Alison Sokol Blosser Opts to Change Her Role
Dundee Hills, Ore. – March 2, 2023 – Sokol Blosser, one of Willamette Valley’s pioneering, family-owned wineries, announces two new appointments as Alison Sokol Blosser opts to step down to spend more time with her family. Effective immediately, Alex Sokol Blosser is president and Robin Howell is lead winemaker.
“It was 15 years ago when Alex and I took over the business from our mother,” says Alison Sokol Blosser. “We’ve run the winery together as co-presidents, with Alex heading up winemaking and me as CEO. I’ve loved every minute of it, but I’ve decided to shift my focus to my family, so I will be stepping down as co-president and CEO. There is no question that Alex’s experience and leadership skills will ensure our family winery continues to thrive and Robin will continue to elevate the quality of our wines, particularly our sparkling program and wines using fruit from our newest vineyard, Kalita, in Yamhill-Carlton.”
Alison Sokol Blosser remains a shareholder and on the board of directors, and in her words, “will always be one of Sokol Blosser’s most passionate ambassadors,” while she dedicates the majority of her time to her family.
As Alex Sokol Blosser takes the primary leadership role, he’ll tap his decades of experience in sales and marketing, distribution, merchandising, grape-growing and winemaking to continue the growth trajectory.
“I’m excited to step into a new leadership role with our family business,” said Alex Sokol Blosser. “I’ve loved running the winemaking with Robin, and now I can put my lifetime of skills to work in new ways to elevate our growth and bring our wines to more people in more markets. I’m happy for Alison, too, as she dedicates more of her time to her family.”
Robin Howell joined Sokol Blosser in 2012 as enologist, and in 2018 she took over sparkling wine production at Sokol Blosser. Her expertise in sparkling winemaking has put Sokol Blosser on the map as a respected sparkling house, with Bluebird Cuvée and Blossom Ridge Sparkling Rosé, with more sparkling wines to come.
“This is an exciting and challenging next step for me,” says Howell. “Alex has been an amazing winemaking mentor. I consider myself lucky to work with such high-quality fruit and to make wines that I am proud to share with consumers. I’m also very proud to work for a family-owned and operated winery that trusts me to support their legacy of exceptional wines.”
