July talk will examine the beginnings of Yamhill County's legendary wine industry

McMINNVILLE — A talk by one of Oregon’s pioneer winemakers is on tap in mid-July.

“Secrets of the Past: Can You Really Grow Grapes in Oregon — An Inside Look at the Challenge of Developing the Yamhill County Wine Industry” is set for 6 to 7 p.m. July 16 at the Yamhill Valley Heritage Center, 11275 S.W. Durham Lane. Admission is $5, although members of the group holding the talk, the Yamhill County Historical Society, enter for free.

Speaking that night is someone with intimate knowledge of the region’s wine history and how it came to be that Yamhill County became a worldwide leader in wine production: Susan Sokol Blosser.

“Yamhill County’s wine industry began over 50 years ago with a handful of young idealists,” a release from the historical society said. “One of those early pioneers, Susan Sokol Blosser, will give us the inside scoop on what it was like to develop an industry that now has international prominence and pumps billions of dollars into the Oregon economy.”

Sokol Blosser knows of what she speaks.

“When women were rarely decision makers in business or agriculture, Susan distinguished herself in both,” the release said. “Over the course of three decades she has managed every aspect of Sokol Blosser’s vineyard and winery operation, embracing the triple bottom line of People/Planet/Profit.”

Sokol Blosser is the recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Oregon Wine Board, was the first non-Californian woman inducted into the national Women for Wine Sense Hall of Fame and the second American woman to receive the prestigious Diploma of Honor by the Paris-based Fédération Internationale des Confréries Bachiques.

For more information on the talk, visit yamhillcountyhistory.org , email office@yamhillcountyhistory.org or call 503-472-2842.