APPELLATION
100% Yamhill-Carlton
BLEND COMPOSITION
100% Pinot Noir
CLONES
Pommard, Wadenswil, 114, 115, 777
AGE OF VINES
Planted in 1999-2001
BOTTLED
September 2022
BRIX AT HARVEST
24-24.5º
ALCOHOL BY VOLUME
14%
PROPER CELLAR LIFESPAN
10 -15 Years
PRODUCTION
748 Cases
VINTAGE HIGHLIGHTS
2021 was the 2nd warmest growing season we have ever seen since 2015. We also got to add a new term to the dictionary: “Heat Dome”. Three straight days of triple digit temperatures in late June breaking heat records for the Willamette Valley! Bud break started like usual in the middle of April. We had the driest March through May that the Valley has seen through 128 years of record keeping! Bloom, or flowering, also appeared on time in early/mid June. While late June brought the “Heat Dome”, our grapes made it through thanks to bloom being finished at all our sites and there still being soil moisture, so they grew like crazy over those three days of hellish temperatures. While July and August turned out to be exceedingly hot and dry, September arrived with with a few mild rain events that allowed us to fully ripen the grapes. The hot and dry summer made for fruit that was extremely clean, resulting in for excellent fermentations. All in all, mother nature gave us something to be grateful for on our 50th anniversary.
WINEMAKING
The fruit was hand harvested from Kalita Vineyard on September 25th and brought back to our Estate winery were 85% was destemmed and the rest left whole-cluster. Over a 12-day period the wine went through an ambient fermentation in 3 ton stainless steel tanks with punch-downs for cap management. The wine was aged for 10 months in French oak barrels with 10% new oak. This is our first vintage from the newly acquired Kalita Vineyard and it is also our first purchase of Yamhill-Carlton AVA vineyard land so it is very exciting. This is very different, dark fruited and rich Pinot Noir verses our delicate bright red fruited Dundee Hills we are accustom to be working with.
WINE PROFILE
Our 2021 Kalita Vineyard Pinot Noir bursts with classic Yamhill-Carton dark fruit notes: black cherry, cranberries and blackberries. The fruit is met by warm spices, espresso, and a woodsy forest floor followed by grippy tannins.
PAIRINGS
Serve with rich pairings such as roasted quail or duck, salmon on a cedar board, veal stew, grilled mushrooms, or a piece of dark chocolate.
THE STORY
Kalita EstateVineyard is located in the heart of the Yamhill-Carlton AVA in the Willamette Valley. This stunning, bowl-shaped vineyard is planted with Pinot Noir on hillsides facing South, Southwest and Southeast with elevations ranging from 525 to 750 feet. The site was planted in 2000 by Arthur and Sherry Kalita; it is currently LIVE certified and we are transitioning the vineyard to organic certification. We are thrilled to continue the two-decade legacy of creating superb, world-class Pinot Noir from the beautiful Kalita Estate Vineyard.
VINTAGE SUMMARY
Like the rest of the world, 2014 was a really warm year in Oregon. On average, the Willamette Valley typically receives around 2200 growing degree days; in 2013, it was 2717 but we hit 2867 in 2014. We had a very dry summer and the nights never really cooled down. It was not hot, and we did not get many days above 95°F but the weather was just warm in the day and warm in the night. Not typical. Rain fall was below normal but not drastically below. We did not turn on the limited irrigation that we have in our top pinot blocks as the vines never became water stressed. What did this do to the grapes? Surprisingly, this was the largest crop we have ever seen at Sokol Blosser, and 2014 was our 44th year of winegrowing in the Dundee Hills. Such a large crop can greatly increase disease pressures, but with the dry summer and dry harvest time conditions, the crop came in as clean and disease free as in 2012. Even with thinning the crop back 40-50% in the vineyard we still received on average about 3.35 tons an acre for our pinot noir. What has resulted is a wine with dark color and great intensity.
WINEMAKER NOTES
Our Dundee Hills Estate Pinot Noir captures and expresses the delicate fruit characteristics associated with this varietal, and we balance that with structure and age-ability. In order to achieve this balance we
combine a couple of key distinctive winemaking techniques. We increase structure and complexity in the
mouthfeel through a lengthy post-fermentation maceration making up about 70% of this blend. To retain the pureness of the pinot noir fruit characters expressed early in fermentation, the other 30% has limited skin contact by removing the wine from the skins immediately following fermentation. Our entire Estate is represented in this cuvee with a percentage of each block coming together in a single blend.
