Fidelitas Wines

OPEN in Woodinville!

 

 

We're open! But things are a little different. Here is what you need to know prior to visiting:

Reservations required.

We are able to host groups of 5 or less and will be staggering reservations to meet social distancing requirements. In our current phase, we can host a total of 10 guests indoors and 4 guests on the patio in Woodinville, and appointments are for 1 hour. Book online or call 425.558.9001

We are wearing masks…and ask that you do too.

Per Washington State guidelines, guests are asked to wear a mask any time that they are not seated at their designated table. Fidelitas Team Members will be wearing masks at all times.

Social Distancing is in effect.

Tables have been laid out to ensure 6’ distancing between parties. Please limit movement throughout the building.

Select wines are available.

During the early reopening phases, we are offering a 3-wine flight that is complimentary for Club or $15 for guests, along with glass pours and bottle sales. Curbside pick-up remains available and you can book in advance HERE.

Sanitize, clean, sanitize, repeat.

Please sanitize your hands upon entry. Fidelitas has adopted increased cleaning and sanitization practices between all visitors.

Please leave food and pets at home.

At this time, we are unable to accommodate outside food and picnicking.

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Fidelitas Woodinville - 11am to 5pm, daily

14467 Woodinville Redmond Road NE | Woodinville, WA | 98072

425.558.9001 | woodinville@fidelitaswines.com

Fidelitas is OPEN...just not as usual

Fidelitas is OPEN…just not as usual.

At Fidelitas, we are faithful, loyal, and true, and this means prioritizing the health and safety of our Team, our fans, and our greater communities on both sides of the state. In the era of “Stay Home, Stay Safe”, wineries have been lucky enough to be deemed an essential business, with several safety precautions taken. And while we are so fortunate as a small business to keep our doors open in a modified fashion, to keep many staff members employed, and to be able to continue sharing wine (because, we all need a glass right about now!), we are doing so with safety as a top priority.

In addition to increasing our established cleaning regimen, and limiting contact between staff and customers, we are asking that all team members self-certify their own health before coming to work. All Team Fidelitas members have confirmed that they are healthy (no fever or symptoms of any type of illness), they have not had contact with anyone who is ill, and they have not traveled to areas deemed high-risk. We are asking that all visitors do the same.

With these precautions in place, we pleased to offer contactless delivery in both locations. We may place an order ONLINE for tasting room pick up or just give us a call.

RED MOUNTAIN: 11am to 5pm, daily

• Please call ahead (509.588.3469) to arrange your pick-up date and time. We’ll confirm any outstanding Club allocations and add-on orders at that time.
• Once you arrive, call us (509.588.3469) to let us know you are in the parking lot. No need to come in! We’ll grab your wines with freshly cleaned hands and bring them directly to your car.

WOODINVILLE: 11am to 5pm, daily

• Please call ahead (425.558.9001) to arrange your pick-up date and time. We’ll confirm any outstanding Club allocations and add-on orders at that time.
• Once you arrive, come to the roll-up door or main door. Your wines will be packed and labeled with your name for you to pick-up. If you’d rather not come to the door, just give us a call.

       

 

We so value your support as Fidelitas fans. As a small business who relies on visitors coming through the doors - especially during the spring and summer - we appreciate all of you who are supporting us during the months of closures.

Previewing the Spring 2020 Preview Tasting

In preparation for this Sunday’s Preview Tastings, Team Fidelitas sat down with Charlie to taste through the upcoming releases of 2017 red wines. As always, it was an awesome time to hear Charlie’s honest thoughts on each wine as he tasted through each one and fielded the questions from our staff.

side note: we started our tasting time with a 2006 Columbia Valley Malbec, generously shared by Therese from her cellar. All of us were floored by the fresh, bright fruit tones that appeared in the wine! I’m not going to lie: 2006 was a warm (not hot…warm) vintage. I vividly remember Charlie’s comment on that vintage when we released it: “sure…you can age them, but why? they taste great now.” This wine was amazing, fresh, and surprisingly bold upon opening but wasn’t as stunning when I tried it three hours later. It’s Malbec…not Cabernet…so don’t risk it. If you have it in your cellar still: it tastes great now.

