Peachy Canyon Winery: A Zin experience

Situated in the rolling hills of Westside Paso Robles, Peachy Canyon Winery doesn’t exactly look like the kind of place where you would stop to pick up a load of Zinfandel, but it is.  Accented with white rail fencing, it looks so peaceful and delicate.  But lurking inside are some of the biggest variegated Zins that Paso has to offer.

Even though it’s well known that Zinfandel plantings in Paso Robles began in the 1850’s, and that their vines are totally established, their power and spectrum are still surprising.  And Peachy Canyon has managed to push this varietal to the far ends of its taste range.

In fact, their tasting room staff will emphasize that Peachy’s well-developed access to local vineyards with a variety of soil conditions, microclimates, and terrains is the secret to unlocking their Zinfandels’ full potential.  This places them among the best values for flavor complexity and food pairing potential.

Peachy Canyon is not shy when highlighting the accolades that their 2008 Westside Zin received from Wine Spectator.  Its beckoning bouquet of dark plum with buttery vanilla overtones and pleasant minty background is still right there in every bottle we’ve stashed away.

But one of their most interesting tasting experiences features a nice palette of “small lot” Zinfandels sourced from carefully chosen vineyard locations.  When tasted in a flight, these will quickly dispel one of the most unfounded notions surrounding Zinfandels; that they are basically “all the same”.

Nothing could be further from the truth.  These small lot gems are all over the map (including other varietals like Petit Verdot).  Too bad you can only buy one bottle of each.  We’d much rather get a 6-pack from every one of the areas!

Note that these small lot selections are only available at the winery or for direct sale to wine club members.  They rarely show up out in distribution and when they run out, that’s it.  Of course, some of their Zins show up at valley wine shops on a regular basis, but the really interesting ones get snapped up, so a winery visit is well worth it.

Peachy Canyon’s gift shop also features a lot of crazy wall decor, wine accessories, and clothing.  If you need to pick up a wine country gift for a vino-loving friend or family member, be sure to look over the wares. They feature a lot of fun and wit, just Peachy.

Article by Tom Peiffer, Phoenix Wine Shopping Examiner at Examiner.com

View more of Tom’s articles on Examiner.com by visiting his writer’s page.