Friday, September 10, 2021
CapitalPress.com
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Sokol Blosser Winery: Celebrating 50 years
By BRENNA WIEGAND
For the Capital Press
Carolyn Wells-Kramer
Siblings Alison and Alex
Sokol Blosser are co-presi-
dents and second-genera-
tion winegrowers at Sokol
Blosser Winery. This year
marks the winery’s 50th
anniversary.
doing,” Alison said. “My
father collaborated with
other pioneers to pass laws
that would protect the hill-
sides as farmland vs. becom-
ing housing developments.”
It seemed frivolous to
some when they built the
area’s first dedicated tasting
room.
“Folks had tasting rooms
in their garages or base-
ments,” Alison said. “Con-
sultants from California told
my parents it would never
make any money but would
be a good marketing tool.
Andrea Johnson
Sokol Blosser’s tasting room, opened in 2013, is flooded
with natural light and provides sweeping views of the
estate and the Willamette Valley.
“Today we know just
how important wine tourism
is to our industry and state,
not to mention it’s just a fun
thing to do for people,” she
said.
As important as the inter-
national recognition of their
wines was the steady stream
of awards from environmen-
tal organizations.
In 1983 the U.S. Soil and
Water Conservation District
honored Susan’s experimen-
tal use of cover crops to con-
trol erosion on hillsides. In
1996 they were the first win-
ery to be certified “Salmon
Safe” by the Pacific Rivers
Council.
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In 2002 their underground
barrel cellar became the first
winery building in the coun-
try to receive the U.S. Green
Building Council’s presti-
gious LEED certification for
Leadership in Energy and
“We also want to be good
stewards of the community,
taking care of our employ-
ees and focusing on increas-
ing diversity and inclusion in
the industry and in our own
business,” she said.
The vineyards now span
106 acres, and each year
about 90,000 cases of wine
are shipped worldwide.
“Our growth has come
across all aspects of our port-
folio,” she said. “In addition
to the Sokol Blosser estate
wine we have the Evolu-
tion label, based primarily
on fruit we purchase, intro-
ducing people to the Ore-
gon wine category at a more
affordable price point.
“We are excited about
the possibilities ahead of
us while staying true to our
roots as pioneers, innova-
tors and leaders in the indus-
try and always producing the
best wine that we can.”
(left)
Is a Drip/Micro Specialist, fully trained in Irricad
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years irrigation experience, specializing in Micro-
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DAYTON, Ore. — As
Sokol Blosser Winery cele-
brates its 50th anniversary,
siblings and co-presidents
Alison and Alex Sokol
Blosser have much to think
about as they look back and
to the future.
“Alex and I are incred-
ibly proud and grateful to
our parents for the leap of
faith and the hard work they
put in to create not just the
family and winery, but also
the industry itself,” Alison
Sokol Blosser said.
The idea of starting a
vineyard came to newlywed
Stanford grads Bill Blosser
and Susan Sokol while trav-
eling in their Volkswagen
camper bus for a teaching
position in Oregon.
Within a couple years
they had purchased and
cleared 5 acres in the Dundee
Hills and were propagating
their first cuttings.
It was 1971 and there
were only a handful of other
pioneers to the Oregon wine
industry. They shared ideas,
equipment, reverence for
the land and the courage to
forge ahead.
“Dad’s education as an
urban planner helped inform
some of the work they were
Environmental Design.
That was also the year
they began the transition to
organic certification.
Alison and Alex, who
both have master’s degrees
in business administra-
tion, took over the busi-
ness in 2008 and continue
to expand and define what it
means to be sustainable and
environmentally friendly.
This resulted in the busi-
ness achieving a B Corp
certification in 2015 for its
environmental and social
sustainability.
“There’s no silver bul-
let to mitigate the climate
change so we’re doing
everything we can think of
— farming organically, less-
ening the environmental foot-
print of our packaging, using
solar and renewable power,
running tractors on biodiesel
and recycling everything we
can,” Alison said.
20179 Main St. • St. Paul, OR 97137 • 503-633-1111