I was in the tasting room recently, and someone asked me, “what is the plan of attack on the Preview Tastings?” and I honestly had a hard time coming up with the answer. To me, you taste the wines, you decide which you really like, and then you mark them down on your sheet and go. But what if you like them all or can’t make up your mind or are honestly overwhelmed by the whole thing?

I think that as a taster, you need to think about your drinking habits. If you know that you are going to drink your wines in the next few months, maybe you want to get one of each offering for your allocation (quick! try them and reorder any that are still available!). If you have a good storage system (cellar, garage, or cases stacked against your dining room wall) maybe grab 4-6 of those awesome, cellar worthy Cabernets and then round out your add-ons with daily drinkers. Charlie says he never buys a wine in a quantity less than 6 bottles because he wants to taste it over the years.

If you’re like me, you’re going to play the inventory game. I’m only able to grab 2-3 bottles of each wine at a time, but you know that I’m going to get the ones that will disappear the quickest. Get those first, then maybe 1 bottle of the others so I can check in on it in a month or two and order more before it runs out. Since I’m the one who gets to count Fidelitas inventory on a weekly basis, I’m going to share my thoughts on which wines to grab first. Watch for full tasting notes on each wine to come next week!

2017 Red Mountain Merlot: When we asked Charlie what he liked about this wine he grinned and nearly shouted “it’s Merlot! it’s just fun!”. My whole team could not stop making yummy noises about this wine. We’re Merlot fans, but this is one that you’re going to want as a daily drinker in your house. If you’re looking for a wine to round out your case with, this is the one. Remember: you get an extra 5% off mixed case orders.

2017 Red Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon: We’re so excited to see this as one of our first releases of the year, versus one of the last. This means that we’ll hopefully be able to keep it in stock for a bit to enjoy over the summer. However, don’t assume it’s going to be around forever. This is such a lovely blend of Quintessence and Fidelitas Estate Vineyards that I don’t anticipate it will last too long.

2017 Optu Red Mountain: *currently sipping this wine and blogging at the same time*  This is the one wine that we have produced in every single vintage since our first one, way back in 2000. About a year ago, I got the technical info from our winemaking team on this vintage of Optu, and had so many questions. It was an amazing lesson for me in looking at a wine by the BLOCK (i.e. individual rows of grapes within a vineyard) versus the name of the vineyard itself. Charlie told us that he has this wine on his mind through the growing season. He’s constantly tasting and testing each site to decide what will make it in to Optu. While this, like the Red Mountain Cabernet, is a higher volume wine for us (still less than 700 cases), I really doubt it will make it past the summer months.

On to the Ciel du Cheval Vineyard releases. If you haven’t already, read THIS BLOG POST on why we moved Ciel du Cheval wines to a spring release time slot. During the course of our tasting, Charlie said “Ciel du Cheval Vineyard has a tremendous reputation. If Washington state had Grand Cru designations for our vineyards, Ciel du Cheval would definitely be one of them.” 

2017 Ciel du Cheval Vineyard Cabernet Franc: Charlie says, “of all the varieties grown on Red Mountain, Cabernet Franc probably has the most finesse. We don’t go out of our way to make Cabernet Franc from other sites because they just don’t show quality like the fruit from Ciel du Cheval”. Only 142 cases produced on this guy…you’re going to want to GET IT NOW.

2017 Ciel du Cheval Vineyard Merlot: Another very low production wine from Ciel, but with less volume allocated to Club selections. Basically, add-on with this wine because you can’t customize with it. While tasting, our team was nothing but joyous giggles as we envisioned drinking velvet. That is basically what it's like to drink this wine.

2017 Ciel du Cheval Vineyard Red Wine: Do we all love Charlie’s Merlots? His Cabernets? His blends? Ciel du Cheval Vineyard? Yes, yes, yes, and yes. There is a reason that Team Fidelitas loves this wine. It is fully a blend of all things good about Fidelitas. By the time our members grab their allocations, there will be very little, if any, left of this wine.

