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What We Say 2003 Cabernet Franc
If you are visiting us for the first time, Welcome! The Wine Spies feature one exceptional wine each day – and we only bring you wines that we ourselves seek out and love. Always, the wines are great. Sometimes even better than that, as is the case with today’s wine from Peachy Canyon Winery.
Mission Codename: Peachy Keen
Operative: Agent Red
Objective: Retrieve a superior Cabernet Franc, a Wine Spies Operative favorite varietal
Mission Status: Accomplished!
Current Winery: Peachy Canyon Winery
Wine Subject: 2004 Cabernet Franc
Winemaker: Josh Beckett
Backgrounder: Agent Red loves Cabernet Franc. Today he gets a big surprise when he visits Peachy Canyon – a winery under extended surveillance by The Wine Spies – and discovers that a not-so distant family member is the tasting room manager! Read his tasting notes on today’s GREAT wine, and find out how his family reunion came about.
Wine Spies Tasting Profile:
Look – Deep garnet with a darker heart, pink edges, a loose surface and legs that run a differing speeds
Smell – Bright and aromatic with fruits of cherry, raspberry, plum and stems with sweetwood and mildest oaken vanilla
Feel – Soft mouth feel with a smooth texture that leads to a mouth coating feel with delicate medium tannins that dry the top of the tongue and the cheeks
Taste – Deeply delicious with layers of flavors that mirror the aromas. Add to these tastes additional flavors of mild salad herbs, edible flowers and cedar
Finish – This wine coats the mouth, leaving behind a slightly stringy feel, with flavors that tail off sweet then slightly more tart and dry
Conclusion – On first taste of this wine, I was in love. To me, Cabernet Franc is the perfect wine. One of the genetic parents of Cabernet Sauvignon (the other parent is Sauvignon Blanc), Cabernet Franc has been called a real wine lover’s wine. Fans of the varietal find the wine to be the most universally pairable with foods (due to its high acidity), but they also find that locating the perfect Cab Franc can be a hellish experience. Enter Me! When I am out on a mission, I am always on the lookout for Cabernet Franc and I make it a point to try them all. With only 2000 acres planted in California, the varietal is hard to find. Another reason that you see so few of them featured here is that not many pass my own personal taste test. Today’s wine passes with flying colors. This is a a big, chewy, delicious, balanced and perfect example of how great a Cab Franc can be!
Mission Report:
Wine Spies Vineyard Check:
The location of the VINEYARD can be seen in this satellite photo.
What the Winery Says
Peachy Canyon Winery
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About This Wine:
Floral aromas followed by bright fruit aromas. The palette consists of ripe cherries, vanilla crisp oak flavors, blueberries, sage earthtones rosemary and lemon. The Cabernet Franc has a soft mouth feel and crisp beautiful color.
Our History
When Doug and Nancy Beckett, a couple of school teachers looking for a better life, moved to Paso Robles in 1982 with their two sons, Joshua and Jacob, they never new the life they would lead today. The labels start came in 1988, thanks to a load of Zinfandel grapes from Benito Dusi’s vineyard. Though only amounting to a couple hundred cases, the premiere release centered the label’s reputation for premium red wines.
Today, the Becketts brand has become nationally distributed in 49 states and select international destinations. This coming year production is set for 84,000 cases, their largest production yet. In order to secure premium fruit, Peachy Canyon sources grapes from over twenty local growers in the Paso Robles AVA and 100 acres of their own vineyards. The winery is still headed by founding vintners Doug and Nancy, as well as the family’s second generation. After years away from home, both Josh and Jake returned to Paso Robles and Peachy Canyon to work for the family business. Josh has been with the winery for nine years and has been the winemaker since 2003. Combining his varied experiences with different winemakers and regions, Josh keeps an open mind in order to create the most exciting wines possible. Jake wasn’t able to resist the lure of the family business either. For years, Jake worked as the vineyard manager over-seeing the four Peachy Canyon Vineyards and working with local growers to ensure fruit quality is kept at their high standard. In 2005, Jake wanted to learn other aspects of the business and joined the sales team. Jake now is the General Sales Manager and travels the country promoting the family brand.
Our Wines
Although Zinfandels dominate the Peachy Canyon tasting menu, you will find Cabernets, Merlots, and special blends that are available to sample. Each wine poses unique characteristics with distinguished qualities and is why the whole Peachy Canyon team works so hard to pick only the best Paso Robles fruit while supporting the local growers. Doug Beckett also makes sure ‘each wine is released in the peak of its youth,’ the Becketts feel they give their customers the choice to either enjoy the wines young or cellar them for a later date.