APPELLATION
100% Dundee Hills AVA
BLEND COMPOSITION
100% Pinot Noir | 100% Estate Grown
CLONES
115, 667, 777, mystery clone*, Pommard
UCD4, Wadenswil 2A and Gamay
Beaujolais Type
AGE OF VINES
Planted in 1998-2009
BOTTLED
March 2019
BRIX AT HARVEST
~21.5 – 25°
ALCOHOL BY VOLUME
13.5%
PROPER CELLAR LIFESPAN
~10 – 15 Years
PRODUCTION
3,750 Cases
CERTIFICATIONS
Made with 100% certified organic grapes
VINTAGE HIGHLIGHTS
It was a dark and stormy night…and that was just the first day of 2017! Yes, 2017 started out like a number of Oregon vintages have started out: cold, wet and rainy. In fact, to start out 2017 we had snow. Snow shut down the winery for a number of days in January and this cold weather foretold the following cool spring. Bud break was late in relation to the past 5 years (late April instead of early April), but more normal when you look at our 40+ growing seasons. The cool, wet weather was not to last, and the heat volcano erupted in mid-June to the tune of 95°F! Thanks to the wonderful deluge of wet weather in the winter and spring of 2017, our vines were able to handle the scorching hot summer. Our underground barrel cellar reached temps we have never seen before (in the 70s) and the expanding wine pushed some bungs out. The cool spring helped push out harvest, but the hot summer helped make sure the grapes were ready to go with little delay. We picked over a six week time period, which is a week or so longer than normal due to the rain events. The crop was huge — one of the largest we have seen since 2014. The fruit was ripe and very clean, boding well for quality.
WINEMAKING
The grapes were carefully hand harvested at a range of ripeness of ~21.5-25°Brix. Some vineyard sections were harvest based on acid levels to retain delicacy and some were focused on higher intensity of fruit flavors with ripeness reaching 25°Brix. All our fruit was sorted by hand to remove any flawed bunches and de-stemmed directly into either 3-ton stainless steel fermenters or 2.5-ton oak upright fermenters. Nearly 50% of the fermentations were done using either isolates from the Sokol Blosser native yeast program or were ambient/uninoculated ferments. Cap management was done via gentle punch downs up to 2 times per day. Post fermentation 7% of the blend was kept on its skins for 40+ days for extended maceration, the remaining portion was pressed off the skins at dryness (~15-20 days of skin contact time). This wine was aged in 100% French oak barrels for 17 months with minimal SO2 levels. 23% of the blend was aged in new oak barrels with the remaining portion aged in once used or neutral oak.
WINE PROFILE
Our Dundee Hills Estate Pinot Noir captures and expresses the delicate fruit characteristics associated with this varietal, and we balance that with structure and age-ability. This blend represents our entire Estate with barrels selected from nearly every corner of the property. Our 2017 Dundee Hills Pinot Noir exhibits aromas of leather and spice. The palate is rich with dark fruit, dried currant, and a hint of cinnamon.
THE STORY
Our Dundee Hills Pinot Noir epitomizes everything Sokol Blosser has stood for in nearly 45 years of winegrowing in Oregon. Crafted to be a true expression of terroir from our hillside vines and Jory soil, this wine is made from a low yield crop that is dry-farmed for quality and comprised of grapes that are all from Dijon, Pommard and Wadensvil clones.
