Epiphany Inspiration 2018 |
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I'm not sure there has ever been a feel-good winery with colorful pasts like Fess Parker Winery. For those of you that are too young to remember, Fess Parker portrayed Davy Crocket and Daniel Boone weekly in the 50s and 60s on your family's black and white TVs for many years. He wanted to retire in Santa Barbara in the early 1960s and had begun construction of an ocean blufftop home. When heavy rains caused it to collapse onto the beach, he revised his plans and headed inland. Plan B was to become a gentleman farmer on the coast of California. In 1989 he bought 714 acres of Foxen Canyon ranch to run cattle and planted five and a half acres of experimental Riesling to sell to local winemakers. Soon he and his son Eli planted more vines which expanded to over 700 acres located on four different sites throughout Santa Barbara County. What started as a quiet retirement gig turned into a world-class winery and wine country experience in Santa Barbara County that included upscale accommodations, fine dining, and award-winning wines. Today the multigenerational family-owned and operated Fess Parker Winery has built a reputation for crafting exceptional RhĂ´ne and Burgundian style wines from Santa Barbara County. |
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Eli, Fess Parker's son, started by working harvests while, at the same time, taking extension courses in enology and viticulture through UC Davis. He had various apprenticeships and spent three years under the tutelage of acclaimed enologist Jed Steele. Eventually, Eli held the title of winemaker at Fess Parker, a winery he assumed total responsibility for in 1996.
Eli started Epiphany Cellars in 2000 as a creative side project, but it quickly turned into his passion. Epiphany has become Eli's place to explore his favorite varietals from his favorite small lots in Santa Barbara County. The winery shares its production facility with Fess Parker Winery. It has a tasting room in the heart of downtown Los Olivos in the Santa Ynez Valley of Santa Barbara County. The inaugural Epiphany Cellars vintage was in 2005, and at the time, they were producing some 3,000 cases annually. One year later, Eli won the prestigious André Tchelistcheff Award, given to the winemaker of the Year at the San Francisco International Wine Competition.
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Twenty years later, Epiphany Cellars is one of the best vintage-by-vintage snapshots in all of Santa Barbara County, and in all of California, for the potential of Rhone grapes. The Epiphany label specializes in various vineyard-specific Syrah's and bottles of rare finds like the red grape Counoise. They also produce phenomenal white and red Rhone blends. Grapes are sourced locally, including Rodney's Vineyard on the family ranch for some of the best bottlings. With Eli taking a more supervisorial role, the label is in the hands of winemaker phenom Blair Fox, who won the same winemaker of the Year award in 2008 that Eli was awarded in 2006. Today, their Epiphany Winery has grown to about 6,000 cases annually, slowly expanding to keep up with their increasing demand. |
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This lineup from Epiphany, Fess Parker's RhĂ´ne label, is terrific across the board. Blair Fox makes wines of uncommon depth and character. In recent years, the wines have gained in focus and energy, which is great to see. Antonio Galloni, Vinous, June 2021

"He's a Rhone fanatic, too, and we have similar palates. If I had to hand over the program to anyone, Blair was a no-brainer. His whole team is amazing." Robert Parker, The Wine Advocate
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Epiphany Inspiration is new to Eli Parker's Rhone-style portfolio and was initially destined for sale only at the tasting room in Santa Ynez Valley. A large portion of the Inspiration blend comes from "Rodney's Vineyard" and has been part of the Parker ranch since 1987. Robert Parker called Rodney's Vineyards the emerging Grand Cru vineyard of California. It sits on a natural mesa with a base of Diatomaceous earth and is covered with gray clay, alluvial soils, gravel, and stone. The convergence of the Santa Ana's and the three sides of the ocean breeze during the growing season makes this site unique for climate and massive diurnal shifts, the difference between day and night temperatures. Low Yielding with over thirty-year-old vines makes a highly concentrated complex wine. |
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New to the Epiphany lineup is Inspiration Red. This red Rhône blend was inspired by the outstanding blends produced out of the Châteauneuf-du-Pape region in Southeastern France. The 2018 Inspiration Red is made up of 42% Mourvedre, 27% Counoise, 26% Cinsault, and 5% Grenache, with the majority of the fruit coming from our estate Vineyard, Rodney's.
