The Feast, the food drive, and a new pic

I am back out on Red Mountain, visiting Eastern Washington for a week. Prior to heading over last week, I hosted a pick-up event in Seattle for Optu members in the area. We got to taste a few of the new releases and meet several members from around the Seattle region. It was great to see everyone and even found a new member in the group! At the request of Les (he's only made it a few times now), I've updated my photo for the blog. No more sunglasses. This is me cooking my own birthday dinner last month, since cooking is one of my favorite things to do.
Last Friday night, we hosted our Feast of St. Fidelis here at our Red Mountain Tasting Room. I didn't do any of the cooking, but Tip Pit BBQ did an incredible job. I was loved seeing member's plates overflowing with food, heading to a table in the sunshine with a taste of Fidelitas to go with it. It was a beautiful evening, with plenty of good cheer. We were able to pour just a bit of Champoux Merlot, which was lovely, along with a great selection of other wines. A big thank you to everyone who was able to join, and a really big thank you to all of the Fidelitas staff and volunteers who made this night happen.
Over the weekend we hosted a food drive to benefit Second Harvest, which serves the Mid-Columbia region of Washington. I was so happy to see members kick-off the drive Friday evening with generous monetary and food donations. By the end of the weekend, we filled two very large barrels of food and raised more than $2500 that all went directly to Second Harvest. Thank you so much to all of you who contributed. Spring can be particularly tough for food banks, especially this year. If you are able, I would highly encourage everyone to make a contribution to their local organization.
We are now in the middle of processing the May shipment of 2006 Champoux Merlot and 2006 Champoux Cabernet. These wines are awesome - enjoy them!

94 POINTS!

2006 Ciel du Cheval Vineyard Red Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon
From Wine Spectator, April 15: Big, ripe and round, offering a generous mouthful of black currant, blueberry and cola flavors that keep pumping through the long, expressive finish. The tannins are present, but submerged under the richness. Best from 2010 through 2018. —H.S.

Now isn't the time for too much modesty...I am very proud of Charlie for producing his highest scoring wine to date. According to Wine Spectator, their scale is based on 100 points:
95-100 Classic: a great wine
90-94 Outstanding: a wine of superior character and style
85-89 Very good: a wine with special qualities
80-84 Good: a solid, well-made wine
75-79 Mediocre: a drinkable wine that may have minor flaws
50-74 Not recommended

We only have about 70 cases remaining of the Red Mountain Cab. It is $55 retail or $46.75 for members. It's going fast...

Feast of St. Fidelis is SOLD OUT!

Taste Washington

This past Sunday, Charlie, Jessica G, Ron and I all teamed up at the Qwest Events Center for Taste Washington. All in all, it was a very good event. We got to see many friends from other wineries, restaurants, wine shops, the Wine Commission, and even a few club members. Jessica G and I spent some time tasting together (leaving Charlie and Ron in charge for only a brief amount of time) and had a great time introducing one another to friends in the industry. Some of the highlights included Sparkman Cellars' 2007 Lumiere Chardonnay, Guardian's (not yet released, coming from under the table) 2008 Angel Sauvignon Blanc, the Beresan 2006 Carmenere and a special 1998 Col Solare, which I know Ron was particularly fond of. A guest told me that our own Fidelitas 2006 Malbec (again, from under the table) was one of her favorites of the day as well.

After the day was done and our hands were stained purple, a group of us headed across to Pyramid to refuel. It was a great table of friends with people from Fidelitas, Gamache, Airfield, Champoux Vineyards and a few wine club members who snuck in too...