Winemaker Notes
Black cherry, Black raspberry, Grilled sage, Grilled plum, Earth Vanilla, Milk chocolate. Aromas of Red cherry, Raspberry, Red plum, Chocolate, Forest floor, Cigar box, Cured tobacco, Cinnamon.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Medium ruby, the 2017 Pinot Noir Clone 115 has scents of green tobacco, woodsmoke, bergamot and peppercorn over concentrated red cherries, rhubarb and cranberry with licorice hints. Medium-bodied, it opens in the mouth to floral notions with wonderfully ripe, concentrated, spiced fruit knit by grainy tannins and great freshness, finishing long and flavorful.
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2017 Pinot Noir Clone 115 offers a more complex bouquet of spiced red and black fruits, incense, candied orange peel, and forest floor. Ripe and medium-bodied, it has plenty of sweet fruit as well as enough underlying acidity and tannins to keep it drinking nicely for 6-7 years.
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Wine Enthusiast
This clonal study shows focused black-plum and raspberry aromas alongside rose petal. The palate is quite full, with pomegranate, plum and lively mint flavors, proving both tangy and herbal.
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Wine & Spirits
Rich and heady, this leads with cinnamon and black-cherry flavors, the oak border appointing the wine like paneling in a dark room. Suave, velvety tannins make a sexy cushion for the rich fruit.
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Wine Spectator
Intense and focused, with concentrated flavors of apple pastry, quince tart and lemon bar, filled with a rich creaminess. Light smoky and flinty notes show on the minerally 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.