APPELLATION
100% Dundee Hills AVA
BLEND COMPOSITION
100% Pinot Noir | 100% Estate Grown
CLONES
115, 777, & Pommard UCD4
AGE OF VINES
Replanted in 1998 & 2000
BOTTLED
March 2019
BRIX AT HARVEST
22.8 – 23.6° picked over two days
ALCOHOL BY VOLUME
13.5%
PROPER CELLAR LIFESPAN
10 -15 Years
PRODUCTION
550 Cases
CERTIFICATIONS
Made with 100% certified organic grapes
VINTAGE HIGHLIGHTS
It was a dark and stormy night…and that was just the first day of 2017! Yes, 2017 started out like a number of Oregon vintages have started out: cold, wet and rainy. In fact, to start out 2017 we had snow. Snow shut down the winery for a number of days in January and this cold weather foretold the following cool spring. Bud break was late in relation to the past 5 years (late April instead of early April), but more normal when you look at our 40+ growing seasons. The cool, wet weather was not to last, and the heat volcano erupted in mid-June to the tune of 95°F! Thanks to the wonderful deluge of wet weather in the winter and spring of 2017, our vines were able to handle the scorching hot summer. Our underground barrel cellar reached temps we have never seen before (in the 70s) and the expanding wine pushed some bungs out. The cool spring helped push out harvest, but the hot summer helped make sure the grapes were ready to go with little delay. We picked over a six week time period, which is a week or so longer than normal due to the rain events. The crop was huge — one of the largest we have seen since 2014. The fruit was ripe and very clean, boding well for quality.
WINEMAKING
The grapes from this block were carefully hand harvested over 2 days, the highest section of the block was picked at a 1°Brix level higher than the lower section of the same block to average 23.2°Brix for the overall picking blend. The sections of the block are not that far apart but the slightest variation in elevation can make all the difference on the Sokol Blosser estate. The clusters were then sorted by hand to remove any flawed bunches and 100% de-stemmed directly into their fermentation vessels. This block was fermented slowly in our 3-ton open top stainless steel tanks and pressed at dryness to capture the fruit and manage tannin development. This wine was aged entirely in French oak barrels for 17 months with minimal SO2 levels. There were 24 barrels hand selected for this final 2017 Big Tree Block blend. 25% of this blend represents wine aged in new oak barrels.
WINE PROFILE
Our 2017 Big Tree Block Pinot Noir has a light and floral nose. This wine has a complex mouthfeel and soft tannins with pop of pink peppercorn.
PAIRINGS
Serve with hearty meats like lamb burger on a brioche bun with a healthy schmear of smoked ketchup.
THE STORY
What is a boy to do when his favorite boyhood climbing tree is ruthlessly chopped down by his father in the name of grape growing? Well, Alex Sokol Blosser is still trying to figure that one out. Until then, Alex drinks Big Tree Pinot Noir and thinks about climbing the strong limbs of a solitary, beautiful, and graceful Big Leaf Maple Tree that used to lie smack dab in the middle of a block of pinot noir. Big Tree is strong like its namesake with the most powerful tannins of any pinot noir coming off our estate. Shallow soil on this site makes the vines struggle more than the rest of our vineyard and produces strength in the wine. The tannins are something your taste buds can climb up, just like Alex used to be able to do when there was a tree there.
APPELLATION
100% Dundee Hills AVA
BLEND COMPOSITION
100% Pinot Noir | 100% Estate Grown
CLONES
Wädenswil 2A & Pommard UCD4
AGE OF VINES
Replanted in 2006 & 2009
BOTTLED
April 2021
BRIX AT HARVEST
22.5°
ALCOHOL BY VOLUME
13%
PROPER CELLAR LIFESPAN
10 -15 Years
PRODUCTION
345 Cases
VINTAGE HIGHLIGHTS
It was clear something was different with the 2019 harvest when fruit flies were spotted at Thistle Vineyard over Labor Day Weekend. The second sign was the dramatic shift in the weather forecast. At the end of August, we believed we would have a “warmer and drier” than average September/October. Sounds good huh?!?!? Then, at the end of September we got 2.7” of rain… which is double the average, and we had one of the coolest Septembers on record. We remembered and applied the key learnings from prior similar vintages in our approach to the 2019 harvest – get the grapes as ripe as possible with as little fruit degradation as possible. Even with a longer hang time this year the grapes had less sugar, high pHs and high acids. Consequently, we based our picking decision more on the taste of the juice and looking at the weather. We had 5 distinct rain events from when we started harvest on September 3 to when we ended picking on October 10th, and these individual rain events sometimes lasted multiple days. In the end, we got as much ripeness as possible and are very happy about what we put into
barrel.
