WELCOME TO FIDELITAS WINES

Fidelitas is a family owned winery focused primarily on making the very best Bordeaux style wines from some of the best fruit grown in Washington's Columbia Valley. Over the years my passion to create this style of wine prompted me to start Fidelitas with the 2000 vintage.

Thursday, August 7, 2008

2005 Red Vintage

I get asked often about various vintages that I have had the good fortune to work with in Washington. I think the 2005 vintage is one of my top three favorite vintages of my career in Washington. I started making wines in 1988 working under Mike Januik at Snoqualmie, Saddle Mountain & Langguth labels and 2005 stands out. The obvious questions is why ?
The biggest factor contributing to the success of the 2005 vintage in my opinion would be the great weather we had in the fall ripening season. Every day from the middle of September through late October brought clear sunny days with temperatures reaching the low to mid 70's almost every day. I cannot remember a single day of rain the entire fall. The moderate days lead to slow even ripening of all varieties and a chance for great flavor development from the extended time on the vine. The "hang time" enables the flavors to go from green and bitter to ripe cherry and cassis. This is noticeable with increased sugar accumulation in the berries on the vine but more importantly better flavors. Great vintages like the 2005 are most attributed to mother nature. As a winemaker you just try and not make too many mistakes along the way.
At Fidelitas, we have still have many of the outstanding 2005 wines for sale. These wines are very drinkable now, but have great age ablilty in a wine cellar. Both the Columbia Valley Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon are great values and will make a nice wine for a cellar. We also still have very limited amounts of our 8 - Syrah, Boushey - Red Wine, Champoux Vineyard - Cabernet Sauvignon and Walla Walla Valley - Cabernet Sauvignon. Do not miss out on the chance to try these wines at the tasting room and purchase some of these wines for your cellar. Cheers !