Sometimes when you pour all of the ingredients in your pantry into one pot, the result is a college student cook level mess.
Other times, it’s utter brilliance. Randomness with a little bit of educated guessing can lead to unexpected delights. That is the case with Julie Johnson’s creation of the Por qué No? red blend at her Rutherford winery Tres Sabores.
Tres Sabores is best known for its nuanced, almost elegant yet rustic zinfandels. So it’s no surprise that among the quartet of varietals in this blend, zinfandel figures most prominent. Cabernet sauvignon adds some fruit to the equation, with some petite syrah, and as Johnson puts it, “a dollop to serve as the cheerleader” of petit verdot to round out the blend.
With this still being a young wine, there are very few tannins and the structure is pleasingly light. It would be perfect with any barbeque or tender braised pork shoulder, or I could even imagine a rack of lamb with a mint sauce going well.
Johnson likes to say “why not?” and hey, why not try to experiment with various equations of grapes to add to something this intriguing? It’s not as romantic as the superb zinfandels here, but I don’t need to shrug my shoulders and question myself when having this wine.
Trev's Bistro 