What sets a $14.50 bottle of Chardonnay apart from the rest? Join us as we unravel the secrets behind the Fess Parker Santa Barbara Chardonnay 2023, a hidden gem available at Costco. We’ll walk you through its fascinating origins, rooted in the Hollywood legacy of Fess Parker, the iconic TV star turned vintner. Nestled in the picturesque wine region of Santa Barbara, Parker’s winery invites wine lovers to explore a range of offerings from tasting rooms to event spaces, all while delivering exceptional wines that compete with pricier labels.
Discover how this Chardonnay defies expectations with its sophisticated use of French and Hungarian oak, creating a luxurious tasting experience typically reserved for higher-priced bottles. With grapes sourced from some of California’s premier vineyards, this wine consistently earns 90+ points from wine critics, making it a must-have for both connoisseurs and bargain hunters alike. Tune in as we sip, savor, and share the story behind a bottle that’s as rich in history as it is in flavor. This episode promises to enhance your wine collection without breaking the bank.
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0:05
Hi, welcome. It's Domain Day from CheapWineFindercom Again. Like always, we do three value-priced wine reviews on the CheapWineFindercom website every week and then we plug in the microphone and we do a podcast. And that's where we're at right now. And we do a podcast and that's where we're at right now. What we have today is a wine. It's available everywhere, but it's at Costco for $14.50, I think $14.49. It is the Fess Parker Santa Barbara Chardonnay 2023.
Speaker 1:
0:49
Fess Parker was in the 50s and the 60s. On tv he was both davey crockett and daniel boom, which is kind of like being, uh, like like being the joker and the hulk. You know, it was like he was everywhere, um, but only then there was only three channels, so nowadays you get your pick of everything. So, um, he bought a wine in 19,. A winery in 1988, uh, in Santa Barbara, and Santa Barbara is about a hundred miles north of Los Angeles, just at the bottom end of the central coast, ava in California, and there was a wine community there. They were making wine before he got there, but nobody was there in the way he did, because he had tasting rooms and he had gift shops and you can have your wedding down there, and now they've got a bubbly tasting room and they went all out and plus, he was such a big star at the time and he made good wine too, and Santa Barbara became a destination for people in Los Angeles so you can get up there in a couple hours. You know there's traffic up the coast, but you can get there Now.
Speaker 1:
1:56
This Santa Barbara County Chardonnay 2023, is their entry level. It's on their website. It's 20 bucks. Like I said, it's $14.50. At Costco. It's typically like $16, $15, $16, $17 range in the stores, especially this time of year when there's sales, because they want to move some wine and they have like six different Chardonnay bottlings. I mean, they're a legitimate winery, they have a lot of wine and you know some of this wine came from eight different vineyards, some of it from the estate Parker Estate Vineyards, but some really nice I recognize the names of some of the vineyards just came from and there's some of the best wine vineyards in the state of California.
Speaker 1:
2:40
So this is not a wine or that. They went out and got the cheapest grapes they could find. This was intentionally and they they picked some good grapes, though, and a bottle of wine. The grapes are not the most expensive part of it, but they pick good grapes though in a bottle of wine the grapes are not the most expensive part of it, but, uh, they pick good grapes for this. And this is also is a wine that was fermented in oak barrels and also aged in oak barrels.
Speaker 1:
3:04
Most value-priced california wines not all, but most, uh, in this range are stainless steel. They're aged stainless steel and then maybe fermented in oak or whatever. And there's a difference. I mean, if you're used to stainless steel fermentation and chardonnay, and it's a good wine to do this kind of calibration with because you can tell the differences. There is a difference when a wine just sees oak the entire time and this wine uses French and Hungarian Hungarian oak, which is the same species of oak. American oak is a completely different species with a wider grain. It imparts more influence into the wine and French Hungarian oak is more subtle. It's more likely. You know the French would never use American oak, but the Italians and the Spanish do. I'll take a sip.
Speaker 1:
4:04
This is a wine that tastes more expensive than it actually is. I mean that $20 price they put on it at the winery. It's legit. This doesn't taste like a $20 Chardonnay and you can get it, you know for a decent price, and I've seen some places like for $12.50,. This was $14.50, but you can get it for a very good price Because it's a good selection of vineyards oak barrel, fermented and aged, made by a winery that makes really good wines.
Speaker 1:
4:37
And plus, this wine gets 90 plus points from the magazines on a regular basis. For the last three years there's 90, 91, 92 points and while I don't really care that much about points, what's the difference in flavor from an 88 point to a 91 point? I don't know, care that much about points. What's the difference in flavor from an 88 point to a 91 point? I don't know if you could tell the difference. What the wine reviewers are looking for is not necessarily what an average wine drinker is looking for, but they are saying that this is a well-made wine and well-sourced grapes and all that type of thing. Those points mean something in that regard. Flavor you choose the flavor. You don't always know what the best other techniques are.
Speaker 1:
5:19
Let's take another sip of this wine. It's nice and sleek. It's got good flavor. It's got a nice mouthfeel. There's lemons and apples and peaches and pears. Oh my, some stone fruit, some vanilla. Nice long length. It lasts with you for a while. It's subtle but it lasts. It's a good Chardonnay. This is a wine that would work with. While it's subtle but it lasts, it's a good Chardonnay. This is a wine that would work with food. It's very nice. It's got enough acidity to cut through most meals and it's also a good sipping wine with friends. It's a good wine. I mean. This is the Fess Parker. Santa Barbara County Chardonnay 2023. Santa Barbara County, chardonnay 2023. I've seen the lowest price, $12.50, and then there's maybe up to $18. It's on a good price range. So there you go. Adios, keep it cheap. This is Domain Dave. I've got a Cabernet coming up before the holidays and I'll talk to you then. No-transcript.