WINEMAKING
The fruit for this wine was farmed organically on our estate, and was hand harvested at peak ripeness on September 26th and 28th. The picked fruit was de-stemmed and sent straight to fermentation with a combination of commercial yeast and our house native yeast cultivated from our vineyards. During it’s ~21 day fermentation, cap management was performed with strictly punch downs of the 3 ton fermenters, it was a cool vintage resulting in long, cool fermentations. Once the fermentation process was finished, the wine was pressed of the skins at dryness and barreled down in 100% French oak barrels with 24% new oak, and left to age for 16 months before bottling.
WINE PROFILE
On the nose, this wine expresses wet forest floor and mushrooms, complemented by prune, dried cherry and cinnamon. On the palate, the nose largely carries through, though it is joined by nutmeg and tobacco.
PAIRINGS
This wine will pair beautifully with boeuf bourguignon or lamb tagine.
THE STORY
The Watershed Block Pinot Noir comes from fruit harvested off of a section of the vineyard planted by founders Bill and Susan Sokol Blosser in the early 70s. Although replanted in 2006/2009 on rootstock, cuttings from fruiting vines were taken from the original plantings and grafted onto rootstock for the replant. The original section of the Estate vineyard has a diversity of clones present.
APPELLATION
100% Dundee Hills AVA
BLEND COMPOSITION
100% Pinot Noir | 100% Estate Grown
CLONES
An obscure Pinot Noir clone, internally
referred to as the “12-Row clone”
AGE OF VINES
Replanted in 2007
BOTTLED
April 2021
BRIX AT HARVEST
23°
ALCOHOL BY VOLUME
13.5%
PROPER CELLAR LIFESPAN
10 -15 Years
PRODUCTION
327 Cases
CERTIFICATIONS
Made with 100% certified organic grapes
VINTAGE HIGHLIGHTS
It was clear something was different with the 2019 harvest when fruit flies were spotted at Thistle Vineyard over Labor Day Weekend. The second sign was the dramatic shift in the weather forecast. At the end of August, we believed we would have a “warmer and drier” than average September/October. Sounds good huh?!?!? Then, at the end of September we got 2.7” of rain… which is double the average, and we had one of the coolest Septembers on record. We remembered and applied the key learnings from prior similar vintages in our approach to the 2019 harvest – get the grapes as ripe as possible with as little fruit degradation as possible. Even with a longer hang time this year the grapes had less sugar, high pHs and high acids. Consequently, we based our picking decision more on the taste of the juice and looking at the weather. We had 5 distinct rain events from when we started harvest on September 3 to when we ended picking on October 10th, and these individual rain events sometimes lasted multiple days. In the end, we got as much ripeness as possible and are very happy about what we put into
barrel.
WINEMAKING
The grapes from this block were carefully hand harvested on September 21st. The clusters were then sorted by hand to remove any flawed bunches and 100% de-stemmed directly into 3 ton stainless steel fermenters. The wine was inoculated with our house native yeast and spent 14 days fermenting with cap management done with only punch downs. This was a cooler vintage with long, cooler ferments. After being pressed at dryness the wine was aged entirely in French oak barrels for 16 months with with 29%
new oak. 14 barrels were hand selected for this blend.
WINE PROFILE
On the nose, this wine shines with notes of red cherry, craisin, allspice, toast, moss and dried raspberry. On the palate, the cherry becomes darker, as the fruits and spice are joined by oyster mushrooms.
PAIRINGS
This wine will pair with seared king trumpet mushrooms and beef tenderloin.
THE STORY
When Alex Sokol Blosser (our winemaker) was growing up, this block was not planted to pinot noir, but to riesling. During this time Bill and Susan Sokol Blosser tried their infamous and failed experiment of fencing it in and releasing a flock of geese to consume the grass. Since then, the Sokol Blosser’s have always called it “Goosepen.” When we had to re-plant the block due to Phylloxera, it was decided that the highest and best use of that site was for pinot noir and not for riesling. This was not a failed experiment. To this day, Goosepen is Alex’s favorite of our single vineyard blocks. It does not have the rich tannins of its northern neighbor, Big Tree, nor the finesse of the Orchard Block. It has fruit. A lot of rich fruit that can be heavy some years (2014) and complex in other years (2012 and 2015). Drinking a glass of Goosepen always reminds Alex that experimenting is a two edge sword; sometimes you get the goose, and sometimes the goose gets you!
