EXCITING BLENDS

In case you haven’t noticed, most wine writers are acid heads. It is practically Pavlovian. Why? Because, simply put, acid is the agent of mouths watering: Acidity is like a golden ticket to refreshment.

Not long ago, most California white wines weren’t known for their acidity; that’s because most were styled after a rather ponderous iteration of Chardonnay and were relatively thick and cloying, about as mouthwatering as milk.

That’s changing, of course. Wines made with Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc, dry Rieslings, Trousseau Gris, Albariño and many others have been horning their way into the marketplace for the better part of a decade. (Even Chardonnay has lost its blunt edge and has become by and large leaner, greener and edgier.)

Then there are the Rhône variety blends, employing the amply endowed varieties Viognier, Roussanne and Marsanne. These too have been tarted up, mainly because of the addition in blends of a fourth variety, Grenache Blanc, a remarkable white Rhône variant that had been all but unheard of in California until the late ’90s.

That’s when the Paso Robles winery Tablas Creek, with its French partners the Perrin family of the Rhône Valley, started importing all the varieties found in their home region, Châteauneufdu-Pape.

Grenache Blanc has proved to be marvelously complementary in white blends, to the great surprise of the Perrins, who imported it, since in France, the variety is often rather generic, filling out blends without lending much character or thrust. In California, however, Grenache Blanc has proved to be resoundingly vibrant, offering a lemony top note to whatever blend it graces.

Tablas Creek makes three white blends, but its entry level, the 2017 Patelin de Tablas, uses the most Grenache Blanc and is worth seeking out, especially if you need to wash down some mussels or baked oysters. In the meantime, here are three weirdly refreshing white blends, two of which employ Grenache Blanc. Each is a lipsmacker, with a vibrancy that few other California whites can claim.

food@latimes.com

Anne Cusack Los Angeles Times GRENACHE BLANC grapes, awaiting harvest at Tablas Creek in Paso Robles, have proved to be complementary in white blends.