Winemaker Notes
Bright cherry, strawberry and cranberry fruit flavors interwoven with layers of spice, clove, toast and earthy notes. Big yet polished, this Pinot Noir can be enjoyed now or cellared for 4-7 years. Enjoy!
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Bracing and savory, with saline and fennel seed notes wrapped by brambleberries and plums. It’s all well-concentrated on the palate, where a spine of acidity and lengthy tannins structure turned earth, cherry pits and incense through the finish.
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Jeb Dunnuck
Mulled strawberry and framboise fruits intermixed with sassafras, sappy flowers, and underbrush define the 2023 Pinot Noir Ashley's, which was all destemmed and aged 10 months in 36% new French oak. It's medium-bodied, has a focused, polished mouthfeel, plenty of tannins, and outstanding length. Drink this complex, layered, seriously impressive Pinot Noir
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Vinous
The 2023 Pinot Noir Ashley's, from Rancho Las Hermanas, has good richness and body to offset its decidedly savory leanings. Black tea, truffle, tobacco leaf, new leather and cedar heighten a core of salty red berries and pomegranate. There's notable density and power in the mid-palate, but the Ashley's keeps its balance all the way through.
Established in 1989, Fess Parker Winery is a multi-generational family owned and operated winery that has a rich heritage in Santa Barbara County. Fess Parker produces premium, small-lot, vineyard designated Burgundian varietals from the Sta. Rita Hills and Santa Maria Valley as well as Rhône varietals from their organically farmed, SIP Certified estate vineyard.
Outstanding fruit sources, including some of the finest vineyards in the county, coupled with skilled winemaking, led by Blair Fox, form the foundation for the winery’s success. Now three generations in, the Fess Parker Family is proud to carry on Fess’s legacy of wine heritage and hospitality in Santa Barbara.
Fess Parker Winery was proud to be named a Top 100 Winery in the World by Wine & Spirits Magazine in both 2022 and 2023.
Thin-skinned, finicky and temperamental, Pinot Noir is also one of the most rewarding grapes to grow and remains a labor of love for some of the greatest vignerons in Burgundy. Fairly adaptable but highly reflective of the environment in which it is grown, Pinot Noir prefers a cool climate and requires low yields to achieve high quality. Outside of France, outstanding examples come from in Oregon, California and throughout specific locations in wine-producing world. Somm Secret—André Tchelistcheff, California’s most influential post-Prohibition winemaker decidedly stayed away from the grape, claiming “God made Cabernet. The Devil made Pinot Noir.”
A superior source of California Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, Sta. Rita Hills is the coolest, westernmost sub-region of the larger Santa Ynez Valley appellation within Santa Barbara County. This relatively new AVA is unquestionably one to keep an eye on.
The climate of Sta. Rita Hills is a natural match for Chardonnay and Pinot noir, thanks to the crisp ocean breezes and well-drained, limestone-rich calcareous soil. Here, grapes ripen just enough, while retaining brisk acidity and harmonious balance.