Ciel du Cheval Release

As I'm sure that most of you have heard by now, we are hosting the owner of Ciel du Cheval vineyard, Jim Holmes, at the Red Mountain tasting room on November 29th from 1pm - 3pm. This is such a wonderful opportunity to meet someone who has been an integral part not only in establishing Red Mountain and the now present AVA, but also the entire Washington wine industry. He has been a pivotal figure in the industry over the past thrity-odd years, and the quality of his grapes certainly shows it! Joining him will be the vineyard manager, Ryan Johnson, who is quite talented as well.
I will be at the tasting room for the weekend assisting with Thanksgiving in Wine Country, and then staying through the week for our December club shipment. We are staying open until 7pm on Thursday, December 4th in hopes to provide more of our members a time to stop by, taste the wines and pick up their shipment. I am really looking forward to seeing so many of our members!
Don't forget - we are offering free shipping for just one more week!

20Something

Well, I went into the 20Something event knowing that it would be an exciting night, and I definitely wasn’t let down. With over 70 wineries and close to 20 restaurants, there was plenty of wine and food to go around. The Washington Wine Commission did a great job promoting this event and had nearly 1000 people attend. I got to see a few friends from other wineries and even spotted Tom Douglas in the crowd. I did see a few wine club members there, one of which is also a Washington Wine Ambassador and did a great job helping all of the wineries load in at the beginning of the night.

I'm including a few pictures from the event that were posted on flickr, just so you can believe me when I talk about the size of the crowd!

looking out over the crowd

the wine bottle display in the middle of the room (I think these are all empty...)

taking a break in the back with a few other winery folks (I'm third from the left) including people from DeLille, Flying Trout and the new Hollywood Hills winery

Upcoming Events

In the excitement of free shipping last week, I forgot to mention a couple of upcoming events. This weekend, Fidelitas can be found on the road. Jessica G. will be at the Northwest Food and Wine Festival in Portland, which features over 600 wines and 50 restaurants. I will be pouring our wine at the Washington Wine Commission’s 20Something event in Seattle. I believe that there are still tickets available for both. If you live near Seattle or Portland and are able attend, please stop by and say hi to us!
I also wanted to mention that the tasting room is planning to stay open for extended hours on Thursday, December 4th. If you live close or will be in town, definitely plan to drop in, taste the new wines, and pick up your shipment a few days early. It will just be a fun, casual evening. I’ll be there that week making sure that the December shipment gets out the door, and would love to see a few of our members.
Below are a few pictures from production this fall that Jessica G. shared with me. Enjoy!

What a great idea

As I’m sure most of you have seen from the November newsletter that just came out, we are offering FREE SHIPPING from now until Thanksgiving. In my mind, this couldn’t have come at a better time. First, we have Thanksgiving looming in the near future, which always calls for great wines on the table. The 2007 Optu white would be a knock out with the wide variety of dishes that can appear on a Thanksgiving dinner table, while the 2005 Columbia Valley merlot is a bright, food friendly red wine. Then, just four days after Thanksgiving is December 1st, which means the start of a whirlwind of gatherings and gifts. A very smart friend of mine (who also happens to be a Fidelitas wine club member) always keeps a case of her favorite wine on hand during December. That way, when she’s running out the door to a holiday party, she’s able to grab a bottle from the case, tie a ribbon around it and have the perfect hostess gift without a last minute stop at the store.
We are also within 30 days of our next shipment, which means that you will receive an additional 5% off select wines. Between that and free shipping, there is really no excuse to not stock up now - I know my friend will be.