Yep - Sokol Blosser's Tasting Room is open the entire Independence Day holiday weekend, from 10am-4pm daily. Stop in and say hi to our lively Tasting Room crew, beat the heat with a glass of wine and a picnic on our scenic deck overlooking Wine Country, or just take a walk through the vineyard. We'll be here!
My husband Travis and I love to have people over to our house, especially on warm summer evenings. There's nothing better than throwing something delicious on the grill, grooving to good music and sharing a fun bottle of wine!
A friend recently shared with us a fun serving tip for Evolution that we have continued to use at our own parties. With the abundance of local berries, head to your local berry stand and pick up some fresh, plump blueberries. After pouring a glass of well chilled Evolution or Rosé of Pinot Noir, plop 3-5 blueberries in the glass. It adds great color, and the sweet/tart flavores of the berries pair well with the crisp acidity of those two wines. Best of all, if you can manage to keep from eating the berries until you hit the bottom of your glass, you'll be able to enjoy some delicious wine-soaked berries (jungle juice from college, anyone?).
Enjoy, stay cool and cheers! Don't forget Evolution's Mantra: Chill. Pour. Sip. Chill.
When it’s hot in the city, head for the hills - the Dundee Hills! We will see 90 degrees this week and if you need a place to escape and relax come out to the Winery. Our tents are up in the courtyard and Tasting Room Manager Rodolphe Louchart is out there each weekend pouring wine.
Jeff Knapp is in the Club Members' Lounge keeping things cool and our exuberant Tasting Room staff is ready to greet you with a smile and take you on a tour of the estate. Bring a picnic, bring your dog (on a leash), bring a Frisbee but most importantly bring and extra pair of socks! We intend to knock off the pair you will be wearing with our outstanding wines!
Michael Kelly Brown
Direct Sales Manager
Some helpful tips about serving red wines with BBQ from David Gray of Portland's Examiner.com:
- Don't be afraid to cool down the reds a bit. Leave them in a cooler on a tray left on top of ice to bring them down to a desireable 65 degrees.
- Serve the wines in proper wine glasses if you can. The right glass will help maintain the flavors with ample strength to match the ultra-bold flavors of BBQ.
Two great wines we create here at Sokol Blosser that pair excellently with Summer BBQ are Evolution and Meditrina.
Pair Evolution with Cajun sausage jambalaya, grilled halibut with mango ginger sauce, fruit salad, chipotle BBQ chicken and anything off the grill.
Pair Meditrina with pulled pork sandwiches, gourmet grilled pizzas, rosemary BBQ chicken and anything off the grill.
Cheers!
Just as everything is slowing down in the Winery now that bottling is over for the year, things are really speeding up in the vineyard. After a frigid Winter and dreary Spring, Summer is coming in with a bang - our heat units are up to where they should be and the vines are growing like, well, vines. This week in the vineyard we are pulling suckers off the bottom of the vines, pulling leaves to make sure our tiny grapes are getting the air flow and sun exposure they need, and trimming the tops of some of our more overgrown vines. Good luck out there, Luis and crew!
Evolution, Lucky Edition is out and hitting the streets! Or, in this case, the woods. Evolution was "lucky" enough to join some of the Sokol Blosser crew in a camping trip this week. Below, Forrest Schaad, our Cellar Hand, and Jeff Knapp, our Cellar Club Manager, pose with a bottle that would soon be open and enjoyed, camper style.
Get some of Evolution's newest Edition for yourself by clicking here!
The following is an excert from the June 2009 edition of Cheers Magazine. Enjoy!
"Most wine benefits from proper decanting. There are four basic reasons why decanting a bottle of wine is important, two that are obvious and two that are less so. The primary reasons we decant a young wine is air... the contact with the ambient air (oxygen)will help open the wine up and make it more enjoyable in the moment.
The second reason to decant is the removal of sediment from an older wine.
The third reason we decant wines is for show. The theatrics of decanting a wine at table will inevitably get heads turning.
Finally, we decant wines to bring them up to an enjoyable temperature when they may have been stored a little cold... pouring into a warmer vessel - a decanter - helps make sure the wine is at an enjoyable drinking temperature.
