Connor McMahon traded his Iowa farm for a down payment on a vineyard site in Paso Robles.

He’d fallen for wine while in college at Iowa State. Summer breaks were spent on the sales floor of a wine shop in Colorado. Even though the family business was farming, he couldn’t avoid wine’s call and eventually took an internship at Booker under the tutelage of owner/winemaker Eric Jensen.

One variety influenced his career decision more than others, and it just happens to excel in Paso’s hot days and cold nights.

“Grenache is the variety that drove me to wine,” said McMahon, who started his Fulldraw label in 2016. “The purity and complexity in it, especially when it’s from California; there’s just something inherent in the grenache. There’s a beautiful acidity that lines the palate. We use very little new oak because we want to showcase the fruit of grenache and our property offers these fine grained chalk for tannins.”

Fulldraw Vineyard is adjacent to Booker, he knows the terroir well and works in a hands-on manner to maximize the site’s potential.

“Grenache wants to give six, seven or even eight tons an acre,” McMahon said. “I look to farm that down to two and 1/2 or three tons. The first thing we do is go through and drop half of the fruit. Once the clusters swell up and go through variation, I will hand manicure each cluster to the size and shape I want. I’ll hang shade cloth on afternoon sun side if we don’t have canopy so the fruit doesn’t get bleached out, I want beautiful dark depth in color without having to go over ripe.”

The husband wife team of Connor and Rebecca McMahon own and operate Full Draw Vineyard in Paso Robles.

Even though he wasn’t formally trained in wine, McMahon joked that in college he “studied beer, girls and football,” the culture of Paso Robles provided plenty of learning opportunities..

Veteran winemakers like Jensen, Torrin’s Scott Hawley and L’Aventure’s Stephan Asseo have years of experience with the unique growing conditions in Paso and are all willing to share that knowledge with others. There’s no secrets and McMahon had plenty of questions to go along with a serious work ethic.

“The cool thing about the wine industry in Paso is the old guard, the godfathers want to see everyone be successful,” McMahon said. “They believe a rising tide lifts all ships and share a lot of information.”

A process that has turned Fulldraw into a vineyard loaded with character. It’s granache is loaded with flavor, with McMahon at the helm, he’s managed to reign in a variety that can get super ripe and extracted, especially given Paso’s hot, sunny days and cold nights during the growing season.

There’s a delicate nature to the grenache that showcases his farming techniques and restraint in the winery. With syrah he’s captured the elegant side and while it’s still loaded with meaty black fruit flavors, the herbal notes reverberate. Mourvedre from Fulldraw further mellows the syrah and showcases a softer, gentler side.

“The biggest thing for us is the cool nights let the plant recover,” McMahon said. “The plant shuts down at 92 to 93 degrees and we have 105 degree days. During the evening and nights they recover and maintain their freshness and acidity. We can get grapes as ripe as we want. I can go full throttle with a syrah and knock your socks off. But, what I like to do is take a step back. I love the finesse and acidity we get in Paso with our diurnal shifts.”

As great as the Fulldraw wines were, McMahon is just getting started.

Fulldraw wines will begin to trickle out into Arizona, Texas, Georgia, Florida, New York, Illinois and Colorado.

What started in 2016 with 10 tons of grapes and 550 cases of Fulldraw is going to be offered to a larger audience.

“Paso is still the Wild West,” McMahon said. “We are still a little undiscovered on a national level. From a winemaker standpoint, we are starting to find our niche target markets and consumers. We want to create an open, broad profile of exceptionally high quality wines.”

“There’s A beautiful texture, a chalky characteristic that’s velvet across your tongue.”

TASTING NOTES: FULLDRAW VINEYARD

Fulldraw Hard Point 2019 ($90): A medium to full bodied 100% grenache had pure red fruits; raspberry and cherry to go along with a hint of eucalyptus and mint on the finish with chalky tannins. “ There’s very little new oak, we want to showcase the fruit of grenache,” McMahon said. “

Fulldraw Chopping Block 2019 ($90): A Syrah-dominant blend that is 52% syrah, 31% mourvedre and 17% grenache. McMahon said it’s his “favorite style of wine from Paso.” It had black cherry, leather and Herbs de Provence on the nose. There was a juicy mouthfeel, a full body and grippy tannins on the finish. Blackberry fruit flavors and a grilled meat note.

Fulldraw Honey Bunny 2019 ($90): Darker fruit and deep red meat aromas on the nose, sweet black cherry, blackberry, blue berry flavors with blackberry compote, graphite and chalky feeling tannins on the finish. McMahon’s secret ingredient here is mourvedre, he said it “takes away from the wine being brooding, it softens it and brightens it up.”

Fulldraw FD 2 2018 ($55): The future of Fulldraw, planted in 2015 the younger vines produced fruit that was too good to pass along. McMahon decided to make an “entry level wine” that should see wider distribution. Make no mistake though, it’s not an afterthought. Darker than the others; bold black fruit, plum and blackberry with some mint on the nose. Full bodied, black cherry, blackberry and plum fruit flavors. Big, chalky tannins frame the fruit.

Fulldraw Grows its Audience