Winemaker Notes
Garnet in color with aromas of strawberry, mint, and floral notes. On the palate, red plum, cranberry, raspberry, vanilla, cinnamon
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2018 Pinot Noir Sanford & Benedict Vineyard comes from a great site on the southern side of the Sta. Rita Hills and was brought up in 40% new French oak. Plum/ruby-hued, with notes of Bing cherries, candied violets, spice, and sappy herbs, it hits the palate with medium to full-bodied richness, a tight, vibrant texture, nicely integrated acidity, and a great finish. It should evolve for a decade.
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Wine Enthusiast
Fairly dark in the glass, this bottling from a historic vineyard offers the telltale hints of wet earth and light game as well as dark-fruit elements of cherry and even blueberry, with a strong wood-spice scent. The palate is hearty with baked red currant and orange-rind flavors, made more complex by the dried sage, intriguing game and grippy tannins.
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.