Sauvignon Blanc is a staple for us throughout the year, but it is especially welcome when temperatures start to rise and is an ideal partner to the lighter fare of summer. Good Cabernet Sauvignon, of course, never goes out of style and has a special place at our tables regardless of season, and the two, which as it turns out are very closely related varieties, share top-billing this month, while a small handful of Semillons rounds out our August issue of Connoisseurs' Guide. 

Although Sauvignon Blanc is, for many, synonymous with intensely grassy, pungently herbal white wines that are prized by but a particular few, the truth is that the grape is responsible for a bounty of satisfying wines made in a great many styles, and there are more well-made examples available than ever.

Important new 2014 Cabernets continue to find their ways to the market, but the many highly accomplished 2015s in this month's review should lay to rest any concerns, as some have suggested, that California's recent winning ways with the variety might have eased, even if 2015 was a vintage that came with its share of winemaking challenges.

Fairly obscure and certain to stay that way in any foreseeable future, Semillon will not be the next big thing on California's vinous landscape, yet it is a grape whose potential for making fairly rich white wines has a few makers and growers willing to fight the good fight and not abandon it for more fashionable varieties.

Chardonnay, Rosé and Pinot Noir are featured in August's line-up of smart buys. Some are surprisingly affordable two-star winners worthy of bringing out on special occasions, while others invite regular drinking and are sure to bring smiles to savvy shoppers for whom good wine is an everyday necessity.