story published in the Santa Barbara News-Press on 1/10/19
“Fess would be so tickled with everything that’s transpired,” says Ashley Parker Snider. The daughter of late TV icon Fess Parker was part of the launch of his eponymous wine brand in 1989, when Santa Barbara County’s viticultural industry was still in its infancy. The family business, which has blossomed into a third-generation hospitality powerhouse, celebrates its 30th anniversary this year.
“The
original motivation for buying the ranch [in December 1987] was the fact it was
a gorgeous piece of property, and its proximity to Santa Barbara,” says Fess
Parker’s only daughter of the 714-acre estate along Foxen Canyon Road. Early
on, “he said, ‘Let’s plant a little vineyard,’” she recalls. “So it started out
very organically, and then it definitely picked up steam.”
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| Fess Parker at Rodney's Vineyard in 2007 (photo credit: Claude Ising) |
Today, Fess
Parker Winery and Vineyard produces close to 70,000 cases of wine a year
through various labels, including the flagship Fess Parker brand that
specializes in premium pinot noir, chardonnay, syrah, along with viognier and
Riesling. The wines are the star attraction at the tasting room and visitor
center on the family estate, which is open daily and features special culinary
events throughout the year; sprawling picnic grounds help make it one of the
most visited wineries in Santa Barbara County. The property has 110 acres of
planted wine grapes and the estate vineyard, Rodney’s, – a clay loam plot at an
elevation of 1200 feet -- is named after Fess Parker’s late son-in-law.
What’s an
industry success story today began with “a bit of a thud,” though, according to
Ashley. The label was dubbed, simply, “Parker,” at first, “because we
didn’t want to really trade on the name. We wanted the wines to stand on their
own.” That name, after all – Fess Parker – had long been a household name. The
Texas native and WWII Navy veteran who’d moved to California to study drama at
USC became a TV star in the 1950s and 1960s, portraying American heroes Davy
Crockett and Daniel Boone. With the roaring success of his character
portrayals, as well as several other projects produced by Disney, Paramount and
Warner Bros. during television’s formative years, Fess Parker became one of
Hollywood’s original celebrities.
With
slow sales at first, the Parker-only appellation “was a fun experiment
for a first vintage,” Fess Parker told his kids, Ashley and son, Eli, who were
marketing the wines. “’It’s going to be ‘Fess Parker’ going forward,’ he said,”
recalls Ashley, “and he was right. Sometimes, when you’re starting a wine
business, you need a little cachet.”
Riesling was
the first grape variety planted at the Fess Parker ranch, and the label’s first
decade was defined by aggressive experimentation with myriad grapes, and with
both hits and misses. “When Tim came on board, we were making like 15
varieties,” says Ashley, referencing her husband, Tim Snider, a Sonoma
County native who left E&J Gallo for Fess Parker in 1999 and was named the
winery’s president the following year. “Tim really provided a level of
knowledge and focus and direction for us that have made the last 20 years
possible.”
The Fess
Parker label sources syrah and viognier, mainly, from its estate Rodney’s
Vineyard and has long term lease contracts with vineyards like Bien Nacido and,
more recently, Sanford & Benedict and Fiddlestix for its award-winning
pinot noir and chardonnay. The brand still sources grapes from Rancho
Las Hermanas, vintner Bill Foley’s vineyard in Sta. Rita Hills which was
originally developed by Fess and Eli Parker and dubbed Ashley’s Vineyard. (Camp
4 Vineyard, also launched by the father-son Parker team, was sold to the Santa
Ynez Band of Chumash Indians in 2010, the year Fess Parker passed away.)
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| Blair Fox leads a tour through the Fess Parker barrel room |
Head
winemaker Blair Fox agrees that, since about 2000, “we’ve become much more
focused and quality-oriented.” The UC Davis alum and former Sunstone winemaker
leads a winery team of about 15, most of whom he’s personally trained, and
employs what could be called an Old World winemaking style. “Hand-stirring
everything, basket pressing, the very best barrel cooperage, the best fruit
sourcing,” he says. “I’ve always been a hands-on winemaker, I have small winery
mentality as far as wine-making is concerned, and I’ve always liked a delicate
touch.” That touch helped Mr. Fox earn the prestigious André Tchelistcheff Winemaker of the Year Award in
2008, two years after Eli Parker won the same honor, and has made the Fess
Parker wines among the most award-winning in Santa Barbara County.
