Fidelitas Wines

Your Concierge Team is On-Call

Once again, the dynamic Club Team is on call to assist you with your holiday gifting needs!

Introducing your Club Concierge Team:

Michelle Marsh (left) + Skye Dissette (right)

We're here to help with anything you bring to us! Even recipe ideas for holiday entertaining or deciding what wine will pair best with irksome in-laws. 

Need something special shipped to your cousins across country, no problem! We'll even wrap it up in shimmering paper, tie it with a bow, hand write your gift note, and ensure that we ship it to arrive on time. 

Trying to come up with a gift that keeps on giving for that special someone who deserves something special all year round...look no further! We'll help you set up a customized gift Wine Club Membership. 

Know someone who is already a Fidelitas fan and want to pick out something unique? We'll gladly ponder their wine history to see what their favorites are and dig around in our Library for something comparable or find a Large format they will enjoy. 

Did you know that we'll even hand deliver local gifts for you? We pack up the trusty Subaru with cases of wine and find our way to your office to give those hardworking employees of yours a gift they will be sure to enjoy.

We even have something for the novice wine drinker! 

Contact your Concierge Team at club@fidelitaswines.com or 509.554.9191

Not planning any holiday giving? That’s okay! Drop us a note just to say hello, it would make our day!

 

Stacking my Cases for the Season

It’s hard working in the wine industry.  Especially during the holidays.

When I arrive at a holiday party, I know the hostess is looking for that special bottle to add to the bar.  My hair stylist, nanny, and neighbors, are all a little too excited to see me as the holidays near.  Everyone tells me “oh…but you have the good wine” and are secretly hoping that I might gift a bottle.  It’s a good problem to have (people like Fidelitas!) but a problem, still.

And so, I’ve gotten good at stacking my case purchases with the right mix of wines for the season.  Here is my shopping list this year:

4040 Red Wine and Optu White on hand…always.  These are the ones that are nice to have wrapped and ready so I can gift a quick bottle to my daughter’s teachers, or whoever I come across that needs a last minute gift from us. (4040 is available by special request!)

Optu Red Mountain for hostess gifts.  This is a crowd pleaser wine.  It’ll drink great the night of a holiday party, or will age beautifully if your host decides to cellar it instead of sharing.

A couple of magnums (ESTATE! And probably some Optu) for those on my list who “have it all”.  Magnums are always impressive, even for someone with a giant wine collection.  They are great at parties, or are amazing additions to anyone’s cellar.

I love to plan ahead and grab a few cases early, so that wine is always on hand and ready to pass out.  Of course, I always make sure to grab a couple extra bottles to keep around the house so I can gave a glass in front of the tree!

The Real Winner During the Holidays

As many of you know, Charlie makes one delicious Late Harvest Semillon. If you’re sitting there thinking “What? I had no idea!”, we won’t blame you. This wine rarely makes it onto the tasting bar mainly because we don’t produce a lot of it and love to have it around for special occasions, like the holidays!

Charlie leaves the grapes on the vines longer than you normally would, so that they develop more sugar and become much more concentrated. Look at it this way. Charlie brought in fruit for our dry Semillon on Sunday, September 10th. For our Late Harvest Semillon, he picked the fruit on Tuesday, November 21. Over two months later! I mentioned that we don’t typically pour this in the tasting room because not a lot is produced, roughly 50 cases, but it’s also a little more difficult to produce. Charlie takes a big risk leaving the grapes on the vines that long and the overall winemaking process is more delicate. Therefore, he has only released one vintage, soon to be two!

Why bring it along for the holidays? Our Late Harvest Semillon pairs wonderfully with dessert! A small sip with every bite of that tart or pie is just what you need to end your holiday feasting. It’s also great to sip on with any cheese plate. Trust me, you’ll love it!

Our 2013 vintage is still available on our website or in the tasting rooms.

---

Everyone at Team Fidelitas hopes you have a wonderful Thanksgiving with family and friends! 

