Fidelitas Wines

Our Week in Pictures, Magna Edition, June 26 - 27

This past weekend, we hosted a group of members from our Magna Wine Club for a dinner on Red Mountain. This was our third annual event, and some dared to call it the best yet!

We started the weekend with an early morning hike through the new Estate Vineyard. I'm not sure that we could call our attempt to beat the heat succesful. 

Past years have allowed for dinner on the patio, but the triple digit temps forced us into the AC in the tasting room. It was cozy but the food was great and the wine was flowing! (take a peek at the awesome centerpieces: little cabernet vines!)

Guests loved doodling between courses...

...and loved the impressive display of library wines even more.

A wonderful weekend for all!  Thanks to my great staff who put this on.  They were working so hard this weekend, we didn't have the time to take pretty pictures of our own activities.

Our Week in Pictures, June 15 - 21

The Mariner's sure got our attention this week!

Jess and Charlie hosted a wonderful group in Suite 25. Fidelitas wines were flowing and the Mariner's played an awesome game! (if you squint, you can maybe see Michelle just above the scoreboard)

How great are our members, James and Kristi?

Erin took her husband for a suprise Father's Day game.

Chelsea chose wine over baseball and checked out our neighbors.

And Skye got to do a little babysitting...

 

 

A Tour of Willamette

Ben and I celebrated our 5-year anniversary this past week.  Time flies.  Since we got hitched on the slopes of Red Mountain, it only seemed appropriated to do a wine themed trip to celebrate the date.  We headed to our neighbors to the south to explore the Willamette Valley.  Our three days of vacation took us to 6 wineries, a slew of restaurants, and one tiny little ferry.  Here is what I learned:

Dirt is a big deal

Willamette Valley is over 52,000 square miles, subdivided into 6 sub-avas.  Most vineyard sites lie between 200 and 1000 acres, but the AVA hosts mountains as tall as 1,600 feet and is protected by the 3,500’ elevation coastal range.  My point?  There is a lot of variability.  Some
vineyards cited sediment from the Missoula floods like we have on Red Mountain, others said they hosted marine sediment from when the Pacific Ocean covered the region.  Alexana Winery told us that they have 15 different soil types in their 80-acre property, with 8 of those on display as the front of their tasting bar.

Clones are key

When you are essentially working with just one varietal (pinot noir) and all of that variability in the landscape, it makes sense that growers and winemakers are going to get geeky about clones.  It was fun for me to see it in action since we are exploring the best clones for our own Estate Vineyard right now. (Remember, clones are genetically identical to their parent, reproduced via bud or shoot.  Using clones is a way of promoting grapes that are more disease resistant, provide more or less skin to juice ratio, produced a desired yield…overall picking the right plant for the right vineyard.  This is not genetically modified stuff…just natural selection with a little assistance via grafting.)

PS – I know that there is more than just pinot noir.  We tasted some lovely pinot blanc and chardonnay as well :)

Vintage really matters

Willamette Valley is much more temperate than Washington’s growing regions.  Higher rainfall, fewer growing degree days, cooling coastal breezes all contribute to being pinot friendly, but it also means that we can really taste the difference vintage to vintage.  Just a little more heat in 2012 showed a lot more ripeness in the wines (in some cases, to a point of being uncharacteristic of pinot noir).  Pretty much every winery mentioned that their overall tonnage and case production varied greatly based on the harvest year.  We’ve seen a bit of this in Washington (2004 in Walla Walla, 2010/2011 in the Horse Heaven Hills) but definitely not to the same extent.

They are a little different than us

Just like Seattle and Portland.  So close that to an outsider, you might not tell the difference, but there definitely is one.  The tasting rooms were GORGEOUS.  Most of the ones we visited were the ‘lifelong dream’ of a couple that had established their resources elsewhere then came to the Valley.  The overall feeling from a visitor is that everything was just a little more palatial and polished than us Washington folks.  More so than that, the stories were different.  Many wineries almost justified the fact that they sourced their fruit from other vineyards and every rose we had was introduced as being an ‘intentional’ part of their line up.  Biodynamic, organic, and sustainable certifications were a big part of the selling points as well.  All great stuff…just different.