The Parker
family enterprise also includes the Epiphany label, launched by Eli Parker in
2000 to focus on Rhone varieties and blends; it runs its own tasting room in
Los Olivos. The family’s Bubble Shack opened in Los Olivos in 2015 to promote a
growing line of locally produced sparkling wine. And Addendum is a new
small-lot project that sources cabernet sauvignon from throughout Napa Valley;
grapes are harvested, loaded onto temperature-controlled trucks and transported
to the Parker winery.
Fess
Parker’s foray into wine was an extension of his penchant for thoughtful real
estate development, which had started two years earlier with the opening of a
23-acre resort along Cabrillo Blvd. After he’d left Tinsel Town in the 1970s,
Mr. Parker and his wife, Marcella, became Santa Barbara residents ,and the hotel
project in 1986 marked the onset of a partnership with Hilton Hotels that
remains to this day. The Parker family is 50-50 owners of the property with
Hilton, which manages it and just last year rebranded it from a DoubleTree
hotel to the Hilton Santa Barbara Beachfront Resort.
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| The Fess Parker Wine Country Inn & Spa in Los Olivos |
Mr. Parker
purchased the luxury 19-room Fess Parker Wine Country Inn & Spa in 1998,
which quickly became one of the county’s premier boutique stays. Today, the
downtown Los Olivos property is also a foodie haven, thanks to the stellar
success of the Bear & Star restaurant. With Chef John Cox at the helm, the popularity
of the upscale ranch-inspired eatery hinges on its ingenious,
sustainable dining concept. Most every item on the menu is raised, grown or
harvested on the Parker family’s 714-acre ranch, less than seven miles away,
including Wagyu beef, pork, rabbits, quail, chicken and
organically grown vegetables, herbs and fruits. Chef Cox calls it “a true ecosystem.”
The focus on hospitality that threads through all the Parker
family brands – known collectively today as FESPAR – is very much an extension of
Fess Parker’s own personality. The star-turned-vintner was known for daily
strolls through his tasting room, engaging guests, telling stories and signing
autographs. “That personal touch is something that persists in the DNA
of everything we do,” says Mr. Snider. “Our goal is that people can feel that,
that they see that the family’s involved, the family cares, and the family
takes personal pride in all of it.”
That family
focus -- “Fess would be over the moon to see it,” says his daughter. In fact, a
third generation of Parkers is already intricately involved in the business. Of
Ashley Parker’s three children, son Spencer Shull, a Denver resident, manages
sales and pours at trade events across the country, and daughter Greer helps
manage the company’s digital marketing and social media.
“I have tons of early memories of running around on the
grass at the winery while my grandpa, parents and uncle greeted guests and
poured wine during events,” says Greer Shull, 24. “My Grandpa was such an
amazing people person and had a really unique ability to make people feel like
they were part of the family. Now that I’ve joined the business, I hope I can
help continue that.”
Eli Parker’s children in the family business include Katie Parker McDonald, who raises the family’s 100-plus Wagyu cattle and leads trails rides across the family ranch through her company, KAP Land and Cattle; Amanda Parker White, who oversees catering and special events at the Inn; and Kris Parker, who’s expanded the family footprint into beer with his Third Window Brewing Company.
Eli Parker’s children in the family business include Katie Parker McDonald, who raises the family’s 100-plus Wagyu cattle and leads trails rides across the family ranch through her company, KAP Land and Cattle; Amanda Parker White, who oversees catering and special events at the Inn; and Kris Parker, who’s expanded the family footprint into beer with his Third Window Brewing Company.
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| The second- and third-generation Parker family continue the Fess Parker legacy today. From left: granddaughter Greer Schull, grandson Spencer Schull, so-in-law Tim Snider, daughter Ashley Parker-Snider, granddaughter Katie Parker McDonald, son Eli Parker, granddaughter Amanda Parker White and grandson Kris Parker. |
Several
special events are celebrating Fess Parker Winery’s 30th anniversary
year, including the limited release of only 500 magnum bottles of a
commemorative sparkling wine, which will be sold through the tasting room
beginning in mid-January. "Open That Bottle Night" takes place on February 23rd
at the winery’s barrel room and includes a gourmet dinner with dedicated
sommeliers at each table and an array of library wines; tickets are $125
through fessparker.com.
And World of Pinot Noir, an annual gathering of the world’s top pinot producers
at the Ritz-Carlton Bacara in Goleta, will feature a “30 Years of Fess Parker”
retrospective dinner on March 1; tickets are selling for $165 at wopn.com.
Look
for other 30th anniversary events to be announced throughout 2019.
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