A Peachy Deal???

[Bucko]

I just went through a 6-bottle horizontal of Peachy Canyon Zins. I have liked their wines in the past and was looking forward to this tasting -- too bad. Across the board, the wines were sharply acidic, with moderate, harsh, green tannins, and were excessively hot, with alcohol percentages running to 15.9%.

1997 Benito Dusi Ranch - Sharp acidity, tannic, bitter, hot (15.9%), with red berry fruit that just does not stand up to the alcohol and tannins. Pass.

1997 Especial - Better balance than the Benito, moderate tannins, red berry fruit, hint of pepper, still hot at 15.7% alcohol. Drinkable.

1997 Lakeview Vineyard - Sweet oak and berry nose, with red and black fruits, mild to moderate oak, bitter tannins, 15.2% alcohol.

1997 Snow Vineyard - Lowest alcohol of the lot at 15% but still a bit hot on the palate. Currents and vanilla on the nose with lots of red fruit on the palate, softer tannins than the first three. Getting better.

1997 Westside - Red and black fruit nose, still hot at 15.8% alcohol but there is decent depth of fruit here. Still has green tannins. Best so far, but still no cigar.

1997 Eastside - Lightest color of the bunch, red fruit and vanilla nose, rich ripe red fruit on the palate, 15.4% alcohol, tannins less apparent. Best of the lot.

All of these wines had mild to moderate green, bitter tannins, and the alcohol content is much too high for the fruit to support. I would not age any of these.

Bucko

[Randy Caparoso]

This past summer I stopped at Peachy on the way to 101 from Cambria and tasted the lineup. I was a little disappointed as well, but have reserved judgement. The one wine that I found extremely attractive, however, was their '97 non-estate (non-vineyard designate) Zinfandel, which was redolent with peppery, blackberry jam aromas; soft, medium scaled and only moderately tannic, but supple and juicy on the palate. So in 1997 I recommend the least expensive Peach Canyon for Zin drinking!