Thanksgiving Trio: The Perfect Pairing for Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is by far one of my favorite holidays and my big task is always bringing the wine to share with my friends and family. Whether it’s’ serving a wine with each course or giving a bottle to a dinner host, these wines are the perfect accompaniment for the holiday season.

2015 Optu White Wine

In my opinion should be taken everywhere this year. It’s the perfect “red wine drinkers white,” a bright and crisp wine to share while putting the final touches on the meal and lastly it pairs beautifully with turkey. The Optu White Wine is balanced and has a great viscosity and mouthfeel. The long finish and balanced acidity are what give the wine is signature characteristics allowing it to be a staple for festive holiday dinners.

2014 Ciel du Cheval Merlot

I wait all year for this wine and every year I make sure to share it during Thanksgiving, my family has begun to ask for it by name. If you’re making the dinner rounds this year, this wine is a great to share with a crowd. If you finished the Optu White before dinner not to worry, the Ciel du Cheval Merlot is a dense and herbaceous wine that grabs all those spices and herbs from the turkey and stuffing. This wine showcases aromas of brown sugar and baking spice with a smooth intake, polished tannins and a lengthy finish. The Ciel du Cheval Merlot is a seamless wine for dinner or even after as you avoid doing those dishes.

2014 Quintessence Cabernet Sauvignon

Dinner wouldn’t be complete at Fidelitas without our favorite varietal, Cabernet Sauvignon. As herbal notes of dried sage lift from the glass we can’t help but make the Quintessence Cabernet a signature wine this time of year. To be honest, I am usually hoarding this wine all to myself, but if you going to a wine lover’s home this wine is sure to be a showstopper. As it aged in French oak, this old-world style Cabernet uses clones 169 and 191. This wine is a gem that shines through the glass and it’s best enjoyed with the main course. 

Click here to purchase the Thanksgiving Trio! 

Harvest 2017...done!

And just like that, the 2017 harvest is done.  The grapes brought in were lovingly turned in to some top notch juice, and are now nestled in to their barrels to rest for a bit.  We saw our first fruit of the season, Sauvignon Blanc and then Semillon, come in from Klipsun Vineyard just after Labor Day.  Reds started to come in just after that.  Mostly from the eastern facing Quintessence Vineyard, but we worked our way west with the sun, and finished up by picking our own Fidelitas Estate Vineyard in mid-October.  It is wonderful and challenging to have all of our fruit from the smallest, and warmest, AVA in the state.  Everything ripens at about the same time, all vying for space in the cellar.  Charlie and his crew worked around the clock to keep things moving along, and just took their first weekend off a few days ago.

A special shout out to Charlie, who just completed his 30th harvest in Washington state.  His first winemaking job, fresh out of UC Davis, was at the start of crush in 1988 at Langguth/Saddle Mountain, and he’s never looked back.  We have just a handful of winemakers in Washington nowadays who can claim three decades, and I’m proud to be working with one of them.  When I asked him about this 2017 harvest, here is what he said:

"This has the potential to be one of my top 5 vintages. Already, the wines are showing great promise, like those in 2009 or 2012. In 2017, we had cooler weather than recent vintages, and longer hang times which really led to the development of flavors. It was a lower crop overall, contributed to the high quality of fruit we brought in. Of course, we still need time to see how they age out, but everyone is blown away by it now." - Charlie Hoppes, Fidelitas Owner + Winemaker

 

 

Micro-Blocks of Ciel du Cheval

Long before the place we call home became riddled with award winning vineyards, wineries, and wines; 2 former General Electric engineers turned wine visionaries planted the first Red Mountain vines in 1975.  Scott Williams of Kiona and Jim Holmes of Ciel du Cheval.  My dad has recognized the quality from CDC for quite some time – our Ciel du Cheval Cabernet which has become a Fidélitas staple was first produced in 2006.  But what is it about Ciel that makes it so special?  I doubt this blog post will do 42 years of intensive vineyard management justice, and with terroir it seems there’s only so much we can explain – but here is one of my favorite characteristics:

1, 100-acre vineyard – 39 separate blocks.  One of the ways that old vineyards become so unique and sought-afer is how different the individual plants become over time.  A little different slope here, slighty more sunlight there, even an irrigation pipe that drips water at a faster rate.  All these differences cause each of the plants to develop their own personalities – even if 100 acres or so are all the same exact root stock to begin with. 

