To a certain generation, Fess Parker will always be Davy Crockett, king of the wild frontier, the straight-talking hero who sold a million coonskin caps. What fewer people know is that he spent the second half of his life building one of the Santa Ynez Valley’s most enduring family wineries.

From the frontier to Foxen Canyon

Fess Parker, born in Texas in 1924, became a household name in the 1950s and 60s playing the frontiersmen Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone for Disney. In the early 1970s he walked away from Hollywood, brought his gracious Texas manner and a sharp eye for land to Santa Barbara County, and in time purchased a 714-acre ranch on the Foxen Canyon Wine Trail with a clear goal: to make the highest-quality wine from estate-grown grapes. The first vintage followed in 1989. Parker passed away in 2010, after fifty years of marriage to his wife Marcella, but the winery never left the family.

Today it is run by his children and their families. Son Eli Parker, who studied at UC Davis and apprenticed under the renowned Jed Steele, became the founding winemaker and was named Winemaker of the Year at the San Francisco International Wine Competition in 2006. Daughter Ashley Parker Snider has led sales and marketing for three decades, and her husband Tim Snider, who came up through E. and J. Gallo, serves as president. It is, through and through, a family business.

He sold a million coonskin caps, then planted a vineyard. The frontier spirit just changed costume.

The wines

Fess Parker straddles two great traditions. From the warmer Foxen Canyon and Santa Ynez sites come Rhone varieties, ripe, peppery Syrah and aromatic Viognier, and from cooler county vineyards come Burgundian Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, along with a long-running, off-dry Riesling. The range is broad on purpose, built for a tasting room that wants something for every palate.

Parker bought the 714-acre Foxen Canyon Ranch in 1988, meaning to run cattle and plant a few rows of vines. The few rows became one of Santa Barbara County’s benchmark estates. The home vineyard, Rodney’s Vineyard, named for Parker’s late son-in-law Rodney Shull, drew the rare compliment of an emerging grand cru site from critic Robert Parker for the quality of its Rhone varieties. The winery stays in family hands across three generations, still built on small-lot, vineyard-designated Rhone and Burgundian bottlings.

What to drink it with

The estate Syrah is a natural with Santa Maria style tri-tip or grilled lamb, the wine’s pepper and dark fruit meeting the oak smoke and char. The Viognier, full and floral but low in acidity, loves roast chicken, pork loin, or stone fruit and a soft cheese. Pour the Pinot Noir with salmon or duck, and save the off-dry Riesling for something with a little heat, where its touch of sweetness cools the spice.

Plan your visit

Fess Parker pours at its estate winery on the Foxen Canyon Road outside Los Olivos, surrounded by the vineyards, and at a tasting room in the walkable village of Los Olivos itself. The family also runs the Fess Parker Wine Country Inn in town, making it easy to turn a tasting into a whole weekend.

Frequently asked questions