Description

Red blends are a mixed blessing in California.

Whether inspired by Old World corners (the Rhone) or hinged on West Coast do-what-you-feelism, they can be delicious.

When they work.

With some frequency, they do not. Throwing Syrah and Cabernet into the same rotation, for instance, inevitably recalls that Bull Durham line: It s like a Martian talking to a fungo.

This isn t to carp about traditions of old. Libertines like Sean Thackrey have been defying European rigors for decades, to everyone s great benefit.

Indeed, California s own traditions define the pragmatism of blending; Italian farmers pre-Prohibition field blends are as historically noteworthy as Chateauneuf s grab bag of varieties.