CDC takes it one step further.  Making up some 102 total acres here are 36 separate blocks planted with an average size of 2.8 acres.  Each one with its own row orientation, plant spacing, training methods, etc…  to create individual terroirs at a micro level.  The vineyard management is exhausting and would be much easier to farm the 100 acres in a uniform manner, but this small-lot method shows Holmes’ commitment to producing the best fruit possible.  The methodology reminds me of our winemaking team which uses all sorts fermentation vessels, yeasts, and barrels to have multiple components to work with for one wine.  A bottle of Ciel du Cheval cabernet is way more complicated than it seems.

This strategy was used to combat the homogenous soils of the vineyard.  Example of the sandy, well draining, high in calcium carbonate soil on Red Mountain:

Ciel du Cheval in relation to Fidélitas (note the red hue of the “Red” Mountain cheatgrass):

The Truth About Limited Release Wines

Often you hear us, and your other favorite wineries, spouting the term “limited release” when debuting a new wine. It’s a common term in this industry where every wine produced is unique. That vintage, those vineyards, the barrels used, and the hard work that goes into each bottle made makes each wine different from one another. That’s what makes collecting wine so fun right? There is quite literally a “limited” number of bottles made of every single wine out there. What that means though, can look different for different wineries.

In larger growing regions such as Napa Valley, for example, it is not uncommon for wineries to make 20,000-30,000 cases of wine annually. A 1,000 case production Cabernet for them would certainly be considered “limited”. Believe it or not, those wineries are still considered “small” according to industry standards. For comparison, Fidelitas produces about 6,000 total cases annually which just kicks us up from “very small” to “small” guys in this big industry.

The wines that we release range between as few as 50 cases, like the very special release of Quintessence Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc, to the high end of the spectrum which is about 575 cases of a single wine like our mainstay, Optu Red Mountain.

The point I’m getting to is this: when we say “limited release” we really mean it.  

Because of Charlie’s long-standing relationship with growers on Red Mountain we are able to get our hands on some of the most exclusive fruit available. Sometimes that means we only get a couple tons from a certain vineyard block. One example of this is the release of our single varietal wines from Ciel du Cheval Vineyard which will be available to members next month. In the 2014 vintage we produced five wines from Ciel du Cheval Vineyard:

2014 Ciel du Cheval Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon – 386 cases

2014 Ciel du Cheval Vineyard Merlot – 98 cases

2014 Ciel du Cheval Vineyard Petit Verdot – 72 cases

2014 Ciel du Cheval Vineyard Cabernet Franc – 94 cases (sold out prior to the release)

2014 Ciel du Cheval Vineyard Red Wine – 190 cases (sold out prior to the release)

Now let’s factor in the amount needed to fulfill Wine Club Member allocations plus Club Member pre-orders...there’s generally a dangerously low amount left over to sell in our tasting rooms or online. This is a good thing, right? Yes. However, we desperately want you to be able to enjoy the wines from Fidelitas that you are most interested in. The only way to guarantee that you’ll get your hands on the most “limited” wines of Fidelitas is by becoming a member of the Fidelitas Wine Club and putting your name on the pre-order or wait lists.

As Fidelitas grows, our wines are becoming more “limited” than ever. Will you be first in line for the most exclusive Fidelitas wines yet? 

The Return of Ciel du Cheval

It’s the best time of year here at Fidelitas because our Ciel du Cheval wines find their way back into the lineup! Who doesn’t love big bold reds from 42-year-old vines? In just a couple of weeks we will be releasing some of my favorites just in time for the holidays. These wines will be available to the Wine Club starting Friday, November 3rd. Not in the Club? Join online today, or email us to get in on these limited release wines before they are gone!

