiting for the sun to come out? I lift my glass of Estate Rose to you! A toast to good friends, good food and good wine!
Click Here to ReTweet This! Alex in Sweden - Pt. 2 Wednesday, April 25th 2012 by
Twix , Wine Poodle
Team, Wild caught Sweden Salmon served with Foie Gras on top on a bed of Lentils!!! I was amazed at how good this combination tasted and the rest of the meal was amazing! This all went down last night at 19 glas, which is one of the top restaurants in Stockholm, Sweden. It is located in the old town so was very charming to walk to!!! Alex
Click Here to ReTweet This! Operations Team Luncheon Friday, April 20th 2012 by
Lisa Randall, Direct Consumer Orders & Compliance Specialist
Click Here to ReTweet This! What would your last meal be? Tuesday, April 24th 2012 by
I was recently asked what my last meal on earth, if I could choose, would be. I had a difficult time narrowing it down because, well, I love to eat and I love to eat so very many things. But after having chicken liver mousse that a dear friend Rodrigo Huerta made, my decision became clear; if I had to choose my last meal, it would definitely be this very version of chicken liver mousse. It hands down made top of my list for three reasons: 1) it tastes incredible 2) I love truffle anything (especially this truffled honey) and 3) it has ¾ pound of butter in it. But life’s short and I like to treat myself…
Recipe created by Rodrigo K. Huerta.
Chicken Liver Mousse with Truffled
Honey
½ pound chicken livers, cleaned ¾ pound unsalted butter 2 small to medium
size shallots, sliced 3 cloves of garlic,
sliced 1 Tbsp + 1 tsp
balsamic vinegar 1 Tbsp + 1 tsp sherry
vinegar 2 tsp truffled honey small pinch of
crushed chile pepper squeeze of lemon
juice
Clean your livers
from vein, and blood lines. Pat dry using a clean towel to minimize splatter
when searing. Salt livers generously and preheat a sauté pan with a Tbsp of
oil. When oil starts to smoke slightly add your livers carefully to the
pan. Do not overcrowd the livers or you will not achieve the proper sear.
In order to get the proper sear you may need to do this in batches. Sear heavy
on one side about a minute and a half or until livers look cooked half way
through. Flip the livers over just to cook the outside*. Pull livers out
once you've reached medium rare and place them on a plate. Take a Tbsp of
butter and add to the pan you used to sear the livers. Next, sauté your
shallot and garlic until nice and soft and a little caramelized. Once your shallot
and garlic are where you want them, deglaze with 1Tbsp each of balsamic and
sherry vinegars. At this point you will also want to add the truffled honey.
Don't reduce too long, just until the vinegars thicken and you've got a
nice glaze. Pull the sauce off the heat and add half the remaining butter and
all your livers with their juices. Let cool. Once cool, puree liver
butter mixture in a blender for thirty seconds then slowly add the remaining
butter in 1Tbsp pieces to emulsify**. When emulsified and smooth add the remaining
tsp of balsamic and sherry vinegars with a squeeze of lemon juice. Season with
salt if needed and give it one last whirl in the blender. Take mousse from
blender and add to container of choice for serving. Let cool about a half
hour to an hour in the refrigerator and serve with fresh bread or toasted
crostinis.
* You want to cook
them to medium rare for nice smooth texture in your mousse. ** If you are having
trouble emulsifying the mixture, add a small piece of ice or two.
Click Here to ReTweet This! Not Your Normal Pizza Night Thursday, May 10th 2012 by
The night was made even better when host and cellaring guru, Eddie, pulled out a 1994 Sokol Blosser Redlands Pinot Noir. It was surprisingly youthful and had held onto its deep gem tone color. This pinot was the epitome of ‘forest floor funk’ and was stellar with the Tartufo and truffle pizza. The ’94 reminded me of how much I love Oregon Pinot Noir and just how well it can age given the right conditions.
Click Here to ReTweet This! Sokol Blosser Wine Dinner at Hall Street Grill Monday, April 30th 2012 by
I was lucky enough to accompany two of our rock star Brand Ambassadors, Lee Medina and Kristin Freund, last weekend at a wine dinner they hosted at Hall Street Grill. Sokol Blosser wines ranging from Pinot Gris and Pinot Noir to Dessert Riesling were paired with a myriad of fabulous plates from Chef Travis Dickinson. The wines flowed and the food was delectable. I felt the only way to properly capture the evening was through photographs; but even they don’t seem to do the dinner justice… if only there was a scratch-n-sniff computer screen...
