The Love of Beer
I try to live my eating and drinking life by some simple rules: Shop local. Eat fresh produce. Stay away from processed food most of the time. And, perhaps most importantly, always take wine advice from guys named after cuts of meat. I was at the Sunday Farmer’s Market in Hillcrest recently—shopping locally for fresh produce—when a drummer who regularly plays there approached me while on a set break and asked what I thought of Peachy Canyon’s 2008 Incredible Red. I’d seen it in stores, but I’d never tried it, so I didn’t have an answer for him. But he was a fan, so, the next day I made my way over to Trader Joe’s and picked up a bottle for about $9.
Yes, it’s OK to be suspicious of a reasonably priced wine you can pick up in a variety of grocery stores in 49 out of 50 states, but Peachy Canyon is made not too far away, up in Paso Robles, by a winery that’s still family owned. Most importantly, for nine bucks, it’s a seriously solid purchase. Incredible Red tumbles out of the bottle in a dark ruby color with a nice bouquet of blackberries and cherry. The initial taste pops with more berries—there’s raspberry and strawberry in there, and plum, and I also picked up some coffee, oak and spice, and maybe even some sage, especially after I let it breathe for a bit (though, perhaps ironically, no peach was detected).
It’s probably not going to be the most complex bottle you’ll ever drink. But let’s face it, that’s not always what you’re looking for. Incredible Red is lively and dependable, something you can count on, rather than a wine you have to linger over and analyze. More than anything else, what this wine has is flavor, and lots of it, making it casual, a bottle that will go better with hearty food than a salad, be it a burger, pasta or a steak—which, in this case, would certainly be appropriate. Because the drummer who recommended it? He goes by the name of T-Bone.