2017 Ciel du Cheval Vineyard Petit Verdot: Spoiler alert – we’re releasing our first ever Red Mountain Petit Verdot later this summer. It’s a multi-vineyard blend that is so much fun. We tried them both and I loved that each one was so different. The Ciel du Cheval, by comparison, was rich, floral, and focused. We’re finding that Charlie’s Petit Verdots are highly age-worthy, so definitely grab this if you have that storage system…whatever your style is.

2017 Ciel du Cheval Cabernet Sauvignon: I am hoping that by the time we are done with the Club allocation, we might have 30 cases available of this wine. That isn’t much. Someone in our tasting mentioned that Ciel du Cheval has been nicknamed the “Queen of Red Mountain”: a perfect balance of elegance and power. We all agreed that this could be called Queen Cabernet. So powerful, present tannins, loads of fruit, yet delightfully…feminine. Don’t tell Charlie.

We can’t wait to see so many of you this weekend! For those of you who are coming, take advantage of our Team, and ask them questions as you taste through the line up. For those who cannot attend, we look forward to helping you customize your selections when the allocation season opens next Tuesday! Finally, for those who are not yet members…you really might consider joining.

Cheers to 2020!

Dear Friends of Fidelitas:

2019 was another banner year for us at Fidelitas and would not have been possible without the incredible support of each and every one of you, our loyal customers. Not a day goes by where I am not completely humbled by the continued support we receive from all of you who buy and consume the wine that we make. Simply put, thank you.

This 2019 vintage we just experienced in the fall, is the twentieth vintage for Fidelitas. With humble beginnings of just one wine produced form the 2000 vintage, much has changed and evolved for us to be where we are now. In 2006 we purchased land in the Red Mountain AVA and built a tasting room that opened in 2007. In 2008 and again in 2015 we planted land to vineyard and now have twelve acres of producing vineyard. The 2019 vintage is the first vintage where the entire vineyard was in full production and entirely under our own control. Dick Boushey, a legend in the Washington wine business and his amazing team manages the property daily. The future of the Fidelitas Estate Vineyard looks bright as we incorporate the fruit into existing products as well as introducing new products to our line up starting with the 2018 vintage.

I am very excited about the release of the upcoming wines from Fidelitas from the 2017 vintage. Mother nature provided an excellent year for us and I cannot wait to share these wines with you. We will be releasing two new wines in 2020, Quintessence Vineyard Red Blend and a varietal Petit Verdot from a few different vineyards in the Red Mountain AVA. Look for those new wines along with the entire lineup of great wines during the year.

The Red Mountain AVA continues to provide our winemaking team with what I think is the best fruit in the Pacific Northwest. As many of you know, we only make wine from the Red Mountain AVA and I am impressed with the improvement that we see every vintage. Some of this comes with the maturity and consistency of the vineyards, but also, the grape growers who we source fruit from on Red Mountain have really worked at improving in every vintage. This makes our job as winemaker so much easier and will continue to do so in the future.

We continue to make small changes to what we are doing in the winemaking process so that we are continually improving. Fermenting in various shapes and sizes of wood fermenters seems to be a something we not only continue to do but have increased the amount of wood we are using during fermentation. Another area of fine tuning of the process would be matching clonal Cabernet Sauvignon with what we believe to be the proper fermenter as well as the best barrels to age the wine in.

I cannot say enough good things about our entire team of people at Fidelitas. They continue to tell our story and offer relentless customer service to everyone of you. Again, thank you for your continued support.

Cheers !

Charlie Hoppes, Fidelitas Owner + Winemaker

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Team Fidelitas is Thankful For...

It’s Thanksgiving time! Not a one of us can believe that 2019 is winding down, and that once again, we are just about to run out of wine. In the spirit of the holiday week, let’s check in with our team to find out what we are each thankful for.

Charlie, Fidelitas Owner + Winemaker

I know that I have said this before, but it still holds true. I am thankful for Team Fidelitas. All the way from the production staff, which includes the cellar, lab, and winemaking team who make the wines and get it into the bottles, to the great staff people in the tasting rooms who make that final sale. Everyone has a role and they are doing a great job with it.

Bryce, Red Mountain Tasting Room Manager

I am thankful for the wonderful people that I have the opportunity to work with and learn from, as well as all of the amazing club members that come in and brighten each and every day!