Step by Step
1. Prepare for decanting. Mise en place for an older wine includes a clean decanter, candle, matches, ashtray, cork removal tolls, multiple clean serviettes, decanting basket and under-liners for the cork, bottle and decanter. For a young bottle, none of the light-related accoutrements are required.
2. Remove an old wine bottle carefully from the bin so as not to disturb the sediment.
3. Gently remove the cork, and carefully clean the lip and top of the bottle.
4. Carefully lift the bottle from the basket and pour into the decanter in one smooth movement, using the light of the candle to look for sediment. Avoid touching the bottle to the decanter.
5. Pour guests wine from the decanter in the standard manner."
There they go! It's the last day of Evolution botting at Sokol Blosser Winery. These are the last bottles of Evolution, Lucky Edition, on their way to some lucky wine drinkers. Cheers!
(DUNDEE, OR) – Sokol Blosser Winery was honored by Oregon Business magazine at the Gerding Theater on June 1 as one of Oregon’s Best Green Companies to Work For in 2009. The 100 Best Green Companies were selected based on sustainable practices sections from the 100 Best Companies to Work For survey process, completed by 372 employers last fall.
Susan Sokol Blosser, Founder of Sokol Blosser Winery, gave the keynote address. In her speech, she emphasized the importance of recognizing change in today’s business model: “The urgency of today’s crises is our opportunity to do something equally courageous, profound, and difficult—to create a lifestyle based on an economic structure that incorporates the triple bottom line—people, planet, and profit.”
Other winners in the top 10 included Gerding Edlen Development, Kimpton Hotels, Doubletree Hotel and Elephant’s Deli. Honorees were selected based on a 2008 survey of nearly 30,000 Oregon workers and a benefits survey completed by Oregon employers. After accepting the award for sixth out of 100 employers nominated, Alex Sokol Blosser, unlike his mother Susan, was nearly speechless. “We are so honored. This means a lot to us, not just as business owners but also as employers and stewards of the land. We see this as a win-win all the way – running a successful business that our employees are proud to work for, and doing it in a sustainable manner.”
Alex and Alison Sokol Blosser, who are siblings as well as second generation winegrowers and current Co-Presidents of Sokol Blosser Winery, encourage their 22 employees to discuss ideas openly and think critically about sustainability in the workplace. Sokol Blosser holds monthly Green Bag Lunches to encourage team members to talk about green ideas and has used those ideas to recreate office spaces to use more natural light and purchased eco-friendly office furniture and paints with no off-gassing. This spring, the staff also founded a half acre community garden to provide fresh produce for employees.
Sokol Blosser Winery pursues environmentally friendly practices in all phases of its business, including farming their estate vineyards to USDA certified organic standards, using biodiesel in farm tractors, and purchasing unbleached paper products for labels and wine boxes. Sokol Blosser’s 25kW photovoltaic solar panel system provides for one third of the Winery’s energy needs, and their underground barrel cellar, built to U.S. Green Building Council standards, became the first winery building in the country to earn the prestigious LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification.
About Sokol Blosser Winery
The Sokol Blosser family planted their first grapevines in 1971 in the Dundee Hills and now farms over 85 certified organic acres. As one of the pioneering wineries of the region, Sokol Blosser has played a key role in developing and shaping the now-prominent Oregon wine industry. The winery works to create wines of world-class quality, produced in a sustainable manner, which reflect the distinctive flavors of the grapes, soil, and climate, as well as the winery's values and sense of place. The winery produces Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris, Evolution (a proprietary white wine blend of nine varieties) and Meditrina (proprietary red blend), along with small quantities of Single Block Pinot Noirs in selected vintages. Learn more at www.sokolblosser.com.
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Well friends, it’s that time of year again. It’s time when we lace up our hiking boots, throw on our sunscreen and make our ways out into the bounty of Oregon’s beautiful countryside. Here at Sokol Blosser we have our 2nd annual Summer Vineyard Hikes. These hikes provide our guests with the opportunity to really emerse themselves for a day in the winery and vineyards.
This past weekend a group of 20 of us set out at 10am to tour the 100 acres here at Sokol Blosser. We made our way through the lower parts of our vineyards exploring our Bluebird Block Pinot Gris, our Staff Garden and our Concert Block Pinot Noir which skirts the original Eyrie Vineyards planted in the late 1960’s by David Lett. It was a great place to stop and enjoy a glass of our 2008 Dundee Hills Pinot Gris (stashed amongst the vines earlier that morning).
From there we made our way up from about 200 ft elevation to around 500 ft elevation discussing organic farming, the life cycle of the vine, wine making and all sorts of other random thoughts. As we approaced the top of our vineyards, nestled amongst our Big Tree Block Pinot Noir we sampled our 2008 Rosé of Pinot Noir and looked out over the Willamette Valley. From there you can really get a great view of the Cascade Mountain Range and the Coastal Range and have a good idea of what makes this unique geological spot perfect for growing that most delicate of varietals, Pinot Noir.
At the top of our vineyards we visited Red Ridge Farms. If you haven’t been to Red Ridge, do yourself a favor and go. RR is a nursery with beautiful lavendar gardens, sweeping vistas and a brand new Olive Oil making facility. We toured their state-of-the-art Olive Oil press, looked at their antique Roman Oil Press and did a tasting of their Olive Oils.
After that we made our way back through our vineyards to our next wine oasis. Situated amongst the fruit trees bordering our Orchard Block, we sampled our 2006 Dundee Hills and 2006 Estate Pinot Noir. About this time we were getting hungry. We quickly completed our 2.75 mile loop and wound up back at the winery where we indulged ourselves with a large, family style, wine picnic lunch. We featured several salads from Dundee’s newest restaurant, Farm to Fork as well as artisan breads, cheeses, charcuterie and fruit. (The Golden Beet Salad that chef Paul Bachand created was heavenly). While dining we tasted our two blended wines, Evolution and Meditrina. These were a perfect match for pairing with the picnic.
The day concluded with a tour of our LEED Certified Barrel Cellar and our winery tasting 2008 Willamette Valley Early Muscat and our 2007 Columbia Valley Dessert Riesling.
These hikes are the highlight of my summer and think they would be one of yours as well. If you are interested in joining us on any of the upcoming hikes, space is still available, but going quickly. The remaining dates are: Saturdays June 20th, July 11th, August 1st, 15th, 29th .
Contact me, Jeff Knapp for more info.
Email: jeff@sokolblosser.com
ph# 503-565-2308
Did you know that most of our Pinot Noir Vineyard Blocks are named after what used to be there, before the grapevines?
Blackberry Block (our newest block, named in 2008 by a Cellar Club member)
Big Tree Block
Concert Block (remember the great concerts back in the '90s? These vines are planted in the former parking area)
Goosepen Block
Old Vineyard Block (it's now replanted and named the New Old Vineyard)
Orchard Block
Peach Tree Block
Walnut Block
The only block that doesn't fit is our Watershed Block Pinot Noir - the Watershed is still there!
Other blocks in our estate vineyard:
Blue Bird Block Pinot Gris
Cattail Block Pinot Gris
Fir Island Block Pinot Gris
Betty Block Müller-Thurgau
Red House Riesling
We have received a few requests for copies of Susan Sokol Blosser's keynote address from the 100 Best Green Companies to Work For in Oregon event on June 1, 2009. Sokol Blosser Winery was voted 6th - an honor that we are very thankful to be recognized for. Enjoy the following!
by Susan Sokol Blosser
You are a special group of people. You have broadened the traditional business quest for profit to include concern for people and planet--the triple bottom line--and I salute you. In doing this, you are at the forefront of what is slowly becoming recognized as the way to do business. Congratulations.
We’ve come a long way and it’s worth celebrating. Tonight is an exciting occasion. But I want to urge you to think of what’s next. Where do we go from here? Let’s start with a look at where we are now. It’s not pretty. The economy is close to collapse; we’ve borrowed beyond our means and drained our financial capital. The planet is in similar shape. By drawing down the earth’s natural resources and destroying the great forests, prairies, and wetlands, we’ve done the same thing to what is called our natural capital. Our farming system, in an effort to get bigger and bigger crops, has depleted the soil and polluted our waterways. Our food supply is threatened by years of overfishing our oceans. We’re sitting on a population time bomb. And this is a quick summary. So what happens next?
