The Wine Knows

Over the weekend, I stopped at Fidelitas to chat with owner/winemaker Charlie Hoppes about how harvest went for him.

Charlie is a longtime Washington winemaker who cut his teeth as a red winemaker for Chateau Ste. Michelle before helping to start Three Rivers Winery in 1999. In 2000, he started Fidelitas and also helped childhood chum Victor Cruz launch Cañon De Sol. This year, Fidelitas opened its tasting room on Sunset Road on Red Mountain and has been off and running ever since.

Charlie's experience with Ste. Michelle still shapes the way he conducts business. He pulls grapes from the Yakima Valley, Horse Heaven Hill, Wahluke Slope, Walla Walla Valley, Red Mountain and the greater Columbia Valley appellations. This gives him a lot of diverse fruit to work with and decreases his dependency on any one area in case of winter kill issues. As soon as he can secure some water for his five-acre plot on Red Mountain, he plans to put some estate vines in the ground.

And a little-known fact about the Hoppes family: His son Will is a star quarterback this year for Tri-Cities Prep in Pasco, Wash. Will is just a sophomore but already is in the books as one of the most prolific passers all time in the B-8 ranks.

Watch this week's Northwest Winecast to learn more from Charlie: