Susan Sokol Blosser
Founder & Garden Advisor
Susan Sokol Blosser, wine industry pioneer, community activist, environmental advocate, and author, is a contemporary Oregon icon. Known for her leadership of Sokol Blosser Winery, she was a forerunner in instituting environmentally friendly business practices and practicing the triple bottom line concept of people, planet, profit. With its certified organic vineyard, the first LEED (U.S. Green Building Council’s certification) certified winery building in the U.S., and business practices based on the Natural Step model of sustainability, Sokol Blosser Winery made social responsibility and its environmental ethic priorities, while pursuing its vision of making fabulous wines. For its leadership, Sokol Blosser Winery has received multiple honors, including Sunset Magazine’s 2007 Green Winery of the Year, the State of Oregon’s 2008 Governor’s Award for Sustainability in the Small Business category, and Oregon Business Magazine’s 2009 100 Best Companies to Work For and 100 Best Green Companies to Work For awards.
Susan holds a B.A. from Stanford University and an Honorary Doctorate of Public Service from the University of Portland, citing her entrepreneurship within the context of environmental and social responsibility. Other awards include Lifetime Achievement Awards from Women for WineSense and the Oregon Wine Board. Her memoir, At Home in the Vineyard: Cultivating a Winery, an Industry, and a Life, was published by the University of California Press in 2006, and her business philosophy, Gracious & Ruthless: Surprising Strategies for Business Success, appeared in 2008.
In 2008, she turned the presidency of Sokol Blosser Winery, Dundee, Oregon, over to her children, stepping back with the title of Founder.
