Winemaker Notes
Aromas of blueberry, black cherry, smoke, tar, dried tobacco, blackberry liqueur, lavender, and baking spices. Flavors of blueberry, blackberry, dark chocolate, clove, earth, dried herbs, and vanilla.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
The single vineyard Syrah is the 2015 Syrah Rodney's Vineyard and it's a significant step up in price. Slightly more firm, tight and serious, with notes of blackberries, black olives, crushed rocks, and bacon fat, this beauty has terrific purity of fruit, notable tannin, and a clean, balanced finish. Aged 21 months in 40% new French oak, it has a decade or prime drinking ahead of it.
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Wine Enthusiast
Rich black fruit meets with a touch of roasted lamb and rosemary on the classic nose of this Syrah, which was planted in 1989 as a memorial for Fess Parker's late son-in-law. The gamy qualities are much stronger on the sip, with charred lamb and more savory herbs, yet the backdrop is all boysenberry.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2015 Syrah Rodney's Vineyard opens in the glass with a brooding bouquet of smoked meats, warm spices, ripe berry fruit and cocoa. On the palate, it's full-bodied, rich and chewy, carrying a hefty payload of tannin and extract, but with sufficient acidity and intensity of flavor that I wouldn't bet against it coming around with some time in the cellar.
Rating: 90+
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.
Marked by an unmistakable deep purple hue and savory aromatics, Syrah makes an intense, powerful and often age-worthy red. Native to the Northern Rhône, Syrah achieves its maximum potential in the steep village of Hermitage and plays an important component in the Red Rhône Blends of the south, adding color and structure to Grenache and Mourvèdre. Syrah is the most widely planted grape of Australia and is important in California and Washington. Sommelier Secret—Such a synergy these three create together, the Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre trio often takes on the shorthand term, “GSM.”
With a dry and mild climate cooled significantly by moist ocean fog and breezes, Santa Barbara County is a grape-grower’s dream. Part of the larger Central Coast appellation, Santa Barbara is home to Santa Maria Valley and Santa Ynez Valley. The conditions here provide an opportunity for nearly effortless production of high-quality cool-climate Central Coast wines. This is also the site of the 2004 film Sideways, which caused Pinot Noir’s popularity to skyrocket and brought new acclaim to the region.
Chardonnay and Pinot Noir are the stars of Santa Barbara, producing wines marked by racy acidity. Crisp Sauvignon Blanc and savory Syrah are also important. The region is home to many young and enthusiastic winemakers eager to experiment with less common varieties including Chenin Blanc, Grüner Veltliner, Trousseau Gris, Gamay and Cabernet Franc, making it an exciting area to watch.