Tasting Notes

Few wines successfully balance the character of the grape with the addition of barrel aging. However, Fess Parker's Chardonnay from sunny Santa Barbara finds a way. Yummy French toast aromas are topped with pear, lychee and clover honey. A nice zippy finish busts through the hazelnut and almond, making this white perceptibly light in the mouth. The combination of these riotous fruits and flavors bake together in the end. A potential poolside favorite, drink now.

Winery Story

People often comment that they grew up with Fess Parker - as he starred in Disney's Davy Crockett for 6 years (a staple for many households). A native Texan, Parker moved to California to pursue a drama career - one that was very successful. Parker is his own type of frontiersman, opening a hotel and eventually founding a winery in picturesque Santa Barbara - years before the celebrity wine craze took hold in the industry.

Located near Los Olivos, the winery sits in a dry valley along a two-lane road, bordered by several other wineries and cattle land. Most of the vineyards in this area sweep out from the main property in a crescent - some located Northwest, closer to Paso Robles, while other wineries are located further southeast, in Santa Ynez. The wide variety of vineyard locations is a boon, enabling the vineyard manager and winemaker to have a selection of fruit to choose from. This is either to aid in blending for style or to offer a selection of "vineyard designates" where the fruit for the wine comes solely from those select rows.

Fess Parker wines are available in all price points, from their Frontier Red blend at an affordable under $10, to their reserve wines priced several dollars higher. Visitors to the area can taste at the winery, or at two different hotel locations. A lucky few even catch the man himself enjoying a meal in the Fess Parker Inn's restaurant.