Chef Travis and Brand Ambassadors Lee and Kristin welcome guests on the outdoor patio at Hall Street Grill.
Guests with a keen interest in good food and wine cheers the dinner and a birthday that fell on the same day.
Crostinis of cured ham with nettle and whisky chicken liver mousse with fig started the dinner (left). A smoked Idaho trout and farro salad with blood orange, chicories, pecorino and grapefruit paired beautifully with Sokol Blosser 2011 Estate Rose of Pinot Noir (right).  Marinated octopus with mustard ice cream and chorizo foam and Sokol Blosser 2010 Willamette Valley Pinot Gris (left).Rye crusted croquette of smoked pork hock with truffled polenta and marrow aioli severed with Sokol Blosser 2007 Dundee Hills Pinot Noir, buckwheat lasagna with spring vegetable and morel succotash with 2008 Dundee Hills Pinot Noir and duck and pancetta galantine with black truffle custard and Pinot Noir reduction with 2009 Dundee Hills Pinot Noir (right).  The evening ended sweetly with Sokol Blosser 2005 and 2007 White Dessert Riesling and a candied bacon and hazelnut waffle with fried foie gras and maple cromesquis, smoked white chocolate mousse and amaretto syrup. No doubt about it, the dinner was a success in every way. The wine was showing wonderfully, the food was mouth watering, the service professional and the outdoor patio perfect for a one-in-a-million warm April evening in Oregon.
Click Here to ReTweet This! Evolution White + Indian Food = Perfect Summer Pairing Monday, July 2nd 2012 by
The tasting room staff has been thinking a lot about Evolution White lately. In anticipation for summer’s arrival to the Willamette Valley (which Oregonians know doesn’t start ‘til July 5th) we decided to have a dinner party surrounding the wine we all can’t wait to drink in the sunshine… Evolution White. We love Evolution paired with countless dishes (think sushi, Thai green curry and Cajun spices on the grill) but we all jumped at the thought of an Indian food feast paired with Evolution. So once again, the fine foodie folks of the tasting room gathered to Eddie’s house for a spicy, flavorful and fragrant evening of Evolution White and regional Indian food.
An appetizer of onion pakoras with spicy chili aioli were a perfect foil for Evolution White and started off the evening meal.
Although the evening was centered on Evolution White, we couldn’t help but open a bottle of 2009 Sokol Blosser Pinot Blanc (bottle in background). The tropical fruit notes of the Blanc were an ideal complement to the Peach Curry and spicy Palak Paaner (left). Eddie’s stove is loaded with pots and pans. Peach Curry, Channa Masala, Palak Paaner and Arhar Daal were served on lemon basmati rice (right).  Toasting to a successful summer spread and the eventual coming of sunshine to the Pacific Northwest (left). Cheers!
Eddie’s Carrot Cardamom Pudding was an incredible end to the Indian food feast. It was delicate and refreshing with just the right amount of custardy-sweet (below).
Carrot Cardamom Pudding 1 pound carrots, peeled and shredded ¾ cup sugar 1 cup heavy cream 2 cups whole milk, divided 1 cup rice flour 1 tsp cardamom (to taste) ¼ tsp saffron 1 tsp rose water Pistachios and almonds to garnish, toasted Warm up 1 cup of whole milk in microwave or on stove and add the saffron to the warm milk. Set aside while the saffron dissolves into the milk. Meanwhile, dissolve sugar in 1 cup water over medium low heat on the stove. Once it looks like sugar has dissolved, add carrots to the same pot and cook until carrots become mushy, approximately 30 minutes. When carrots are cooked all the way through, add saffron milk infusion, heavy cream, cardamom and rose water. Stir to ensure all ingredients are properly mixed then blend contents. An immersion blender is ideal, however, transferring to a blender works just as well. Blend mixture until smooth and there are no chunks of carrot remaining. Return the now smooth mixture to the pot over low heat and add flour ¼ cup at a time, whisking constantly to integrate. After all flour has been whisked into the mixture, add the remaining cup of whole milk to thin out until you have reached your desired consistency. Think standard pudding: it can be more or less ‘runny’ depending on personal preference. Chill the mixture in the fridge for at least a couple of hours to allow pudding to set. Pudding can be chilled for up to 2 days. To serve, spoon pudding into individual ramekins and top with toasted pistachios and almonds. Nuts can be toasted in oven, but keep an eye on them as they can burn.
