Fidelitas 4040 Red Blend 2021

About the Producer

Our founder, Charlie, grew up in the Yakima Valley less than an hour away from Red Mountain. He spent his summers playing baseball and working at the local farms and orchards with his brothers. This was before the modern-day Washington wine country as we know it but right in the heart of the agricultural center of the state. As the great-grandchild of a French immigrant he had little tastes of wine with dinner and it became a part of his life at an early age. Our founder, Charlie, grew up in the Yakima Valley less than an hour away from Red Mountain. He spent his summers playing baseball and working at the local farms and orchards with his brothers. This was before the modern-day Washington wine country as we know it but right in the heart of the agricultural center of the state. As the great-grandchild of a French immigrant he had little tastes of wine with dinner and it became a part of his life at an early age. After graduating from Eastern Washington University he moved to Seattle and started his career at Boeing in the early 80’s. For the first time in his life he had a little extra money to spend on as many different French and California wines that he could get his hands on. In 1982 Charlie decided to turn his interest into a hobby. He and his wife, Terri, made a couple carboys of raspberry wine followed by a Riesling in 1983. Their first makeshift winery was Terri’s dad’s kitchen, Daniel “Fidelis” O’Neill. After graduating from Eastern Washington University he moved to Seattle and started his career at Boeing in the early 80’s. For the first time in his life he had a little extra money to spend on as many different French and California wines that he could get his hands on. In 1982 Charlie decided to turn his interest into a hobby. He and his wife, Terri, made a couple carboys of raspberry wine followed by a Riesling in 1983. Their first makeshift winery was Terri’s dad’s kitchen, Daniel “Fidelis” O’Neill. This hobby then turned into a passion. With the support of his family Charlie quit his job at Boeing and attended the esteemed UC Davis program to study grape growing and winemaking graduating in 1988. Instead of staying in California he decided to return home to the fledgling Washington wine industry. After a couple initial winemaking gigs he landed a job in 1990 at Chateau Ste. Michelle working under Mike Januik. Early on in his career he was tasked with making mostly white wine and a small amount of red but Charlie and Mike saw the potential quality of reds in Washington state. It was on a trip to France with winemakers from all over the world that he had the chance to taste Petrus out of barrel and had a life altering discovery – he knew that Washington could make Merlot that could rival the structure and quality of the finest French chateaus. This hobby then turned into a passion. With the support of his family Charlie quit his job at Boeing and attended the esteemed UC Davis program to study grape growing and winemaking graduating in 1988.