Crisis is disaster but it is also opportunity. We sit on an historic chance for deep-seated change, and I’m excited about the possibilities. As Rahm Emmanuel said, “A crisis is a terrible opportunity to waste.” Thomas Friedman described the prospect our current situation represents in his NY Times column. “What if the crisis of 2008 represents something much more fundamental than a deep recession?” he asked. “What if it’s telling us that the whole growth model we created over the last 50 years is simply unsustainable economically and ecologically and that 2008 was when we hit the wall—when Mother Nature and the market both said: ‘No more’.”
So, let’s look at it this way. What if, instead of trying to return to the old system, we create a new one? Economic recovery doesn’t have to mean we return to overspending, over-production, overconsumption, and planned obsolescence. If we simply return to where we were, we’ll keep repeating the same growth and crash cycle. Can we revise our mindset and acknowledge that we’re moving into a world of scarcity to which we must adjust?
Can we move from an “all you can eat” and “bigger is better” mentality to “quality over quantity” and “small is beautiful?” This revision would define prosperity as more than Gross Domestic Product—as more than profit. Can we do it? It is a big leap, but think of the good that might happen. Many of the health problems we face today, for example—obesity, diabetes, heart disease—are the result of our supersizing economic mindset.
Although we’re not all in agreement on how to do it, we know we must reduce carbon emissions, air pollution, and non-biodegradable waste generation. We must give Nature a chance to rebound and replenish—rebuilding the depleted fish stocks in the oceans, for example. We know we need to do more to conserve our natural capital instead of living off it like it had no end.
This sounds so sensible, so reasonable. But it isn’t easy. Growth is the rub. Continuous, double digit growth is the capitalist refrain. How do we scale up if we adopt the small is beautiful melody? The verdict is still out on this, torn between those who believe it will be impossible to rewire our compulsive consumerism and those who think it with the right leaders and legislation, it is possible. It will take humanity’s best qualities to move in this direction, but our history has shown that when we cooperate for the good of the all, great things can happen. Our Founding Fathers changed the course of history by balancing the rights of individuals with the welfare of the whole in creating our country.
Here in Oregon in the 1970s, the Oregon legislature looked at the good of the general populace above individual interests and passed the bottle bill, the beach bill, and the land use planning bill. The urgency of today’s crises is our opportunity to do something equally courageous, profound, and difficult—to create a lifestyle based on an economic structure that incorporates the triple bottom line—people, planet, and profit.
What can you and I do? I want to offer three suggestions: 1, Collaborate. 2, Let Nature be our teacher and ally. 3, Understand how interconnected we are on a global level.
1) I can give you an example of how prosperity looks today under the sustainable and small is beautiful mantra. The key word is collaboration. Take Organic Valley dairy products. You see Organic Valley products all over the country. It appears to be a huge company. But it’s just a collection of small family farms whose success has come from banding together for marketing and distribution. Country Natural Beef and Shepherd’s Grain are similar concepts. Controlling one’s own small operation but collaborating to get the advantage of size, gives these companies presence and power in the marketplace. Some forward thinking fisheries have developed a “catch share” approach – individual fishing families agree to share the seasonal fish allocation so as not to deplete the stock.
2) We are a part of Nature; we’re not above it; we’re not separate from it. We’ve tried to control Nature and what we’ve done is pollute the planet and cause disease and disfigurement of ourselves and the land. Let’s trade our arrogance for humility and learn to work with her. This is the essence of sustainability—not taking from Nature what can’t be replaced and not taking more than can be quickly restored.
If we follow the history of the wild salmon, whose stocks have steadily declined, we can see the ramifications of policies that look at particular needs of one sector of the economy at the expense of the good of the entirety. Nature knows no political boundaries. We need to approach our interactions with Nature, by considering the long term health of regional ecosystems and the planet as a whole. We cannot afford to cater to the demands of specific economic sectors with the loudest voices or the most political clout. The salmon can’t speak but we now know that their health is a barometer of the health of the planetary ecosystem.