Skye, Fidelitas Club Concierge

Where to begin!? Most importantly, I'm thankful to work with people who now double as friends. From weddings and birthdays, baby showers and trips, I have memories with Fidelitas that will last a lifetime. And to our members, I'm thankful that you have made my job so enjoyable these past 5 1/2 years! Many stories and laughs have been shared over a bottle of Fidelitas and I look forward to more of that in 2020.

Allie, Red Mountain Tasting Room Manager + Club Coordinator

I’m thankful for team Fidelitas and our Fidelitas wine club! Im alway look forward to sharing the excitement of limited release wines with our club members!! There’s no better group to geek out with.

Will the Winemaker in Training

Things I'm thankful for:

• Our vineyard managers and workers who were still able to give us excellent fruit even in a vintage that tested us like 2019
• Calling Red Mountain home - I've been trying lots of different wines from all over the world lately and love how unique RM is + how is stands up in quality to other famous growing regions
• Drinking champagne, smelling all the delicious smells, and arguing with my family over watching football or the Macy's parade on Thanksgiving morning

Josh, Woodinville Tasting Room Manager

I am thankful for our hard-working winemaking team!  They make our jobs easy in the tasting rooms.  Every wine, every vintage is just amazing, and it is a pleasure to share their work with our guests.

Therese, Lead Wine Educator

I am so very thankful for all of the people I have met while working at Fidelitas. They have started out as friends and become family. I am very blessed!

Jess, Fidelitas General Manager

Running a winery is no joke, and so it is easy for me to recognize all of the people and things I’m thankful for, knowing that there is no way I could do it alone. Thank you to...

Team Fidelitas: we have a bunch of new faces in Fidelitas leadership this year, and my newest members (Josh, Allie, and Bryce) each bring a unique quality and special talent to the team. In many ways, I feel like I’ve known them forever! Mix them with such a strong tasting room force in both locations, Stacey keeping me on track, my absolutely amazing Club team, and CHARLIE HOPPES at the helm, it’s magical.

Our Members: we started 2019 with 0 available bottles to sell and are going to be ending the year in just about the same boat. That means every wine we released this year, we sold, and almost all of that is going to our Club members. Thank you, thank you, for bringing Fidelitas into your homes and sharing it with your closest friends and families. It means to so much to us. You all are faithful, loyal, and true.

Red Mountain Wines (and the people who make them): There is no way we have such happy members or such a strong Team without absolutely incredible wines to showcase. Charlie and his winemaking team have committed to finding, sourcing, and producing the best blocks of fruit on Red Mountain, and we are all so thankful for that dedication to quality and craft.

Team Fidelitas: Thank you for being a Member

When I started with Fidelitas in 2008, my job was solely to work directly with the members of the Fidelitas Wine Club. Over the years, I’ve had the joy of interacting with so many of you on Red Mountain, in Seattle (remember that?), in Woodinville, and lots of time on the phone with those of you who live a little further away. I know dog’s names, locations of vacation houses, and your mom’s favorite beverage (which isn’t always wine). Members remember when I got married on Red Mountain and my kid’s names, but I still manage to confuse many on where exactly I live in the state.

Over the years, my job has evolved, and I don’t get to work with everyone on the individual level as often (shout out to Skye and Michelle on the Club Team who get the pleasure now). However, one thing remains the same since we as a company committed to the Club back in 2008: everything we do is for you. We make products designed with the Club in mind, many of which were requested by you. We’ve opened tasting rooms, hosted unique and educational events, and created a special Club just for people who live out of state.

Our vision for 2020 and beyond is to continue this trend and be even better at it. We have plans in the works to enhance the guest experience in all arenas of the Club and are so excited to share them with you. In the meantime, we’d love to know how you’re doing. Drop us a note, tag us on Instagram (@FidelitasWines), pick up the phone, or come visit us in the tasting room. We’d love to hear all about it.

Thank you for being a member. We truly appreciate your being faithful, loyal, and true to Fidelitas.

Jess Zander, Fidelitas GM

Magna Dinner, June 2019

Member tips for picking up in Woodinville

First off I'd like to apologize to our members who have their wine shipped or pick up at our Red Mountain tasting room - I promise I'm not forgetting about you and thank you for being loyal members!  But as our Woodinville tasting room manager, I figured I'd speak to my strengths.  Even if you aren't one of our members who picks up their wine in Woodinville there still should be plenty of good information in here.

