The Peachy Side of Paso Robles

Neal I. Rosenthal once was quoted to have said, “If you want to succeed, you have to listen to yourself, to your own heart, and you have to have the courage to go your own way.”

If your travel plans happen to involve visiting wine country, may heartily suggest a trip to one of my favorite wine destinations in California, none the other than Paso Robles. A great little town, just north of Santa Barbara County, easily located right off highway 101. The dining in town is excellent and staying in the throwback downtown part of the city is highly recommended.

Peachy Canyon is indeed found on the better-known and highly prized west-side, but in recent tastings, I was left underwhelmed by the overall quality and the lack of substance.

But things change pretty often in the wine business and perhaps something or someone made some moves in the vineyard or this wine was sourced from a vineyard having a fantastic year.

That being said, the PS in my glass not so long ago, really took me by surprise, considering my previous experiences with their wines. In fact, it was the best wine I have in my glass that day, where there was more than a few wines in flight to be tasted and sampled through that day the wine lab.

Peachy Canyon Petit Sirah 2013: I found the appearance of this wine to be deep in color, inky purple, and opaque. The aromas bounding from the glass were reminiscent of freshly ground black pepper, drying tobacco leaves, and ripe plums, newly noshed on. After the first slurp of this wine, I found it dry, its acidity balanced, its body was full, and the tannin level was intense, but not off-putting.

Frankly, this wine tasted much better than the aromas let on, smoked blueberries, tobacco tar, and freshly baked blackberry pie, freshly ripe dark-skinned plums. The finish was long and lasting, it would be excellent barbecue wine, sure to delight all who it gave it a swirl. To be honest, in the past, I really disliked the majority of their portfolio, glad to see some things have changed. My score: 89 points, recommended.