Winemaker Notes
Fess Parker Ashley's Vineyard Pinot Noir 2020 offers aromas and flavors of black cherry, boysenberry, red plum, lavender, baker's chocolate, vanilla, sage, tarragon, clove, nutmeg, forest floor, and cigar box.
Blend: 100% Pinot Noir
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Baked mulberry, cracked pepper and smoked meat aromas make for a very complex and inviting nose on this bottling from a vineyard named for the late vintner’s daughter. The cohesive character spreads to the sip as well, where cranberry, cherry, dried herb and peppered charcuterie flavors align.
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Wine Spectator
Offers an alluring aromatic profile of wood spice, mulled tea and sous-bois notes, while racy damson plum and blood orange fruit flavors show nice cut and detail. Reveals a pretty savory echo through the lengthy finish as well.
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2020 Pinot Noir Ashley's comes from the Rancho Las Hermanas Vineyard in the Sta. Rita Hills and spent 16 months in 46% new French oak. It sports a medium ruby hue to go with a smoky, earthy, spicy bouquet that includes plenty of darker red berries as well as forest floor and underbrush. Straight and focused on the palate, it has present tannins, good overall balance, and solid length on the finish.
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.