This medium-bodied white deftly walks the middle ground between the herbaceous sauvignons of France and New Zealand and the rounder, oak-aged examples associated with California. Medium-bodied and lush, it serves up mounds of melon-and-pear-like fruit, with hints of fig, red apple and pineapple. The texture is soft, yet it finishes with good acidity to balance out the sweet fruit. This is a versatile sauvignon for sipping without food or throughout a meal centered around fish or chicken.

This has such cool-climate zing (and yes, that's even possible in California) it blasts the nose with intense aromas of lime, melon and kiwi, and then drills the palate with ripe, sweet fruit, offset by edgy acidity. It's sure to up your standing with any wine snob in the crowd.

Wash down clams or oysters with this ultra-crisp, high-acid white.

Widely available, the 2002 Kendall-Jackson Vintner's Reserve Sauvignon Blanc captures California ripeness. It's perfect for those who prefer Sauvignon Blancs with softer acidity and loads of melon flavor.

dry, medium-bodied, no oak, high acidity. A fruit salad of flavors, from tart pineapple to sweet melon and fresh pear, makes a fine supper sipper, especially at the price.

Apricot aroma; fresh on the palate; dry and clean.

Apricot Aroma; fresh on the palate; dry and clean.

If far from being the deeper and more involving Sauvignons Blancs of this issue, this friendly, balanced, clean-as-can-be wine delivers lots of direct, citrus- and ripe-melon fruitiness for the money. and it becomes an especially noteworthy buy when found at a typically discounted price.

Ripe melony and fig flavors, but with good cleansing acidity. Perfect aperitif or summer food wine.

Simple, varietal flavors dominate this pleasant, quaffable alternative to chardonnay. It is blended with semillon, viognier, pinot blanc and malvasia to give it broad dimension.

Simple, varietal flavors dominate this pleasant, quaffable alternative to chardonnay. It is blended with semillon, viognier, pinot blanc and malvasia to give it a broad dimension.

Smoky and caramelized, this has a burn to its alcohol, yet there's also a friskiness...

While hardly one to impress with complexity or any sense of depth, this direct, vaguely juicy, slightly sweet wine is the very picture of picnic quaffability. And at discount, it fills the bill for warm weather gulping.

This is a white blend of 10 grape varieties - nearly half is a combination of chardonnay and sauvignon blanc. It defies description as a result of that, but expect to find a melange of flavors. Melon, peach, grapefruit are among the flavors.

We enjoyed this luxurious blend of eight white grapes. You're not sure what you are drinking, but you know you like it. Citrus and tropical fruit notes.

This well-balanced white wine is an imaginative blend of Sauvignon Blanc, Viognier, Chardonnay, Semillon, Roussanne, Pinot Blanc, Riesling and Muscat Canelli drawn from vineyards around California. It comes to the palate as a very fruity wine, but leaves with a dry impression. It offers vibrant flavors of grapefruit, lime, pear, kiwi, honey and white pepper. It's immediately appealing, but with some complexity too.

The '08 California Summation ($17), the first release of a rich and honeyed, floral and nutty blend of nine white grape varieties.

Kendall-Jackson's 2008 Vintner's Reserve Summation is a blend of 10 white grapes (sauvignon blanc, at 31 percent, is the main variety) from up and down the coast. It's quite racy, with citrus and stone fruit notes, a slight creamy note and persistent acidity.

A dry wine with a tiny hint of sweetness; aromas and flavors of grapefruit, peaches and golden apples.

...aromas of peach, floral and musk seem almost viognier-like. Two exotic chard clones, Dijon and Rued, combine here to make the flavors bright and sunny, but also a bit spicy like muscat. It's sunshine in bottle merged with barrel fermentation and lees stirring that make this wine fascinating. Extremely distinct and very pleasant with a clean finish, the wine is like no other chard I've tasted.

Kendall-Jackson's Great Estate portfolio includes a Chardonnay from Arroyo Seco which is as intense and complex as any New World Chardonnay.

...strong aromas of tropical fruit and vanilla that jump from the glass...good concentration and a nicely textured core of tropical fruit that meshes well with the oak...

Subdued nose of pear, citrus skin and vanillin oak. Juicy and brisk, with good texture and intensity and a nicely restrained sweetness for this bottling. Firm acids frame the flavors. Finishes with decent length and a slight alcoholic harshness.