Fess Parker Winery - Santa Barbara California

It's funny that Fess Parker is the largest winery mentioned in Sideways - but nobody could ever find it based on the movie. In the movie it is called Frass Canyon (Frass sounding quite like Crass) and is a large, nasty, cookie-cutter winery that giant tour groups go to. Miles hates it, and in fact he first yells at the tasting room person and then in an act of utter depravity drinks down the spit bucket.

Fess Parker in real life is a large winery, but is much quieter than they make out in the movie. It does fill up on weekends, with tours coming in from the Los Angeles region. It was begun by the famous actor Fess Parker of Davy Crockett fame. The winery itself is a comfortable, low building with a lot of wood and stone, surrounded by gorgeous vineyards. It's a shame that, in the movie, Miles was so overcome with snobbery that he couldn't appreciate the wines or the environment. They even serve their wines in Riedel glassware!

We began with two white wines. First, the 2004 Ashley's Vineyard Chardonnay. This comes from the Santa Rita Hills area with its cool climate. This is an European style chardonnay, with crisp citrus, pear, melon and a hint of vanilla flavors, very light. It spends 12 months in French oak. $28.

Next came the Santa Barbara County 2004 Viognier. I'm a HUGE viognier fan and was happy to see this on the list. It is 40% stainless steel and 60% French oak. It had flavors of vanilla, apricot and honeysuckle and a nice finish. $22.

On to the reds. There of course was a pinot noir! This was Ashley's Vineyard 2004 Pinot Noir. It was light, spicy, with gentle flavors. It comes from the Santa Rita hills, near the ocean. It wasn't overly complex, but had nice fruit. $55.

Next was the 2002 Santa Barbara County Syrah. Flavors of mint, plum, black cherry. Hints of licorice. Interestingly at only $20 Bob liked this one better than the pinot, but I felt it was a toss-up.

The 2003 Syrah followed. This is from the Santa Ynez vineyard "The Big Easy". It was smooth, easy drinking with a short finish. $40.

Next, the Rodney's Vineyard 2003 Syrah, with blackberry, plum, and mocha spices. $40.

We finished up with the 2005 White Riesling from Santa Barbara County. This is one all in stainless steel, with no oak. They end up with 2 1/2% residual sugar - so very dry, very light, with a hint of lychee and gentle minerals. The flavors were extremely mild compared to other dry rieslings we've tried. $14.

The location is gorgeous - you can sip some wines, relax in a table out on their porch, and just gaze at the vines for hours. I really recommend coming mid-week, when it's quiet, vs on the weekend when the tours start to come plowing through.

They definitely play up the Fess Parker connections here!

Every winery in the area has a sign at its exit, helpfully pointing you in the correct direction to continue your tour. I recommend you have a map in the car though! Many of the turns on the roads aren't marked, so you could get quite lost unless you knew where you were going.

We asked if the prices had risen higher now with the movie's popularity, and were told that they were. It would seem that every wine region should sponsor a movie about their area, to bring in the tourists and help keep the income high!

Fess Parker Winery Webpage
Sideways movie review

Santa Barbara California Wineries
California Winery Review Listing