Fess Parker Winery

Great location and nice tasting room. The person pouring (Adriana) was the best ever. She had great knowledge of the wines and her personality was upbeat and fun. She was so good we signed up for the wine club. Same experience for the other couple we were with.
The wines were very good. Of course some more appealing than others and all were good. A for sure stop especially if you like Pinots.

Beautiful location and grounds. Lovely picnic spot but was sadly not impressed by the wines at all!
The tasting room is large with dramatic high ceilings a great room.
The prices are high for mediocre wine. We found only one wine that was decent. They pour very small tastes as well, but considering the wine here that was a good thing!
The staff is friendly and knowledgeable.

Decent wines. Nice setting. DON’T JOIN THEIR WINE CLUB!!!
Reason: They play «fast and loose» with your credit card. I joined last fall and when the time came to ship the January shipment, they had a company called Epiphany Cellars process the payment. AMEX called me asking if I’d ever charged to Epiphany Cellars. I said no so they had to cancel my card and send a new one. You know what that means? Every business and utility that auto charges my card needs to be notified and the card number changed. Apple iTunes, iCloud and that whole mess needs changing too. It literally will take 3 to 4 hours of very frustrating work.
When I finally tracked down Fess Parker Winery as the offending party, I called customer service and complained. I was told that it’s happened to a lot of people and to essentially «get over it.» I couldn’t believe my ears! They took no responsibility, zero, nada, and I hung up feeling this whole thing was my fault. I’m about 2 hours into the change of accounts and frustrated and need the relief of writing about their poor customer service, rude personnel, and the shenanigans they’ve pulled using my credit card.
Thanks for reading.

Had a fantastic experience here last weekend as part of a large birthday group. Our group had the back tasting bar all to ourselves and our guide took the time to not only describe each wine’s characteristics thoroughly, but also to provide pairing suggestions and answer all our questions about wine, Fess Parker, the surrounding area, and even cooking tips! And of course the wine itself was excellent! Could not have asked for better experience.

Cute picnic area and great deal on wine tastings. My friends and I went here for a bachelorette party and the wine tasting was not pricey at all! Plus, we brought food and drinks (non-​alcoholic) on our own, and enjoyed the picnic area afterward. It was such an ideal afternoon!

As someone who has had a fair number of winery tours across the country over the years, this was a real highlight. The server/​host was quite congenial and smart about wine. While I know his job is to «sell» the wine, I didn’t feel that we were being sold. Having said that, we did buy a fair amount. I’m old enough to remember Fess Parker on TV and in film
, so this was doubly pleasurable. I’d recommend the stop!

In my opinion, there are two types of wineries to choose from when going wine tasting. The large scaled wineries that have expansive properties but also a lot of guests, and the small wineries who are more niche in the market. Fess Parker falls into the first category and of the larger scale vineyards, I’d say for the Los Olivios area, this one is my favorite.
The winery has beautiful views of the area, is far enough from the road that you don’t really hear the traffic, and has a lot of really nice areas to lounge and enjoy your sampling of wines. The grounds are also terrific for a wedding and both times I’ve been here, there were receptions or ceremonies in full swing.
Obviously the wine selection changes so I don’t think it’s worth going into all that and wine is such a personal thing so saying it’s the best wine or worst wine hold no weight as palettes are to different to ever judge this. Even in our group, some of us liked some wines and others liked other ones. What is nice about Fess Parker is that they have a great selection of foods to pair your tastings with. Crackers & Cheese, chocolates, sandwiches, nuts, etc. They also have all sorts of books and other items in their tasting room to entertain yourself with or purchase.
I’m a fan of Fess Parker and will likely to drop in from time to time when I find myself in the area wine tasting. Even just sitting on the front porch and relaxing is worth stopping in!

I’m over the moon and completely smitten with the vineyards, the tastings, and the overall experience. Efrain made my mother’s time at the winery memorable. She chatted with him about everything under the sun and he was knowledgeable about the wine and taught her so much. They turned on the firepit just for her and she was able to relax and soak in the view before heading home to Chicago afew days later. She’s crazy about Fess Parker now and I can’t thank the FP team for treating her like a proper queen. Enjoying the bottle of Big Easy as I type.
Only downside:. Please bring cash to tip as they don’t have a space on the credit card slip to tip.

I’ve been to this winery twice now and it is still as wonderful as I remembered it. The grounds and tasting room were both very beautiful. It has a cozy and relaxing atmosphere and a perfect site to enjoy a picnic.
They have excellent white wines here. We split the wine tasting and still received a fairly good portion of wine. Our attendant even gave us two extra wines to taste. She was super nice and very informative. I also loved that they incorporated the coonskin hat as the logo on the wine glasses. Too bad they don’t give those away anymore. The mini coonskin cap is the cutest bottle topper ever. Once again, it was a very pleasant wine tour. I hope to come back soon!

Staying at the Fess Parker Inn in Los Olivos, we took advantage of a complimentary tasting and its short drive up Foxen Canyon. Started off the tasting with one host before 3pm on a Friday.
Within 20 minutes you knew the weekend was coming, as were the day’s end wine tour vans. This is when you step away from the bar, there’s a lot of ample space to roam.
We probably went through another 2 hosts as the activity level escalated, and seems to be a level of trust when they ask what your last wine was, I don’t see how they could possibly remember who or who is on what or what. Benefit of a volume estate I imagine.
Purchased two bottles of The Big Easy which was far and away our favorite.
My Hawaii Wife-​Oh is the sake expert and rarely drinks wine, for some reason we’re in agreement on 90% of our tasting choices.

