2022 Kalita Pinot Noir Hits Stores in Time for Holiday Season
Sokol Blosser Winery, a pioneering family-owned and -operated winery, is releasing its new 2022 vintage of Pinot Noir from Kalita Vineyard in Yamhill-Carlton just in time for holiday celebrations and gift-giving.
The 2022 vintage was a challenging one with freezing temperatures in mid-April threatening the vines. As Sokol Blosser President Alex Sokol Blosser says, “Never second-guess a grapevine!” After primary buds froze and died, secondary buds emerged and thrived. After a hot and dry summer – and a warm October – the fruit ripened almost perfectly, resulting in a wine whose inaugural vintage (2021) earned a Platinum medal at Tex-Som and multiple reviews of 92 points and higher.
The Sokol Blossers purchased the Kalita Vineyard in the Yamhill-Carlton AVA of the Willamette Valley in 2021 to diversify their Pinot Noir portfolio. Kalita Vineyard offers marine sedimentary soils, while Sokol Blosser’s original Estate vineyards in the Dundee Hills are volcanic soil.
“Kalita Vineyard has given us an opportunity to add breadth and depth to our portfolio of Pinot Noirs,” says Alex Sokol Blosser. “Pinot Noirs from the Kalita Vineyard offer darker fruit notes and a more intense texture, compared to the brighter, more delicate red-fruited wines of the Dundee Hills. It’s great fun working with fruit from a new AVA.”
The Sokol Blosser 2022 Kalita Vineyard Estate Pinot Noir will be landing at retailers and restaurants nationally in the coming weeks.
Kalita Vineyard is LIVE certified and Sokol Blosser is transitioning it to organic certification (expected by the 2024 harvest). The vineyard spans 65 acres, with 22 planted to Pinot Noir, and is famous for its bowl shape, with south-, southeast- and southwest-facing hillsides at elevations from 525-750 feet. A total of 3,000 9L cases of Sokol Blosser Kalita Vineyard 2022 Estate Pinot Noir were produced and the suggested retail price per bottle is $45.