Today we’d like to introduce you to Barrett Crandall.
Barrett, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I started working in restaurants when I was 16 years old. This was my first exposure to the service and hospitality industry. I enjoyed the fast pace of restaurants, working with interesting people, and the interaction with customers.
I fell in love with food before I fell in love with wine. In the summer of 2001, I took a month-long trip to Europe. Traveling on my own with a backpack was an exciting experience. One evening in Barcelona I ordered paella. I had never heard of it before and didn’t really know what it was. It was amazing, and an “aha” moment for me. When I got back home to California I started to consider culinary schools to attend.
In 2003 I enrolled in the California School of Culinary Arts Le Cordon Bleu. I had no idea of what I was going to do with a culinary degree, but I loved the power of food and the experiences shared with friends, family, and sometimes even strangers over a meal. Some of my best memories are of meals being shared with friends and loved ones.
It was the Summer of 2005 when I started working for the Fess Parker Winery. I had finished culinary school and was looking for a summer job. I did not know much about wine and thought it would be a fun place to work and learn about wine. I instantly fell in love with wine and love the journey of learning more about the world of wine each day.
I feel that God has truly blessed me on my career path. I never knew what I wanted to do growing up. Working in different restaurants then attending culinary school were great, but I had no idea where it was leading. Working for the Parker family has been amazing. I feel very fortunate to work for a family that cares so much about their community, the quality of wine they produce, their guests that visit the winery, and employees that work for them.
Working at the winery I have been given many opportunities and have many special memories. Through God’s grace, I met my beautiful wife Ivy at the winery and we eventually were married at the winery. The Parker family was extremely supportive when I was studying for Court of Master Sommeliers and was able to pass the certified sommelier exam. Since starting in 2005 I have worked behind the bar pouring tastings, worked as the Winery Chef cooking for private and wine club events, and am now the Director of Hospitality overseeing the four tasting rooms in the Parker family of wines.
Being in the wine industry I have come to really appreciate all things about wine, where and how it is grown, the care that goes into making wine, the experience of serving wine and seeing guests have their own “aha” moment, and the memories shared with wine, food, friends and family.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Life, in general, is not a smooth road. I don’t think that it is supposed to be that way. Challenges and struggles make us stretch and grow, help us to get out of our comfort zone and not become complacent. That is the great thing about working for the Parker’s, they are not ones to rest on their laurels and become complacent, they are always pushing the envelope and trying to get better. I think this is evident in our wines and winemaking practices, along with our events and experiences offered here at the winery.
There have been a lot of changes since I started in 2005. Our sister property, Epiphany Cellars, moved into a beautiful new tasting room in Los Olivos, on the same property we opened the Bubble Shack, a small tasting room completely dedicated to sparkling wines, and our newest project that was just completed this past fall, Addendum, a label dedicated to premium Cabernet Sauvignon grapes sourced from the Napa Valley.
Here at the Fess Parker Winery, we have been offering different tasting experiences, our traditional tasting, our enhanced tasting, which is a seated, thematic flight of some our smallest produced and top-rated wines, and coming this spring we are going to offer a new, dynamic tour.
Part of our journey to getting better lies on the education front. We regularly do portfolio tastings with our tasting room staff, winemakers, and Parker family members. This will also mark the 3rd straight year where we will send tasting room staff to take the Court of Master Sommeliers Intro exam. So far, we have had 8 team members successfully pass the exam.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
The Fess Parker Winery opened its doors in 1989 and was the 11th winery in Santa Barbara wine country. Epiphany proceeded to open its door about a decade later, with the Bubble Shack coming on the scene in 2015 and Addendum this past fall.
Here at the Fess Parker Winery, we focus on Burgundian and Rhone varietals; Chardonnay, Viognier, Pinot Noir and Syrah. Many of the wines are produced in extremely small amounts and only available here at the winery and through our wine club.
Epiphany specializes in esoteric Rhone varietals that can be tasted in a beautiful and modern tasting room in the quaint town of Los Olivos. We make many small production single vineyard Syrah’s, but also some lesser known varietals such as Grenache Blanc, Roussanne, Marsanne, Cunoise, Grenache, Mourvedre and Petite Sirah as well as Rhone blends.
The Bubble Shack is focused solely on producing world-class sparkling wine while Addendum looks to produce Cabernet Sauvignon from grapes sourced from some of the top vineyard sites in the Napa Valley.
As a winery, our goal is to always produce wines of uncompromising quality and we are committed to providing the very best customer service and hospitality available in our industry. When someone walks through our doors we want them to feel welcome and to have an experience that they will never forget.
What were you like growing up?
Growing up I have always been competitive and loved playing and watching sports, especially watching the Lakers. Playing sports and learning to be a part of a team and to challenge myself has helped me to transition to the world of food and wine. Success is never achieved by an individual, but by a team pushing towards the same goal.
Growing up my mom and dad were my biggest role models. My dad is the hardest working person I know and taught me the importance of hard work. My mom is one of the kindest and most compassionate people I know. When I was in 5th grade, I was having problems with one of my classmates. He lived up the street from us and on a daily basis we would call each other names and come close to fighting.
One day when it was reaching a tipping point, my mom went up the street to talk to his mom, when she answered the door my mom offered a peace offering, a pumpkin pie. The feud was squashed after that and we became friends. That moment made a big impact on me. I owe a lot to my parents, for always guiding me and getting me back on track for the many times I have strayed off of it.
Contact Info:
- Address: 6200 Foxen Canyon Road
Los Olivos, CA 93441 - Website: www.fessparker.com
- Phone: (800) 841-1104
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: Instagram @fessparkerwinery
- Facebook: Facebook @fessparkerwinery
- Twitter: Twitter @followfess
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