Places we tasted and wines we loved (in the order of our visit, nothing else)

Winderlea: 2014 rose of pinot noir and 2014 meredith mitchel pinot blanc

Alexana: 2014 pinot gris and 2013 revana vineyard pinot noir

Soter: 2010 mineral springs brut rose and 2012 north valley pinot noir

Bergstrom: 2013 sigrid chardonnay and 2013 gregory ranch pinot noir

Brooks: 2014 pinot blanc and 2011 rastaban pinot noir

 

Our Week in Pictures, June 8 - 14

Yes - we work hard.  But part of the fun is getting out and exploring what's around us!

Erin 'accidentally' opened some Block One on Red Mountain while hosting 13 Bones and our wonderful visitors. (Missed 13 Bones this go around? They'll be back July 11th!)

Chelsea came across the pass to find terrible weather in Western Washington during UW Graduation and whiskey tasting.

Michelle found herself sipping Fidelitas during sunset at Golden Gardens.

And I apparently drank my weight in rose while touring Willamette Valley, celebrating my 5-year wedding anniversary. More to come on the Willamette wine region later this week!

 

Summertime Pasta Salad

Now that the warm weather is upon us, it is time for lots of outdoor dining and sipping on our favorite summer beverages. As someone who loves to entertain and host family and friends for dinner I find that this, Summertime Pasta Salad is a crowd pleaser. It is perfect for a light dinner or as a side dish for a weekend picnic and it is quick and easy to throw together. 

This recipe takes an ordinary pasta salad to the next level, by using orecchiette noodles, spinach, shaved asparagus and burrata it’s a nice twist on a classic. I will say that the shaved asparagus was a great addition and as a fun tip, shave the apsargus in a downward motion away from the tassle. Next, I sautéed the spinach and asparagus in olive oil and seasoned it to taste with salt and pepper.

Then, I added charred cherry tomatoes by using my broiler. I simply mixed them in a pan with olive oil and let them broil for about 5-7 minutes Once everything was complete I mixed it all together with another drizzle of olive oil and lemon zest.

Serve yourselves a giant spoonful and pour a glass of the newly released 2014 Klipsun Vineyard Semillon and enjoy the joys of summertime.

 

Our Weekend in Pictures, June 1 - 8

Charlie and Terri attended a wedding in Helena, Montana: "It is quite the place. Built in 1905 in a Gothic style of architecture. The building feels like it fell out of the sky and should be somewhere in Austria."

Chelsea (along with the rest of the staff) toured the newly opened WSU Wine Science Center in Yakima, finishing off the evening enjoying dinner with friends.

Erin represented Fidelitas at the beautiful (and very hot) Vintners in Vineyard event at Col Solare. The next morning "we celebrated Dave's 3 month post-op on his second hip and spine fusion with a hike up Badger Mountain."

Jess attempted to stay cool, enjoying a backyard kiddie pool party, then launched the boat for the summer with her family.

And someone had to hold down the fort. Michelle and Skye had some action shots from the Member for a Day event in our Tasting Rooms over the weekend. The popcorn bar was a hit!

Semillon in Summer

The time has finally arrived! Our 2014 Klipsun Vineyard Semillon has been released and it was well worth the wait. I was able to pick Charlie’s brain because I wanted to understand why this white does so well in such a hot AVA like Red Mountain. His answer was not a surprise to me, vineyard management. Klipsun vineyard is a much more established vineyard on Red Mountain and is owned by Patricia and David Gelles but managed by Julia Kock. They grow many varietals but only two whites, Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon. With vines dating back to 1982 they have a grasp for what is most important when focusing on helping a white grape thrive. But who cares about the technical stuff…

 This Semillon has zero residual sugar and is a dry, crisp, fruity and refreshing white to enjoy on your patio in this beautiful summer weather. If you like our Optu White which is 60% Sauvignon Blanc and 40% Semillon, then this Semillon is sure to hit every one of your taste buds. It has beautiful aromas with notes of citrus, melon, and grapefruit that pair perfectly with your picnic salad. Be sure to come to our tasting rooms to enjoy a taste and buy yourself a bottle, or four, to have on hand for your summer parties!

Our Weekend in Pictures, May 30 - 31

The biggest news of the weekend? Our leading lady in Woodinville, Skye, got engaged to her longtime sweetie, Kris. Congrats to the happy couple!

Erin enjoyed the view on the Columbia River.

Chelsea made a move, and took the pups along too.

Michelle finished her patio, and took the time to enjoy a little white wine with dinner on it.

 

We hope your weekend was as great as ours!