2006 Fidelitas m100
Charlie Hoppes’ m100 wine is one he dedicates to his grandmother - who turned the ripe age of 100 back in 2005 - it’s clear to me that he takes much of that passion he has for family and puts it in this bottle. The $15-$20 price range is really the sweet-spot for wineries as it’s far easier to get the mainstream of wine drinkers shelling out that kind of price for a quality wine than it is to roll everything out at $50+.
I’ve been following the m100 series since they rolled out a couple of years ago and have generally liked what I’ve had - especially when you consider its quality-to-price-ratio.
This wine is a blend of bordeaux grapes and even uses some Petite Verdot to help round things out a bit - I’m a fan of that grape and would love to it used more.
Technical Info:
- Vineyards: Wahluke Vineyard, Milbrandt-Katherine Leone Vineyard, Dwelley Vineyard, Stillwater Creek Vineyard, Weinbau Vineyard, Conner-Lee Vineyard, Snipes Canyon Vineyard and Gamache Vineyard
- Fermentation and Aging: All the fruit for the m100 Red Wine was hand picked and sorted in the vineyard. Upon arrival at the winery, the fruit was destemmed and crushed directly to a small fermentation tank where the wines were punched down three times daily. Primary fermentation was seven days in length. Upon completion of fermentation, the wines were gently pressed off and were put into barrels immediately. Once fermentation was complete in barrel, the wine was put through malolactic fermentation immediately. While aging in oak barrels, the wines were racked every four months to naturally clarify the wine.
- Varietal Composition: Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Petite Verdot
- Alcohol: 14.4%
- Production: 2000 cases
- Release Date: March 2008
- Price: $18
Nose: heavy plums, blackberry, cedar notes and hints of radish, oak, black pepper and bell pepper.
Taste: Like a river of black fruits - black plums, black cherry and black raspberry toss in hints of cedar box, tobacco and dark chocolate, polmagranate and that’s what you’ve got here. Nice finish but a bit on the hot side.
Overall Summary and W.E.P.:
For $18, this wine rings right up there with other wines we’ve had such as the Saviah Jack and Chateau Lagarosse - it’s a solid effort that has good fruit foward, some nice oak and an overall mouthfeel which I like. It’s not a perfect bottle by any stretch but one we feel does an adquate job of delivering value for the money. If you see this wine in a store, you should really check it out - it also makes a great wine for folks to get a sample-on-the-cheap of what a good blend of Washington grapes can do.
W.E.P. Scale Rating: 90% - it’d get a perfect 100 if the finish wasn’t a bit on the hot side.
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Just had this wine recommended at a restaurant in Naples Fla and the entire group was incredibly impressed. The wine was a gift from the chef so no one knew the price. Now that I know the price I say it gets 100 pts. We all thought it was great and also that it was alot more expensive. Well worth trying and stocking! Enjoy.