Sokol Blosser farms its vineyards organically, attaining full USDA organic certification in 2005.

The Sokol Blosser family has grown wine grapes in the Dundee Hills for over 30 years. We know our hillsides are perfect for Pinot Noir. It's a serendipitous coming together of all the necessary elements--well-drained red clay loam soil, the right elevation of the gently rolling hills, the angle of the sun on the vines, the microclimate that protects us from spring frost, the wet winters, the not-too-hot summers, the long, warm autumns. This is the terroir of Sokol Blosser. It is in our care and we are determined to protect it.

In the early 1970s when we helped pioneer Oregon viticulture, standard farming practices included extensive use of synthetic chemical sprays, artificial fertilizers, and a mono-cultural approach to farming. Our more holistic approach looks at the vineyard as a small ecosystem. We seek biodiversity starting with the soil and working up. We encourage microbial activity in the soil and wildflowers in the buffer zones around the vines. These in turn encourage butterflies, beneficial insects, and birds. The vineyard looks more beautiful, but the key is that sustainably-grown grapes are healthier and make better wine. Our approach both protects the environment and increases wine quality.

Here are some highlights of our sustainable farming practices:

Sunlight and Air
Sunlight and air are key components of healthy grapevines. The extra handwork needed to pull leaves and adjust the vine canopy produces superb and intense fruit. It also reduces the need for synthetic chemical sprays.

Biodiversity
By sowing wildflowers and other vegetation around the grapevines and the edges of the vineyard, we encourage beneficial insects, which help protect the grapevines from harmful pests. Encouraging biodiversity means the vineyards will not look as manicured as a clean-cultivated farm in which grapes are the only living vegetation, but a variety of vegetation is an important part of a healthy vineyard. Because we don't use harmful sprays that remain in the soil and kill wildlife, we have an abundance of bees and insects and also swallows and bluebirds to keep the insect population from getting too large. Sokol Blosser is part of the Prescott Bluebird Recovery Project in the Northern Willamette Valley.

Erosion Control
Sokol Blosser set the standard as the first vineyard in Oregon to make use of permanent cover crops in vineyards. In the early 1980s we partnered with Oregon State University and the U.S. Soil Conservation Service to test a number of different permanent grass cover crops. The goals were to control erosion of topsoil, eliminate run-off, provide a good surface for tractors and foot traffic, be low-growing and drought-resistant, and not compete with the grapes for water and nutrients.

Fertilizers and Sprays
We use only organic fertilizers, not synthetic. Returning grape nutrients to the soil in a sustainable loop, we spread the grape pomace (skins and stems) generated by the winemaking process back into the vineyard. We do the same sustainable loop in midwinter after pruning the vines by chopping the pruned canes to mulch in the vineyard rows. We control water-competing vegetation under the vines either by hand-hoeing or by a mechanical hoe attached to the tractor. To control powdery mildew and botrytis, our two most significant disease threats, we use the most benign sprays available, chiefly sulfur, an organic spray.

Land Use
When Oregon's landmark land-use program began in the 1970s, the Sokol Blossers took a key role in Yamhill County's planning process to protect potential hillside vineyard sites from non-agricultural development. More recently Sokol Blosser Winery took the lead in stream restoration, raising funds and putting together a coalition of non-profit environmental groups to help with remediation.

Certification
As a result of Sokol Blosser's longstanding environmental commitment, the Pacific Rivers Council made us the first winery to be certified as "Salmon Safe" when it began its program to increase consumer awareness of producers' environmental practices. Sokol Blosser has also received certification in a sustainable agriculture program called LIVE (Low Input Viticulture & Enology), which has been recognized internationally.

Sustainable Packaging
Sokol Blosser strives to use sustainable packaging: wine labels are printed on 30% post-consumer-waste recycled paper, cases are made of unbleached kraft paper and tin capsules have been eliminated.