2010 Fess Parker Santa Barbara County Chardonnay

DATE CONSUMED

Sunday, July 28, 2013

VINTAGE

2010

WINERY/PRODUCER

Fess Parker

WINE NAME

N/A

TYPE OF WINE

White

COMPOSITION

100% Chardonnay

SUBNAME/NICKNAME

N/A

VINEYARD DESIGNATION

The grapes for this wine were sourced from five different vineyards throughout Santa Barbara County (mostly)(I’m too tired and old to list them all, but they’re from the Santa Rita Hills, Santa Maria Valley, Santa Ynez Valley, and even Monterey County)

REGION/APPELLATION/A.V.A. (American Viticultural Area)

Santa Barbara County, California

ALCOHOL CONTENT

14.2%

PRICE PAID

Retail: $18

Wine club member price: $14.40

WHERE/WHEN BOUGHT AND/OR HOW PROCURED

We received this bottle in June 2011 with our regular quarterly wine club shipment

BOUQUET

This wine has a very stony/minerally bouquet, along with some tropical and stone fruit elements such as pineapple, apricot, and peach.  I also detected some earth and oak on the nose, which isn’t too surprising since Blair Fox (Fess’ head winemaker) likes to partially or fully ferment a lot of Fess’ white wines in oak barrels. 

TASTING NOTES

After writing the above notes concerning this wine’s bouquet, I retrieved the newsletter that came with the shipment that included this wine and, sure enough, this wine was indeed 100% barrel fermented (30% of which were new barrels). 

The second thing I did was scream when I noticed the alcohol level on the bottle label.  I’ve had a lot of red wines with less than 14.2% alcohol, so I was petrified that this wine would be a somewhat typical Fess white where the grapes were picked VERY ripe (resulting in elevated alcohol levels) and that the oak that was apparent on the nose would be overwhelming on the palate.  Luckily, neither concern came to fruition.

This is a good, decent Chardonnay, but sadly, I’ve had much better Chardonnays for a similar price (ranging from $8 to $40).   Since the oak was not overwhelming and this wine carries its alcohol level very well, I was expecting a Chardonnay with more depth and complexity.  Like a ripe, typical California Chardonnay, there’s plenty of tropical and stone fruit (which the bouquet foreshadowed), such as peach, apricot, mango, pineapple, pear, and apple.  The barrel fermentation adds vanilla and richness; this is indeed a medium-to-full-bodied Chardonnay, with rich, creamy, oaky elements mid-palate.  In addition to the oak and fruit characteristics, there’s also honeycomb and herbal elements as well.  The finish is palate-clinging and lingering.

We’ve belonged to Fess’ wine club since 2007; they were the first wine club Arthur and I joined.  Pretty much all of their wines are, at worst, good, going all the way up to fantastic (some of their Pinot Noirs and red blends).  I do have one issue with Fess’ white wines: they tend to use VERY ripe grapes (with high alcohol levels) and the (partial or full) barrel fermentation can make their whites seem a bit heavy, leaden, overly-rich, and almost overbearing.  Although I appreciate all kinds of wines made in all kinds of styles, I do prefer whites that are generally lean and lower in alcohol.  If the wine has incredible depth-of-flavor with a complex flavor profile (along with fabulous balance and a gorgeous structure), I’d have no problems with a Cali Chardonnay with 20% alcohol.  However, I’ve yet come across a fantastic Cali Chard above 14% alcohol with complexity, depth-of-flavor, balance, structure, and elegance that warranted all that alcohol.

PAIRING SUGGESTIONS

I paired this wine with scallops pan-seared in curried butter (about one or two tablespoons of butter with a light sprinkling of curry powder) and topped with freshly-cracked sea salt and black pepper.  This wine paired beautifully with the scallops and because of its richness and fruitiness would also pair well with most rich/fatty fishes (like salmon), roasted chicken, lobster mac & cheese, and even pan-seared pork chops.

AGING POTENTIAL

This wine is drinking well right now and will probably continue to age/mature well for another 5 to 10 years. 

SCORE (on a 100-point scale)

85

Q.P.R. (QUALITY-TO-PRICE RATIO) (POOR, FAIR, GOOD, EXCELLENT)

FAIR – GOOD

WINERY WEBSITE

http://www.fessparker.com/