Click Here to ReTweet This! Grilled Peach Salad Wednesday, August 1st 2012 by
By the time August comes around in the Willamette Valley, the amount of warm and dry days stretch out so long we start to lose track of the last time it rained. This is also the time when farmers markets around here are abundant with the best kinds of summer produce—the types of fruits that are only available for a fleeting moment, and their ephemerality probably has something to do with why they taste so especially good. One of my favorite summer dishes is a Grilled Peach Salad because it’s fast and simple, centered around the intense flavor of locally grown peaches. The minimal prep and cooking time barely deserves a “recipe,” and leaves plenty of opportunities to sip wine while putting it together. It’s a perfect match for the bright and summery flavors in the 2011 Estate Rosé of Pinot Noir, a combination that is bound to impress as a starter or side dish. Just don’t tell anyone it took you less than 10 minutes to put it together. Grilled Peach Salad (serves 2) Ingredients 2 ripe, but not mushy, peaches 2 ounces of soft goat cheese A handful of basil (and/or arugula, and/or mint) Two drizzles of good quality olive oil, divided A drizzle of good quality balsamic vinegar Pinch of sea salt Method Cut each peach in half, and remove the pit. Drizzle olive oil on each of the cut-sides of the peaches and either brush the oil across the surface or distribute it with your fingertips. Place the peaches cut-side down directly onto a hot grill (or a cast iron grill-pan heated on the stove). Leave on the heat until the flesh becomes caramelized and grill marks appear, about a minute and a half (or up to two and a half minutes if the peaches are large). Remove from heat, and once cool enough to touch, cut each half into thirds (or quarters if large). Arrange on a plate, and scatter chunks of soft goat cheese among the peaches. Tear basil (or other herbs) into smaller pieces and top the peaches and cheese. Sprinkle over salt, and drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Serve while still a little warm, preferably with thick slices of grilled bread and a sizeable glass of 2011 Estate Rosé of Pinot Noir.
Click Here to ReTweet This! Prime Rib and Pinot Noir - the Perfect Pair! Friday, November 16th 2012 by
Pair Prime Rib With Pinot Noir for a Memorable Holiday FeastBOISE, ID--(Marketwire - Nov 15, 2012) -The holiday season is always packed with activities and traditions, so make your chief celebration easy and fool-proof with a boneless ribeye roast from The Double R Ranch Co.and an Oregon pinot noir from Sokol Blosser Winery. Selecting high quality elements ensures that a seemingly straightforward menu provides the panache that a special occasion demands. "Our perfectly marbled and hand cut prime rib is the ideal centerpiece for any holiday table," said Jay Theiler, director of marketing for The Double R Ranch Co. "The ability to pair the Double R Ranch Co. prime rib with Sokol Blosser pinot noir will give your table that Northwest flare and make a perfect holiday pairing." Prime Rib is an ideal choice due to its relative ease to prepare (you only need salt and pepper), its ability to feed a large group and its tendency to impress as the table's focal point. "There's no doubt the holidays are a hectic time, but a festive, flavorful meal doesn't need to add to stress levels," said Theiler. "A classic combination of prime rib and pinot noir can be surprisingly simple and simply superb." The Double R Ranch Co's ribeye roast, referred to as "prime rib" with the bone removed, is exquisitely marbled with a robust and buttery flavor.To prepare this roast, simply season with salt and pepper, or a favorite seasoning blend, and roast in a 350°F oven, fat side up, on a rack or in a shallow cast iron roasting pan. There's no need to cover the roast or add liquid. Approximate cooking times for a seven-pound roast range from 2 to 2-1/4 hours for medium rare, an internal temperature of 145°F, and from 2-1/4 to 2-1/2 hours for medium, an internal temperature of 160°F. Once out of the oven, let the roast rest for 15 to 20 minutes, tented loosely with aluminum foil on a carving board, before slicing and serving. This rich roast calls for a complex, earthy wine as a complement. Consider pairing it with Sokol Blosser's 2009 Estate Cuvee Pinot Noirto round out your intimate celebration. With a delicate character, this wine is expressive of tea roses and violets. Flavors and aromas of dusty strawberry, raspberry and red currants give way to earthy undertones of sun-baked clay, dry autumn leaves and mineral spice. The structure is lithe but supple, with refined tannins and a graceful, lasting finish. For a larger party, consider the Sokol Blosser's 2010 Dundee Hills Pinot Noir magnum. This classic vintage is complex and layered, with black cherry, berry and earthy minerality. Its stunning concentration and depth comes off without heaviness, and the wine has a wonderful structure and texture, with soft, supple tannins. About Sokol Blosser About Double R Ranch Co.
