Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
This delicious expression of Pinot Noir from a historic vineyard starts with lovely black cherry, chai, mocha and red flower aromas. Plush and polished tannins wrap palate, framing bold fruit flavors of cherry, strawberry and pomegranate, with elegant waves of hibiscus, sumac and allspice leading into an edgy finish.
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Wine Spectator
Offers a nice sleek, ripe feel, with a cherry and damson plum core lined with red licorice and rooibos tea. The sneaky long finish reveals a subtle savory echo, which provides a nice counterpoint. Drink now through 2027. 524 cases made.
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Wine & Spirits
This wine’s reduction inhibits its fruit character. a dark, creamy red with a sleek texture and relaxed flavors of turf, tobacco and black cherry. Cellar to let those elements knit.
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.