Blue Heron Restaurant

You're sitting creekside at a spa resort outside Santa Fe, and the wine list arrives looking exactly like you'd expect — approachable, safe, and built to offend nobody. It's not trying to be a wine destination, and it knows it. That honesty is actually kind of refreshing.

The list leans heavily California with a few Italian crowd-pleasers and a token Provençal rosé thrown in for the spa crowd. There's a Langhe Nebbiolo from Michele Chiarlo and a dry Riesling from Hermann J. Wiemer on Seneca Lake that suggest someone, somewhere, made at least one interesting call. But for every Wiemer, there's a 19 Crimes Cali Red reminding you that the list is ultimately built for the guest who just finished a hot stone massage and wants something familiar. Argentina shows up via Clos de los Siete, which is a solid Malbec blend from Mendoza and punches above its weight class here.

Ten whites and five reds by the glass, all landing between $10 and $15 — that's a reasonable spread for a resort setting where markup pressure is usually brutal. The whites dominate, which makes sense given the climate and the light Southwest menu. Rotation doesn't appear to be a priority; this list has the feel of a program that gets reviewed once a year and left alone.