Fess Parker Winery & Vineyards
Investing in the Future at Fess Parker Winery and Vineyards
Like thousands of others, we were sad when Fess Parker passed in 2010. Fortunately for wine lovers, his family has continued the winery with great passion and care. Eli Parker and his sister Ashley Parker Snider are the stewards of their father’s vision.
“This year is our 33rd year in Santa Barbara County as a family owned and operated winery,” says Winery President Tim Snider. “Our third generation is working in the business now, which Fess would’ve loved. I think that was one of the biggest aspirations Fess had for the winery: To create something sustainable, that could be a place for multiple generations of the Parker family to participate in.”
Constantly Improving Quality
“When wine lovers come back to Fess Parker, there will be a lot that they will remember, but there will be a lot of new and improved touches,” says Tim. “Right before harvest 2019, we finished an overhaul of our facility to better fit the small-lot winemaking that we’ve grown into. Things like concrete fermentation vessels, sorting fruit at both the cluster and berry level, and small-lot fermentations are investments in the long term, in quality, and in refining our style.” Their hospitality offerings have also been upgraded. “We are trying to stay contemporary while keeping in touch with the vision of Fess and Marcy,” says Tim. “We now offer private tasting experiences, while maintaining the great seated tastings on our patio that people love. Next to open is our library wine rooms where people can curate the lineup themselves. It will be a fantastic experience for people to taste current releases and discover how wines age in the bottle over five, 10, 15 years, or even more.” It’s a lovely nod to their past, present and the future.
Wines Crafted with Pride
“The Frontiersman was sourced from multiple AVAs around the county, and it really captures the essence of Santa Barbara,” says Tim. We were able to obtain fruit from some pedigreed vineyard sources for this wine. The fruit was basket pressed, which is a slow, gentle, controlled process. It avoids a lot of the harsh tannins that you might get if you had a harder press that would be drawn from the skin. The resulting wines are a little bit fresher, a little bit better. A portion of the Frontiersman was fermented in concrete, which brings out a freshness and a purity in the fruit as well as calling out some minerality. The slight porousness of the concrete offers an everso-slight oxidation which helps the wine texturally. It allows the fruit to really pop.”
The Grenache Blanc is bottled under their Epiphany label, founded by Eli Parker in 2000 for crafting interesting, primarily Rhone-style wines of exquisite quality. “What we want from Grenache Blanc is for the varietal character to sing through,” says Tim. “It almost has a little petrol note on the nose that is really interesting along with floral and stone fruit characteristics. But what makes the Grenache Blanc
such an attractive wine is freshness and acidity. You have nice fruit and texture, but it just dances across the palate, the mid-palate, and the finish.”
The fabulous wines we featured:
2019 The Frontiersman Santa Barbara County Pinot Noir
- Tim’s pairing: Pork loin marinated in a mixture of soy sauce and creamy horseradish, then grilled.
- Enjoy now.
Tasting Notes: It has a nice weight, but it’s still light on its feet like Pinot should be and it has great balance. On the nose, black cherry, red plum, cranberry, wild strawberry, vanilla, and milk chocolate. On the palate, sassafras, nutmeg, baking spices, black tea, sandalwood, and forest floor.
2018 Rodney’s Vineyard, Santa Barbara County Grenache Blanc
- 91 Points, Wine Enthusiast
- Pair with: Oysters, fish, rich meats such as lamb, richly spiced dishes
- Enjoy now.
Tasting Notes: A full-bodied white wine with aromas of jasmine, white melon, candied ginger, and white peach. Rich and refreshing with flavors of white nectarine, Meyer lemon and key lime, finishing bright with fresh acidity and mineral notes.
Winemaker's Notes
2019 The Frontiersman Santa Barbara County Pinot Noir: Fruit for this wine came from Santa Barbara County, including 36% Cottonwood Canyon Vineyard in Santa Maria, 25% Camp 4 Vineyard, 23% Rio Vista Vineyard in Sta. Rita Hills, and 16% from another Santa Maria Valley vineyard.
2018 Rodney’s Vineyard, Santa Barbara County Grenache Blanc: Fruit came from block 02 of Rodney’s Vineyard on the Fess Parker home ranch in Santa Ynez Valley.
Santa Ynez Valley
The Fess Parker Family
Blair Fox