It's an approachable wine with a medium body, fresh fruit characteristics, and smooth finish. On the nose, you'll find inviting aromas of strawberry, black cherry, dried herbs, cinnamon, vanilla, caramel, and nutmeg. Bright red fruit flavors, vanilla, and baking spices grace the palate. Inspiration Red will pair well with a wide variety of foods, from grilled steak & lamb, to stews and rich seafood dishes.
74% Rodney's Vineyard (Blocks O1 & S), 26% Camp Four Vineyard (Blocks 10 & N2), both located in the Santa Ynez Valley.
Aged 19 months in French barrels, of which 38% are new.
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The 2018 Red Inspiration is a blend of 42% Mourvèdre, 27% Counoise, 26% Cinsault and 5% Grenache. The 2018 Inspiration Red is a powerful, savory wine. Pipe tobacco, blood orange, cedar, new leather, licorice, rose petal, and mint are laced into a core of bright red berry fruit. This is another wine that shows just how magical 2018 is as a vintage. Vinous 94 pts
The 2018 Inspiration Red is more Mourvèdre-dominated and includes 27% Counoise, 26% Cinsault, and 5% Grenache. Up-front and already delicious, it has a Southern Rhône-like style in its darker berries, kirsch, savory herbs, and cured meat aromas and flavors. This medium to full-bodied, nicely balanced blend shows the purity as well as the quality of the 2018 vintage. Jeb Dunnuck 92 pts
Violet- and lilac-sachet aromas meet with dark strawberry and Concord grape on the nose of this blend of 42% Mourvèdre, 27% Counoise, 26% Cinsault, and 5% Grenache. Dark floral tones arise on the sip, from lavender to inky rose petal, with hints of brighter elderflower as well, all laid atop dark-plum fruit. Wine Enthusiast 91 pts
The 2018 Epiphany Inspiration is a powerful RhĂ´ne-style red blend. This wine offers aromas and flavors of black fruit, hints of oak, spice, and tar. Enjoy it with an old-fashioned BBQ of chicken, pork, and beef. Wilford Wong 90 pts
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Epiphany Inspiration 2018
Being a Southern Rhone lover, I had very tepid expectations when we tried this wine. After all, how good could an under $20 bottle of wine from Santa Ynez be? Sure it is a blend from my favorite Chateauneuf du Pape grapes and got ridiculous scores from some of the most revered wine critics not to mention, a rare wine reserved for the wineries VIP club only; what's the big deal. I can tell you this wine is a big deal. Ripe, inky fruit that has savory aromas of leather, herb, and mint. Full-bodied and lush on the palate with a long dark bitter cherry finish. This robust wine calls to be paired with a hearty meal. For under $20, this is a serious wine. We bought all that was offered to us; I only wish I had more to sell.
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*Sale price is on 6 or more bottles, wine is packed in a 12 bottle case. |
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Orders must be done by replying to this email. The reason is that I need to keep control of the inventory in one central spot. Emailing or calling your favorite wine geek at one of our four stores may not get your orders in on time to be counted or processed and creates a helter-skelter for us to get you the wine. For the same reason, ordering on our online Web Store is linked to our regular price, and this sale price is only offered on the email platform. It is also why it takes me some time to respond due to the deluge of orders that I sometimes get. We haven't reached the efficiency or volume of Amazon yet, and in this pandemic environment, simply operations sometimes prove difficult. Thank you in advance for your patience. |
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Let me know your preferred store for pickup: Attleboro, Norwood, Sturbridge, or Swansea. If you don't state the store, I will assume you are picking up in Sturbridge.
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—John Hannum, Fine & Rare Wine Specialist
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