Click Here to ReTweet This! Pairing Wines with Food Class - A great holiday gift! Thursday, December 6th 2012 by
I don't know about you, but picking out the perfect gift for someone is a bit of an obsession for me. And, it gets harder every year! I love giving experiential gifts - they are perfect for those people on your list who have everything - so when I ran across this Wine and Food Pairing class, I had to share!  Urban Wine Works on NE Fremont in Portland is offering 50% off a 2 person Wine and Food pairing class through My Perks Portland: Two people will enjoy four wines matched with four small plates of foods that are typically hard to pair wine with. Classes provide education for wine and food lovers to pair wines with hard to pair foods. Not going to lie, this might be a perfect gift for myself this holiday season!
Click Here to ReTweet This! Sokol Blosser in the City Tuesday, December 18th 2012 by
Last Sunday, the Sokol Blosser sales team decided to make a trek into the big city for a night of great food and (of course) wine at Departure in The Nines Hotel. And, of course, we made sure to document the entire evening! So much that the food may have started to cool before we ate - that's what we get from bringing along 2 cameras!  What's that - 2007 Estate Cuvée? 1998 Twelve Block Pinot Noir? And 1995 Cabernet Sauvignon?!  Sushi!  There's that 2007 Estate again...  Kampachi Sashimi  The group! And this is just a taste of the photos - check out the whole album on our Facebook page!
Click Here to ReTweet This! A Taste of Oregon Wine from Sokol Blosser Winery Tuesday, March 19th 2013 by
Liesl Jackson
A Taste of Oregon Wine from Sokol Blosser Winery Oregon might not be the first place that comes to mind when you think of great wine, but that’s changing! Just an hour outside of Portland lies Willamette Valley and nestled in the beautiful Dundee Hills lies Sokol Blosser Winery. Last week, I enjoyed a lovely dinner at Towne in downtown Los Angeles hosted by Alison Sokol Blosser, co-president and Second Generation Wine Grower. We were given four Sokol Blosser selections and were treated to appetizers, dinner and desserts specially selected to pair with the wine assortment.  Sokol Blosser Winery (Photo courtesy of Sokol Blosser Winery) The first wine we tasted was a 2011 Rosé of Pinot Noir. It was fruity with a hint of strawberries and very light and sweet. Rosé of Pinot Noir is 100 percent Pinot Noir. It is treated as if it is a white grape when it comes into the winery so they intentionally make this into a Rosé from the get go. It is made from 100 percent organic grapes as all of their grapes are certified organic. It is only sold through their tasting room, website and wine club.  As we drank the Rosé, Alison filled us in on a little history of Sokol Blosser Winery, like the fact that her parents planted their first grapes on what was once a prune orchard in 1971.“They were both teachers. They really liked wine. They thought, people had been making wine forever, it can’t be that hard. This will be kind of fun,” Alison said. “They were hippies. They came in their Volkswagen bus, my mom had the long braids and they wanted to grow something. They liked the idea of growing wine grapes.”What started as five acres has expanded to 125 acres, 85 of which are fully planted. Willamette Valley now has about 180 wineries.  Liesl Jackson and Alison Sokol Blosser With dinner we were given two wines to try, a Sokol Blosser 2011 Willamette Valley Pinot Gris and a Sokol Blosser 2010 Dundee Hills Pinot Noir. The Pinot Gris had a tart citrus flavor and a steely mineral taste. Just the right option to go with a seafood or pasta dish.  Spicy White Bean Ravioli from Towne The Pinot Noir was the third wine we tasted and one of the softest Pinot Noirs I’ve ever had. Alison explained: “Oregon Pinots are going to typically be much softer and delicate and elegant in style. We’re getting the ripeness but we have the acidity because it’s a cool climate so there’s a lot more structure in the wine. California pinots, because there is so much heat, get a jammy quality and so they’re much more concentrated and fruit driven.”  “My favorite way to think about Pinot Noir is this is not the kind of wine that’s going to hit you over the head. It’s not going to knock your socks off, it’s much more seductive. It’s going to sneak up and slip your socks off.”