Page 93 - SLO Visitor's Guide - Winter 2023

Wine Tasting
Peachy Canyon — Winery of the Year
A Beckett family success story
Peachy Canyon is one of the original family-owned Paso Robles wineries that got its start in the 1980s when the area was not widely known for wine production. It is somewhat unique in that it remains owned and operated by the founding family to this very day.
Doug and Nancy Beckett, both retired schoolteachers, founded Peachy Canyon in 1988. When
the opportunity to purchase the
old schoolhouse and surrounding property on Hwy 46 West presented itself in 1998, they knew it was
the perfect place to expand their business with a tasting room and additional estate vineyards. The schoolhouse tasting room is now
a busy hub for visitors with wine tasting offered daily. Guests can enjoy a view of the 30-acre vineyard surrounding the tasting room and relax while picnicking on the lawns and at the gazebo.
The winery has gained a reputation for its red wines, with zinfandel representing approxi- mately 50% of its production. Their estate vineyards have all 18 heritage zinfandel clones, including primi- tivo, planted. Although zinfandel dominates the menu, guests will also have an opportunity to sample Bordeaux and Rhône Varietals, along with several blends.
In 2019, the day-to-day opera- tions transitioned to Josh and Jake Beckett, Doug and Nancy’s sons. The boys had branched out on
their own for a while and launched Chronic Cellars. Their success from that venture put them in a position with knowledge, experience, and financial stability to take over the reins from their parents at Peachy Canyon.
As the second generation, they came in with ideas for change and wanted to shape the future with the hopes that it would still be a thriv- ing business for the third and future generations in years to come.
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“We have taken our sustainable practices from the past and carried them over to an organic approach. We are looking to the future for our soil health, the history of our vineyards and what will be left for generations to come.” Said Josh Beckett
Often when the next generation takes over, they think of growth and increasing production. Josh and Jake took a different approach and scaled production down while focusing
on estate growing practices and the quality of the wine in the bottle. “When my parents retired, and Josh and I took over the day-to-day win- ery operations we set out to focus on our estate vineyards and smaller production. That was in 2019, and at that time we were making around 60,000 cases a year. For the 2020 vintage, we produced 9,000 cases and over 80% of it was from our organically farmed estate vineyards. Our goal for the future is 100% estate wines and to keep production small and ultra-premium. Our next leap will be to start replanting some vineyard blocks that need replanting and to graft a small block over to white varietals to reach our goal of 100% estate wines,” said Jake.
Let us make your visit an experience!
WALK-INS and RESERVATIONS WELCOME • 10AM - 5:30PM DAILY
VISIT CASTORCELLARS.COM FOR RESERVATIONS • @CASTOROCELLARS
1315 N. BETHEL ROAD • TEMPLETON, CA 93465 • 888-DAM-FINE
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