Club-Only Weekends

• Every time we release wines to our Optu members (i.e., February, April, September, and November) we are club-only in the Woodinville tasting room the following 2 weekends - both Saturday and Sunday.  If we do have new releases to pour this is when we'll feature them in the tasting room.  For example, in September we had a little bit of our 2015 Estate Cabernet still in stock after club allocations were processed and we poured it in the tasting rooms September 15-16 & 22-23 and ended up selling out.
• Keep in mind, these weekends end up being some of our busiest of the year. Other options:
  • Come early!  We open earlier than most tasting rooms in the area: 11am every day.  Start your day at Fidelitas with some Optu White instead of mimosas.
  • Friday afternoons are a great time to pick-up as well.  Leave work a little early to beat the weekend rush.
  • Pick up during the week - we're open 11-5 everyday of the week

Preview Tastings

If you haven't been to one of our Preview Tasting you need to check them out.  There's one in January and one in July - available in Woodinville and on Red Mountain.  Taste through the future releases and choose your club allocations as your tasting the wines.  It's the best way to make sure you get exactly what you prefer for your allocations. 

Preview Tasting is scheduled for January 13th in Wodinville at the Hollywood schoolhouse (a 2 minute walk from our tasting room) and January 13th on Red Mountain - keep an eye out early December for the email to make your time slot reservation

Plus, you may get the chance to meet our rockstar winemaker:

• Pay attention to the # of cases produced - many of our wines are limited production and they'll end up selling out before they're released.  Because they are so limited, these preview tastings are the only time we are able to pour our wines before they are released.  These wines from last year were sold straight to our club members:

• Even if you can't make it to the preview tasting log in to our website to make your selections.  You can change your mind later (just make sure to do it before the advertised deadline) but it doesn't hurt to choose as soon as possible to make sure you get access to our most limited releases.
• `Call/email our club team (509.554.9191 - club@fidelitaswines.com) or come visit us in the tasting room - we have a good idea of which wines are going to sell out fast

Other

Check out our recently updated Wine Club FAQ page

Next time you're in the tasting room ask us if we have anything else open - we often have club-only pours available!

If you're finding it difficult to make it out to Woodinville we also offer flat-rate shipping on club allocations + we recommend shipping it to your business address so there's always someone there to sign

Follow us on istagram, facebook, and check our events calendar which is updated frequently

On busier days there is parking available behind Brian Carter - parking area highlighted - red arrow is a path that leads to the parking lot:

 

Cheers, Charlie!

This week, we are celebrating Charlie as the Auction of Washington Wines’ 2018 Honorary Vintner.  And, in the midst of our excitement and party planning and wine coordination, Charlie is keeping on as his steady self, preparing for another harvest in Washington…his 31st to be exact.

I recently celebrated my 10-year anniversary with Charlie and Fidelitas.  It was so exciting for me.  It was the longest job I had ever held, and I know that there is limitless growth and opportunity working with Charlie.  However, I now realize that my decade is nothing in comparison to his three in Washington.  And if I feel so inspired by my 10 years, there have to be so many others out there who have been influenced and taught by Charlie over the years. 

Here is a bit of what Team Fidelitas had to say about Charlie:

I first met Charlie while working for Bob and Roger Gamache.  I had recently completed my degree at WSU, and was eager to start my winemaking career.  Charlie was always supportive and encouraging, and now 12 years later we are getting ready to start our 9th harvest together.  Along the way I have had an amazing opportunity to not only learn about wine and winemaking, but more importantly how to be a good husband, father, and member of the community.   I will always be thankful for all that he has shared with me.  - Mitch Venohr, Associate Winemaker

There is so much to say about Charlie as a person and not just his talent as a winemaker. Having the blessing of knowing and working for him for almost eight years has given me a perspective from behind the scene as to his character; who he is on the inside.  I have observed Charlie’s kindness to others, his friendly easy-going nature always respectful to a situation and people around him.  He is so very generous of his time and knowledge for others and he has a funny bone that comes out with wit and ease.  He also lives his life with integrity, true to his beliefs inside and out before family, friends, and coworkers. It is my honor to work for this compassionate man.  - Kathleen Batchelder, Team Fidelitas

