When Lillian got a letter out of the blue from her high school friend Madison, she never imagined she’d end up nannying for Madison’s 10-year old step-kids Bessie and Roland, twins who spontaneously combust when emotionally agitated. While the kids aren’t harmed in the process, everything they touch is destroyed. Madison’s husband Jasper has high political aspirations, so Lillian and the kids are relegated to the pool house to keep his image intact while Lillian starts troubleshooting the kids’ affliction. Will Madison and Lillian stay friends or will their employer/employee relationship make that impossible? Troubleshooting like Lillian does with the twins is necessary for wineries as well. Planting at higher altitudes, planting at aspects facing the sun, dry farming, hail cannons and drip irrigation are all problem solving methods vintners use. The Tablas Creek Winery, who produced the 2018 Red Blend we are sampling today, created a 120 acre California farm specializing in Rhone Valley grapes. The winery is at an altitude of 1,000 ft and they are organic and biodynamic, a method employing the assistance of sheep, alpacas, donkeys, owls and bees…how’s that for resourceful wine-making? All that innovation has resulted in an unfined/unfiltered wine with notes of black pepper, dark chocolate, black cherry and soy sauce best enjoyed with a hearty beef meal.