Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Rich red cherry, rhubarb and alpine strawberry aromas meet rust and shaved licorice on the nose of this beautiful bottling from the Parker family's cool-climate vineyard. It's deceptively light on the palate, with airy flavors that intensify to exotic cherry, mulberry, tea leaf and maduro cigar, framed by firm, structured tannins. Drink 2020–2024.
Cellar Selection -
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
A spicy, underbrush, forest floor and currant-filled effort, the 2014 Pinot Noir Parker West Vineyard saw close to one-third whole cluster and more new oak than the other releases, spending 17 months in 51% new barrels. This medium-bodied, supple, elegant effort is more open and evolved than the other releases and shows more old world charm, yet with that present Cali fruit. Drink it over the coming 4-5 years.
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.