SUPERIOR WINE ALERT
Today’s Santa Barbara Pinot, from one of the best vintages in a decade is a wine of exceptional character. If you love great Pinot Noir, this one belongs in your collections.
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Mission Codename: Exceptional Breeding
Operative: Agent White
Objective: Locate and procure a stunning Pinot Noir in Santa Barbara County
Mission Status: Accomplished!
Current Winery: Fess Parker Winery
Wine Subject: 2007 Bien Nacido Vineyard Pinot Noir
Winemaker: Blair Fox
Backgrounder: The Wine Spies have been featuring some really incredible Pinot Noir of late, but requests have been pouring in for a Bien Nacido (Santa Barbara County) Pinot Noir – so we sent Agent White southward to discover the best example he could find. Read his tasting notes and his mission report below to find out how he located today’s incredible Fess Parker Pinot Noir.
California’s Central Coast region, and specifically Santa Barbara and San Luis Obisbo County has become one of the state’s premier regions for Pinot Noir. The generally warmer climate, moderated by the coastal fog, its sandy and clay loam soil, and broad exposure results in Pinot of exceptional purity.
Wine Spies Tasting Profile:
Look – Deep and dark reddish burgundy and ruby red reflections shine through its dark core when held to the light. Along the edges, the color shows subtle violet hints and when swirled, clusters of fast thin legs streak down to the wine below.
Smell – Bold and generous aromas of earthy red fruit and specifically dark cherry with distinct undergrowth notes layered into the fruit. Complex aromas of exotic spice, smokey wood, and herbal notes meld with a subtle hints of mocha coffee and cola.
Feel – Rich and smooth, this dry and full-bodied Pinot’s powder-textured tannins are expansive and hold tight but don’t overpower. Balanced acidity and minerality adds to this wine’s exceptional structure.
Taste – Rich earthy dark cherry and other red fruit flavors are integrated with notes of exotic spices, savory herbal notes and smokey oak. A touch of mocha, vanilla and cola emerge under the woody flavors.
Finish – Long, textured and persistent tannins linger on the palate as the fruit, earth and spice notes gently fade.
Conclusion – The 2007 Fess Parker Winery Bien Nacido Vineyard Pinot Noir is well deserving of the awards and accolades its received. Rich and generous earthy fruit with layer upon layer of other complex aromas and flavors. A fantastically structured wine (give it some time to open). Enjoy the progressive evolution in the glass. Enjoy now and for the next 5-7 years.
Mission Report:
Below is a recap of Agent Red’s original mission when we first featured Fess Parker.
When I was a little Agent, my father took me on a journey through my family history. It was rife with intrigue, unsavory characters, artists, criminals, tales of fortunes won and lost – and even actual spies, and even an honest-to-god (only) horse thief.
My fathers father, a gentleman professor of romance languages and a student of history, had traced our roots back many generations. The generations which fascinated me the most were those that occupied early American history. The distant relative that held the most fascination was Daniel Boone.
American Folk Hero, explorer, businessman, military man and woodsman, it was Boones role in extending American civilization and his moniker, ”the Columbus of the woods”, that interested me most about the man. Or at least the popularized versions of the man. I became an avid student of the Disney series, Daniel Boone, and even took to wearing a coonskin cap. Granted, I was 6 years old.
Many years hence I became a Wine Spy, blazing trails of my own with Wine Spies co-founder, Agent Red. Red suggested that we were pioneers and that comment triggered memories of long-ago relative, Daniel Boone. A few days later, I rented the Disney series and, as I was watching the credits, spotted a name familiar to me from the wine industry, Fess Parker! Fess played played Daniel Boone in the Disney series of the same name.
This revelation led me to call on the winery immediately, declaring to them excitedly that I was ‘related’ to them. When I explained myself, I was met with a somewhat quizzical chuckle. Apparently, they felt that my claim was a bit of a stretch. Imagine that!
Long story short, I made an appointment with the winery, to taste their wines – and I fell in love. Their 2006 Ashley’s Vineyard Chardonnay was particularly wonderful and, right then and there, I secured a cache for our Operatives. With fruit from the Sta. Rita Hills appellation, this wine strikes a great balance of serious, fun and sincere – just like Fess Parker himself.
As for Daniel Boone, while he was not perfect by any means, he did blaze trails and he did make important discoveries – just as I try to do with the wines that I spy for you every day, dear Operative…
Wine Spies Vineyard Check:
The location of the Fess Parker Winery in Santa Barbara’s famous Foxen Canyon can be seen in this satellite photo.