The “all you can eat”, “bigger is better” mentality gets its impetus from our national farm policy which, since the 1950’s, has been to produce as much food as possible, made available to the American consumer as inexpensively as possible. The emphasis on quantity has led to practices such as the increased use of synthetic chemicals and genetically modified seed to enhance production—it’s the equivalent of farming on steroids. The unintended consequences of the emphasis on quantity are countless, including the sorry spectacle of feedlots and inhumane treatment of animals for food production, the national obesity epidemic, and huge corporate farms spewing chemical runoff into waterways. Chemical farming only increases production in the short term and, like steroid use, eventually does more harm than good.
Sustainable organic is the antidote to this, with a mindset that looks at the world through a different lens, emphasizing quality and the health of both the people who work the fields and the people who consume the product, as well as the health of the planet.
I’m using farming as an example because that’s what I know, but the same is true of other sectors of the economy. Nature is our ally and teacher; we will do well to treat her accordingly.
3) We’re all connected globally in multiple ways. Barry Commoner’s first law of ecology is that everything is connected to everything else. It can be as simple as pollution from China affecting our air quality, but can also be as complex as the story of the cork we use in our wine bottles. Cork is a renewable resource, coming from cork forests in Portugal and the Mediterranean area. Cork wine stoppers are made from the bark, stripped periodically from cork trees, which themselves live about 200 years. The ancient cork forests have been listed by the Nature Conservancy as one of the disappearing ecospheres important to the biodiversity of the planet.
Cork has value on three levels: as a product made from a renewable resource, (also recyclable and biodegradable); as a protector of biodiversity of the planet, providing habitat for endangered species and a buffer for desertification; and as a source of economic security for a region. Half a planet away, the giant Australian wine industry has been promoting the use of metal screw caps instead of cork. This movement, which has spread to the rest of the world, has threatened the existence of the cork forests to the extent that the World Wildlife Foundation has put out a plea to wineries to continue using cork to save the forests and all they represent. Cork versus screw caps is a controversial and complex issue in my industry and it demonstrates how interconnected we are on a global basis.
I’m not an economist. I’m a farmer and a business person who cares about the land and my community. Running my business has proved to me it is possible to work with nature, think globally, act locally, collaborate, and be successful while mindful of the triple bottom line of people, planet, and profit. Not everyone agrees with this but I think maybe you do. This is an exciting and critical time. We are at the ultimate crossroads.
This April, Stanford professor John Felstiner, was interviewed on National Public Radio about his new book, Can Poetry Save the Earth? It’s a collection of English and American poetry about the natural world. He was asked, sort of as a joke, I think, to pick one poem that could save the world if enough people read it. He didn’t hesitate but picked a poem by our own William Stafford. I’m going to read it to you.
The Well Rising
The well rising without sound,
The spring on a hillside,
The plowshare brimming through deep ground
Everywhere in the field---
The sharp swallows in their swerve
Flaring and hesitating
Hunting for the final curve
Coming closer and closer---
The swallow heart from wing beat to wing beat
Counseling decision, decision:
Thunderous examples. I place my feet
With care in such a world.
Wow, has it already been two weeks since my trek through the Midwest? It seems like just yesterday, perhaps because my mouth is still watering from the incredible meal I enjoyed at Carnivale. Chef Mendez and his lovely bride and Carnivale Wine Director, Liz Palmer Mendez, put together an amazing meal paired with six of my wines.
Liz Mendez with Evolution and Meditrina.
I had the pleasure of dining at Carnivale several years ago and so I was really looking forward to this wine dinner. My memory was that the décor at Carnivale was eclectic and memorable. The food was creative, full of complex and interesting flavors, and, for the most part, sustainably or locally produced. And the employees ware warm and made you want to linger longer. From my prior visit, I had a strong hunch the evening would be perfect and I was not disappointed!
The first course was called a “Tasting of Tiradito” which included three different kinds of chile pastes on three different kinds of fish: scallop, yellowfin tuna, and kona kampachi. It was delicious! We had both Evolution and Pinot Gris with this course, which was fun to try both. The Pinot Gris held its own, but Evolution was the winner because it paired so well with the spiciness of the chile paste.
