If our winery was in France, we’d be breaking the law with several of our wines.
Indeed, in the traditional Old World wine regions, the types of grape varieties you can grow and blend are highly regulated (ie: certain varieties are allowed in Bordeaux, others in the Rhone Valley). By comparison, we live in the proverbial Wild West, and we take full advantage of our winemaking freedoms.
Case in point: the imminent new release of our 2015 Renegade. This red blend combines a signature Rhone variety (Syrah), a signature Bordeaux variety (Petit Verdot) and a classic California variety (Zinfandel), along with another variety that has made its name here in the Golden State (Petite Sirah). The idea is to leverage the silky black fruit of Syrah while complementing it with the intensity and structure of Petite Sirah and Petit Verdot.
Meantime, our limited-production Blanco white blend combines Chardonnay with Muscat, while the latest vintage of our crown jewel—Oyster Ridge—is a classic Bordeaux-style blend that comes with a signature twist of Petite Sirah. Again, the Petite Sirah adds just a hint of intensity that takes it to the next level.
However, the point isn’t to break from old winemaking traditions just for the fun of it. In fact, these traditions were established precisely because there is a proven synergy between certain grape varieties. As such, these traditions are worthy of respect.
At the same time, we would be doing ourselves a disservice if we didn’t push the envelope, in recognition of the fact that our growing conditions here at Margarita Vineyard are not only quite different from Europe, but even unique within our home region of Paso Robles.
This is how you end up with a blend like Renegade, which flies in the face of tradition; and Oyster Ridge, which is largely traditional, but still with its own twist.
In other words, sometimes we are faithful to tradition, sometimes we bend the rules, and when it’s best for the wine, we break them.