Welcome to the Fidelitas Wine Club!

Fidelitas is a family owned winery found on Red Mountain in Washington Wine Country. Our winemaker, Charlie Hoppes, produces hand crafted, Bordeaux-style wines made from some of the best fruit grown in Washington State. The Fidelitas Wine Club is really more than just a club. It’s more like a full service concierge program, where our members have access to top benefits, events and of course, outstanding wine. This blog is a place where our members can come together to see what is new at the winery, connect with one another, and get a sneak peek at upcoming releases and events.

October 14, 2008

The Next Two Months

Every October, I make the same promise to myself: to have all of my holiday shopping done before Thanksgiving. Every December, I find myself waiting in hour long lines at stores and the post office, wishing that I had kept my promise. This year, I’m sticking to my promise and adding on to it by not only making the best use of my time during this wild season, but also to make the best use of my holiday dollars by sending out gifts that people will truly enjoy. Lucky for me (and my friends and family), I have access to great wine, which I am sure everyone will enjoy.
Our members have the opportunity to utilize a great gift giving services, where all they have to do is send me their list, and I can assist with creating unique gifts and shipping them directly to the recipient. Looking over a few packages, I was amazed at what a great deal the packages were once member discounts were added in.
I also think it would be great to host a holiday wine tasting party with friends, which is why I came up with everything you’d need to do it on your own – wines and instructions included!

October 1, 2008

Catch the Crush

Last weekend was a first for me. I survived a wild three days on Red Mountain at the tasting room during Catch the Crush. Our little modern shed welcomed more than 400 people over the span of Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Saturday was by far the busiest with about 250 people stopping by to visit. It was great to meet so many current members, as well signing up some new ones!

We poured five wines last weekend, while always keeping something special on hand for our members who came to visit. Of course, the two new Optus were featured, along with the brand new release of the 2007 Semillon and our Columbia Valley Cabernet and Merlot. If anyone is hiding 2005 CV Cabernet in their cellar, I’d encourage to pop a bottle open and see how much it is already maturing. It was pouring beautifully this weekend, and many purchased bottles to see how they’ll be in another year or two. A recently opened 2004 knocked my socks off.

As a fun addition to the weekend, we also hosted a beautiful winemaker dinner on the patio Saturday evening. The safari-themed dinner was part of an auction that benefited Washington Wine Country, and featured Chef Jason Wilson from the restaurant Crush in Seattle, John and Gretchen from Bookwalter, Tim and Kelly from Hightower and Charlie pouring our own wines. It was a great event that I was happy to be a part of. The table was set beautifully, the food was incredible and I think everyone had a great time.

For those who haven’t heard yet, we received our Wine Spectator subscription Saturday morning to find that the 2005 Fidelitas Champoux Cabernet just scored 92 POINTS!