The second course was a wild salmon dish with morel mushrooms, chorizo and leeks. Chef Mendez lamented that he wasn’t able to get Copper River Salmon, but he got the next best thing. Having morel mushrooms is always a treat, and the chorizo added lovely texture. Salmon and Pinot is my favorite pairing, and this dish worked extremely well with our 2006 Dundee Hills Pinot Noir.
At this point, I was in heaven after the first two courses and I had met a lot of lovely and interesting people from the Chicagoland area. Then came the third course, which was a delicious braised duck dish that was so tender and juicy and paired nicely with our red blend, Meditrina. (By the way, Carnivale serves Meditrina by the glass, so go check it out and have a glass of Meditrina!) As if things couldn’t get better, Chef Mendez presented us with three chunks of melt-in-your-mouth cheese paired with our White Riesling Dessert Wine. For those of you who have dared to try it, you know that our dessert wine pairs marvelously with blue cheese. It was fun to share this somewhat unusual pairing with a group of food and wine lovers like myself.
I also had the pleasure of talking with Michael Sands, GM of Carnivale, who was eager to share some of the green initiatives Carnivale has undertaken. Having a green streak of my own, I was eager to hear about their efforts to go green. To start, they recycle their fat fryer oil, grow herbs and veggies on a rooftop garden, source local produce, change their menu based on seasonal selections, and only serve sustainable seafood. It’s hard being green, and I applaud Carnivale’s efforts. They even have a green page on their website, which I have not seen often among restaurants. And, be sure to check out their Farm to Table Celebration dinners. They sound great, and I wish I could attend one.
Thank you to Chef Mendez, Liz, Michael and the whole gang at Carnivale for hosting me for an amazing culinary adventure. And, thank you to all the people who dined with me that night instead of watching the American Idol finale. I hope you will come visit me in Oregon soon!
After a long spring of planning, the staff garden is finally a reality. Based off of the local CSA model, Sokol Blosser staff members are invited to share in the produce of our employee garden in exchange for working a few hours a month to take care of it.
Below, staff members Kitri McGuire, Rodolphe Louchart and Jeff Knapp survey the land and drip irrigation before planting.
We are beginning our garden with 4 long row of produce: peppers (both sweet and hot varieties), tomatoes (including Willamette and Green Zebra heirloom varieties), watermelons, cucumbers (regular and lemon) and pole beans.
In the fall, we will be adding several varieties of fruit trees including pear, apple and fig (and perhaps experimenting with lemons and limes). We will also build trellising for blueberries, raspberries, and several varieties of hops (we have several home-brewers on staff) to be planted in Spring 2010.
Our employee garden is visible on the driveway up to our Tasting Room, on the left hand side of the road across from our compost piles. Look for more updates after we finish planting next week!
Lauri, a Prescott Bluebird Recovery Project Bander whose routes include Champoeg Park, reported yesterday that a female Western Bluebird hatched in one of our nestboxs has been recaptured as the female of a pair nesting at the Park this season.
She was hatched in June, 2008. She has a clutch of 6 eggs in a nestbox that is used every year, and in fact is often the "showcase" nestbox for the June Champoeg Bluebird Day, because of its location near the Visitors' Center. Lauri reports that they have not been successful yet in recapturing the male to determine his history.
This is a reasonably long travel for a female to find a nesting location. The Park, which has substantial oak with mistletoe strongly growing, is a regular overwintering location for bluebirds, who appreciate the berries as a food source during winter.
Nancy, our friend from the Prescott Western Bluebird Recovery Project, banded one box of chicks this last weekend and, as usual, tried to capture the parents to check their bands for their history or band them if they weren’t already banded. She does this with a small wire cage baited with meal worms. She checks them, records the number on the band, and lets them go. It’s very fast, once they’re trapped, which isn’t easy. She wasn’t able to capture the male but she did get the female. The female was first captured and banded nesting in June of 2006. So, this is the fourth year that she has nested at that box. Bluebirds live 6-7 years, so this is a healthy female. Happy too, I suspect, as our Winemaker Russ Rosner gives her meal worm treats.
A big "Dank u wel!" (thank you!) to our new importers in the Netherlands!