- Alison Sokol Blosser  "Seaweed" Brined Organic Chicken at Towne Alison also gave us a preview into the new tasting room scheduled to open early July 2013. The design will feature a series of terraces, wood floors, walls and ceilings with large windows and skylights to allow for plenty of natural light. The wine tasting experience will be tailored to each individual person or group.“Do they want to do a Library tasting in a vertical of five years? Do they want to do a food and wine pairing in the kitchen? Do you they want to just sit out on the patio with their friends and have a few wines brought to them, or do they want to stand at the bar and have that kind of social experience?,” Alison said. “So we’ll have a lot of different options for people. And you can come and do all of them.”  A rendering of the new Sokol Blossser tasting room set to open in July 2013 (Photo courtesy of Sokol Blosser Winery) We finished the dinner with a Sokol Blosser 2011 White Riesling. It was a very sweet desert wine that went well with Towne’s tasty assortment of deserts. “The White Riesling is made in the style of an ice wine,” Alison explained. “So with typical ice wine, the grapes freeze on the vine, but it’s not quite cold enough and we’re not quite crazy enough to pick the grapes in the middle of the night when they’re frozen. So we pick the grapes at the normal time. We freeze them and after harvest is done we bring in all of our frozen grapes and we let the grapes slowly defrosts. The trick is for the water part of the grape to stay frozen and the sweet nectar to slowly drip out.” They make it every other year and only sell it from the tasting room and online.  A delicious tray of deserts offered by Towne  Sokol Blosser 2011 White Riesling All of the wines offered by Alison and Sokol Blosser Winery were exquisite. The standouts for me were the Pinot Noir and the Rosé of Pinot Noir. They are all definitely worth taking a trip up to Oregon to try, especially in July when the new tasting room is completed. You can also order online and sign up their wine clubs at www.sokolblosser.com, or visit Towne in downtown LA to taste Sokol Blosser wines paired with some of their delicious cuisine. Happy tasting! ABOUT LIESL JACKSON: Liesl Jackson is a writer/actress/comedian/pet sitter living in the heart of Hollywood. She loves the arts, animals, volunteering, traveling, and attempting to learn the acoustic guitar. Email her at liesljackson@yahoo.com. Follow her on twitter @SillyLiesl and follow The Pacific Punch @ThePacificPunch
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I start with some baby bok choy languishing in the fridge, bought in a fit of healthy new year’s resolve last week. For what I’m about to do, you can use pretty much any kind of green veggie that can stand up to some hot water, like broccoli, if your grocery doesn’t stock baby bok choy or you’re somehow against how baby bok choy adorably resembles the little lop-ears of rabbits. I slice three of them lengthwise after a quick rinse, and put on a pot of water to boil. To make this a more substantial lunch, I reheat some brown rice also languishing in the fridge. I keep forgetting that this new apartment lacks a microwave, and that I keep neglecting to buy one, 
so I pile some on a plate and set it atop the undoubtedly building-code-violating gas heater in my living room. I wish I were joking about this, but it gets the job done in a pinch. 
This
Ahi Poke recipe might be one of the best things I've ever made, and it's super
easy. I got the inspiration for this recipe from a dish at Yoko's Sushi in SE
Portland. They do something called Taka's Tuna, which is poke on fried rice
cakes that look like a McDonald's hash brown. I figured I could make fried rice
cakes similar to Yoko's. The Evolution pairing took it to the next level. This
dish would be a great appetizer!
This week Alex Sokol Blosser travels across the pond to
visit a few friends. He will be hosting two wine dinners. One with Chef
Harry at his place, the 
The Operations Team
took a trip 
We in the tasting room get to talk about wine and food all
day. I’m elated that I get to do this as my job but sometimes (okay… most
always all the time) we like to drink and eat the wonderful treats we talk
about all day. Thus, the first of hopefully many pizza nights was born when the
tasting room sales associate team had pizza dinner at 
Eddie’s homemade harrisa
sauce, artichoke hearts, goat cheese, green onion, zatar spice and prosciutto
pizza. The perfect amount of zingy spice for this exotic pizza.
The night was a success and I’ll speak for the rest of the
tasting room staff when I say I’m pretty sure this means pizza night will
become a monthly tradition for us. Come by the 