Beautiful grounds at Fess Parker, with picnic tables available in their grassy lawn or seating available on their patio. Here (versus at Demetria) you must go up to their bar counter to retrieve your own wine samples, instead of having a server bring them out to you. Those pouring the wine seemed to be lenient in the amount of tastings you could try, which was great. Great tasting wine. I especially enjoyed their Chardonnays.
Our barista kept track of which tasting we were on – good memory! And we were offered additional tastings when we reached the end of the set menu.
Families, couples, bachelorette parties… All types of people were noted to stop by this location. A relaxing environment, but not as secluded and the view not as great as it was at Demetria, for those comparing the two :)

I was most excited about coming here out of all the wineries in the tour. Beautiful grounds but it was so hot we didn’t want to spend much time outside. We barely made it through lunch in their beautiful patio before making our way back to the ac. I wish it wasn’t so hot because the outdoor space is very beautiful. The inside had limited plush leather couches and I seriously was tempted to take a nap after the heat and wine.

We were brought to Fess Parker by a wine taxi/​tour company that suggested it.
The grounds looked beautiful and ideal for a family picnic with sprawling green grass, and tons of patio seating, but it was just way too hot so we stayed inside and enjoyed the sweet air conditioning.
Because we went on Monday (this most recent Labor Day) there were some people, but it wasn’t too crowded which seemed perfect.
The tasting was $ 12 for about 5 different wines. I regret not buying a bottle of the Viognier that we tasted. I’m not usually a fan of white wine because they are usually too dry or too sweet for me, but this was just perfect!
The only reason this was not a 5 star review was because the person helping us might have not been the most on top of things. He was friendly enough and was giving a group of us a history lesson of Fess, but never remembered which wine we were on. He seemed to be a bit confused with the computer system they used to charge us as well.
I would go back.

First off, I like Fess Parker wines. They offer a decent variation that generally appeals to the masses. Those that enjoy and those that are just interested can both find common ground here. The space that they built while it’s not necessarily my style is functional and cozy. The pricing for tasting is comparable to other wineries in the area and space wise it’s probably a little smaller than Firestone.
What I don’t like about this place are the flies. There were so many flies that one can only sit outside for a certain amount of time before being forced inside. Perhaps that’s their business plan, but I don’t understand why this is the only winery that has this issue? Also, parking is lacking at this winery, but then again they aren’t in the business of parking… they’re in the business of selling wine.

It’s cool that these lush grounds is where they shot Miles drinking from the dump bucket in «Sideways», but I was not impressed with the wines, or the prices for these mediocre wines, nor was I impressed with the flies all over the biscuits. The guy next to me seriously said he thought they were chocolate chip.

Went here with a free tasting voucher after staying at the hotel. LONG, windy drive from hotel so be prepared for that. If you are staying at the hotel and like the wines there I would recommend taking the complimentary shuttle. Husband and I were not impressed. Plus, they were expensive. I dunno, wasn’t my taste. I know that people like them, because on our way in people were leaving with wine but there are much better (and beautiful) wineries in the area that are closer. Go to Brander down the street. You won’t be disappointed.

Went here for the third stop of the day, and I am so glad we did!
Imagine a beautiful semi-​private park with shady lawns underneath sycamore trees surrounded by vineyards with views of the Santa Ynez hills. Ideal location. There are so many places to enjoy the winery. There is a nice indoor tasting bar, covered patio seating on one side, picnic tables on the lawn, private outdoor lounge style seating, and finally, the patio with several tables and chairs. We sat at one of these. They bring the tasting to you, which I think makes the experience more relaxing. You can bring your own food in and just set up for hours. The hosts serve you, and they are quite non-​intrusive. You have to ask if you have any desire to learn about the history/​winery/​process.
The only reason I give ⁴⁄₅ is because our server was a little absent and it took us a while to be served.
Definitely will go back for ideal atmosphere and yummy wines:)

Fabulous views. This is what we drove up here to enjoy. Nice tasting room too.
Great wines. We bought some Chardonnay, and a few bottles of a special wine they call Big Easy, a delicious red blend patterned after New Orleans.
I could have even bought a Davey Crocket coon-​skin cap if I wanted, but I’d already done that — in first grade.

This winery is beautiful especially with the dark wood interior for tastings and the covered outdoor seating. When we arrived, we could see people throwing a football around and picnicking as if this place was a park which happens to sell wine! haha
My friends and I shared a tasting for about $ 15. It was just the right amount for 3 ladies to get a taste. They even offered us a taste of a wine that wasn’t on the tasting list. I actually kinda liked it but not enough to buy it and bring it home in a suitcase. Service was friendly and our guy was very enthusiastic. My friends ended up buying a bottle to share and we could borrow some glasses from Fess Parker. The glasses don’t cost anything, but you’ll need to turn in a credit card to borrow them. Just remember to return the glasses to get your card back.
There are dozens of wineries out there, but I would gladly return to this one for the comfy seats and just enjoying the scenery on a sunny day.

It’s not easy for me to review tasting rooms/​vineyards in a region I know aren’t quite my style so in all fairness my ratings may not match up similarly to those who enjoy central wines.
I didn’t care much for our tasting but I did however leave with a Port that just screamed my stepdads name :) He’ll love it!
Friendly service and we had a two for one coupon that we had picked up in Buellton but didn’t use it, instead shared our tasting which made the most sense after all.