Above, Alex Sokol Blosser visits Sokol Blosser Winery's new Dutch importers with some Evolution in hand. Cheers!
We're setting up the Big Tent today in preparation for our huge 19th Annual Memorial Weekend Summer Kickoff! The weather will be gorgeous, the wine will be flowing - how much better can it get?
We'll have music, a tasting flight of 7 wines, and Phresh Organic Catering will be offering their delicious grilled picnic fare. All of us will be having a great time - and we invite you to join in!
We're located 2.5 miles South of Dundee on 99W. Click here for directions to the Winery, or if you can't make it to see us this weekend, visit our website at www.sokolblosser.com for 20% off of all case purchases through May 31! Simply enter in the coupon code MDAY09 in the Coupon Code field at checkout.
Cheers!
As some of you know, we are a part of the Western Bluebird Recovery Project. We host many bluebird boxes around the vineyard, and things are getting exciting! Check out our Winemaker Russ Rosner's notes on the progress of our many Western Bluebird families:
715: 4 WEBL eggs (warm). Last egg laid 5/15 (?). Estimated hatch date 5/29.
706: No change (complete nest, no eggs).
705: ~2” WEBL nesting material, now with ~2” swallow nesting material on top.
701: 6 WEBL eggs (warm). Last egg 5/14. Estimated hatch date 5/28.
704: 6 WEBL eggs (warm). Last egg 5/8 (?). Estimated hatch date 5/22.
702a: 6 (?) WEBL chicks. Hatched 5/12.
702b: Swallow nest. No eggs.
703: 5 WEBL eggs (warm); first egg laid 5/1(?), last egg laid 5/5 (?). Estimated hatch date 5/19.
709: Complete WEBL nest; no eggs.
710: Empty.
707: 6 (?) WEBL chicks. Hatched 5/17. (This hatch date is one day earlier than predicted.)
714: HOSP nest.
712: 6 WEBL eggs (warm). Last egg laid 5/12 (?). Estimated hatch date 5/26.
Now we have something very disappointing to report. We found a dead male WEBL partially squashed/run over on our winery drive just near box 706 (the first box you come to on the right as you come up our road). He was tagged - #2251-82871. Most likely he was the male of the pair for that box; it’s fortunate that they had not yet laid any eggs.
Next Sunday, the 24th, we will begin the first banding of our new fledgelings.
It was a gorgeous day Saturday when I joined about 30 others to help spruce up Herbert Hoover Park in Newberg (named after President Herbert Hoover, who is the only US President to have lived in Oregon). I pass the park on my way to work every day but rarely pay much attention to it. I’ve always enjoyed seeing the giant tree that the city lights each year for the holidays, and I’ve heard that a stellar Frisbee golf course meanders through the park. Even though I grew up about 15 minutes away, I’ve never stepped foot in the park! So, taking part of Take Care of Oregon Days seemed like the right opportunity to get to know this hometown park. I’m on the board of Oregon150, which is a group the Governor appointed to help plan Oregon’s sesquicentennial birthday this year. One of the major initiatives Oregon150 undertook was to create a way for Oregonians all over the state to give back to their communities. There were about 600 projects on May 16th around the state. SOLV, a terrific non-profit that helps to keep Oregon clean and beautiful, helped to create and publicize the various projects around the state.
Unfortunately, May 16 also coincided with a very busy pre-Memorial weekend open house at the winery, so I was the sole representative of Sokol Blosser at the park clean-up. I worked alongside quite a few Newberg High Schoolers. I was impressed that Newberg HS has a greenhouse and offers classes to help students develop a green thumb. Participating in the park beautification project earned these students extra credit. The plants we put into the ground actually came from the school’s greenhouse, and they were also concurrently running a plant sale through the weekend as well.
We planted a bunch of flowers at the entry to the park and worked to trim trees and remove blackberries (that is really tough work – can’t we just get the city some goats?). All in all, it was a great morning and I can’t wait to drive by the park to see how the flowers we planted are doing. And, there’s a fabulous play structure that I know my son will enjoy, so I will definitely be back soon. I encourage you to visit on your way to or from wine country as well!
