Winemaker Notes
Aromas and flavors of black cherry, black raspberry, black plum, red plum, vanilla, black tea, fennel, sage, baking spices, forest floor and cigar box.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Clean lines of dark cherry, roasted strawberry, star anise and cardamom make for a spicy nose on this bottling from the historic property. It's lush, smooth and comforting on the palate, where the dark-cherry, chai-spice, orange-rind and crumpled flower flavors align.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Medium ruby-purple, the 2019 Pinot Noir Sanford & Benedict Vineyard is scented of wild berries, rhubarb and orange peel with nuances of potpourri. The light-bodied palate is bright, soft and juicy with layered spicy flavors and an uplifted finish. Best After 2022
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Jeb Dunnuck
The ruby-hued 2019 Pinot Noir Sanford & Benedict Vineyard comes from the southern part of the Sta. Rita Hills and is a more backward, structured effort offering lots of red fruits and herbal notes to go with a medium-bodied, tight, chewy style on the palate. It nee a year or two of bottle age, but it’s an impressive, rich, yet also elegant Pinot Noir that should have 7-8 years of longevity.
Rating: 91+ -
Wine Spectator
Well-structured, with rich acidity backing the juicy and well-spiced dark cherry and wild berry flavors. Delivers cedary richness in the midpalate, with an open-textured finish that shows hints of cocoa powder. Drink now
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.