I met Charlie in 2010, sitting across a picnic table at a little restaurant in Benton City, where I boldly convinced him that I could build a laboratory in his new winery. From that moment on, Charlie has supported all of my crazy mad scientist experimentation and winemaking ideas. He understands my passion for learning and lends me the platform to develop new techniques that drive our winemaking style. I often get an eye roll and a laugh when I tell him, "I have an idea" and lead him to the white board in my office. Then he says, "ok, lets try it...."  - Hillary Sjolund, Associate Winemaker

From hearing Charlie's drive to make 'the best wine yet', to traveling to various wine regions together for education, and learning how connected he is throughout the industry, or sharing beautiful bottles of wine over great meals, every experience with Charlie is awe-inspiring. I feel so honored to be a part of his Fidelitas family. Some of my favorite memories are from spending time with Charlie during harvest on Red Mountain last year, drinking our morning coffee, and listening to him talk about all of the careful and meticulous processes that he puts into each wine we make. Charlie's passion, paired with his overwhelming kindness and humbleness is inspirational for us all.  - Michelle Marsh, Fidelitas DTC Manager

It's been a pleasure working with Charlie over the years, he has showed me time and time again, how meaningful and supportive the wine industry can be. His kindness and generosity reflect in every aspect of his business. It's also eye opening to work for someone who constantly has nice things to say about his peers, he is always positive and shows us daily that we can't do our jobs without the support of everyone who works in the wine industry. It all starts from the ground up!  Charlie has also taught me how to enjoy wine and champagne (to never get a house palate) and to always stop and enjoy the simple things in life! His general passion for a nice bottle of wine, sharing a meal with family and friends over great conversation is what it's all about!  - Chelsea Larson, Fidelitas Red Mountain Tasting Room Manager

When I first met Charlie he had been named Winemaker of the Year by Seattle Magazine just one year prior. Now, 5 years later, he has been named Honorary Vintner by The Auction of Washington Wines. In these past few years working with him I have learned that there is no one more deserving of these amazing titles than Charlie himself. I'm lucky enough to witness his profound love for Washington wine, Fidelitas, and his family. It's been an honor to say I've learned from Charlie and because of him, there is no other industry I would rather work in.  - Skye Dissette, Fidelitas Club Concierge

I thank my dad, Charlie, for laying out the path for me and the many second generation Washington winemakers.  His work ethic, thousands of hours spent in the vineyard and winery, determination to never cut corners, commitment to making the best wines in the world, and relentless joy for wine-making are incredibly inspiring.  Here's to another 30 years of making wine in our home state!  - Will Hoppes, Fidelitas Woodinville Tasting Room Manager, Charlie’s kid, and second generation Fidelitas

My own personal story began more than 10 years ago, when my interview with him consisted of driving around Red Mountain vineyard sites in his dusty pickup.  Listening to him that afternoon, I saw his passion for making wine in Washington state and knew instantly that I had so much to learn.  Since then, he has become a part of my family, a baby-whisperer for my girls, a mentor, and someone I look forward to awesome new ventures with.  I used to dread when he called me during harvest or blending because I knew he was going to ask about making some crazy wine.  But now I see that it is all a part of the amazing experience of working with Charlie.  There is no recipe, no consistency…just something we call modern craft winemaking that promises to still produce ‘our best wine yet’.

 

 

Friday Tastings in Woodinville

If you haven’t heard of our new Friday Tastings then be sure to keep reading! We started this event in September as a way to bring out our members (and non members!) now that everyone is getting back into their normal routines. It’s an intimate Friday evening filled with an in-depth tasting, cheese, and charcuterie. Oh, and the lovely Kathleen of course. Each month we have a special feature with room for only 10 guests; these have been booking up fast so make sure to put it on your calendar. It’s a great way to enjoy your evening before dinner reservations at The Purple Café. If you are interested please contact me via email skye@fidelitaswines.com

PS. If you're a fan of Ciel du Cheval Vineyards...you don't want to miss out on tastings in October.

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!