---

2014 Ciel du Cheval Cabernet Sauvignon - 94 points, The Wine Advocate

This Cabernet offers aromas of fig, blackberry, and quince, dried tobacco, and a touch of cedar. The perfect Cabernet from Red Mountain!

(in both FLT and Optu allocations)

---

2014 Ciel du Cheval Cabernet Franc - SOLD OUT

One of our most limited wines of the year. The Cabernet Franc is a deep ruby tone, nearly opaque, showing aromas of blueberry, tart cherry, green bell peppers, and a touch of caramel. 

(in FLT allocation)

*Email us to put you on the wait-list

---

2014 Ciel du Cheval Red Wine - SOLD OUT

Last year, this was our Merlot-based blend but we decided to switch it up! This year it's Cabernet-based with aromas of cherry and strawberry with tobacco and black pepper. 

(in Optu allocation)

*Email us to put you on the wait-list

---

2014 Ciel du Cheval Merlot

My favorite Merlot of the year that is perfect for any holiday dish or dinner party. It is showcasing aromas of plums, raspberry, brown sugar, and baking spices.

(available for add-on purchases)

---

2014 Ciel du Cheval Petit Verdot

For those who love unique, intense wines! This wine provides black fruit aromas with tones of red currant, figs, and dried herbs.

(available for add-on purchases)

---

 

Helping our Neighbors...Still

I woke up a few weeks back, read the headlines, and determined that it would be a better to stay in bed with my kids all day.  The news was just too horrible, with too many lives impacted once again.  I drug on like this for a day or two until my mom sent me a text: “we cannot control what happens in the world, but we can control our response”.  She reminded me, there is nothing we could have done in recent months to prevent these events in the news, but we can send aid and make a conscious decision to help those in need.

Then, this week, the headlines hit much closer to home.  The wildfires in Northern California are impacting members of our greater wine community.  Beyond the stately wineries, there are the people that run our POS system and website, former colleagues working as winemakers and cellar hands, those who tend the vines, and those who have the exact same jobs as me and my team: selling the wines.  A fire in 2017 for a winery can mean years and years of damage.  Inventory lost today means nothing to sell for years to come, and all of those lives, and the lives of their families, are impacted for that span of time.

And so this October, I ask that we all give, because that is all that we can control at this point in time.  We are still focusing on our Product Spotlight in the first part of October, where 10% of our website and tasting room proceeds will go to Hurricane Relief funds via Global Giving.  In addition, Charlie and I feel passionate about generating additional funds that can go to those affected by the fires in Northern California.

October 20 – 22: we are joining forces with other wineries in the Red Mountain AVA to benefit relief efforts in Napa and Sonoma.  Fidelitas will be donating a portion of our proceeds from the entire weekend, including the Harvest Party on Red Mountain.  In addition, we ask that our guests consider making a cash donation, or contributing gift cards to stores such as Target and Home Depot that can distributed to families in Northern California so they can purchase the essentials they need to start rebuilding.

I have been fortunate enough to visit both Napa and Sonoma several times over the years, including a trip when I was very young, and again when I was just 21.  Every visit, whether as a newbie, or as an industry member, I have been warmly welcomed and treated wonderfully.  It truly is a special place.

Helping our Neighbors

Each month, Fidelitas offers a Product Spotlight, where we feature a certain wine at a special price. Recent events, however, have impacted our friends and members near and far, and have us wanting to shine that Spotlight a little broader this month.

Now through October 15, 10% of all website and tasting room sales will be donated to GlobalGiving. Our donation is to be shared between multiple relief efforts at the time of giving.

GlobalGiving is the largest global crowdfunding community connecting nonprofits, donors, and companies in nearly every country. GlobalGiving connects nonprofits, donors, and companies in nearly every country around the world. We help local nonprofits access the funding, tools, training, and support they need to become more effective.