New Cabernet Sauvignons get top billing in August, but, while we hold with those who believe that good wine is a necessity of life, we do not subscribe to the misbegotten belief that a wine's first duty is to be red, and a new batch of Sauvignon Blancs, Semillons and altogether lovely Chardonnays from the Testarossa Winery should give wine drinkers who do ample reasons to think again.

Cabernet is not close to giving up its throne as California's most prestigious and popular wine, and with the 2016 vintage proving to be a most worthy heir to the five before it, Cabernet lovers will have no difficulty in finding first-rate examples.

Sometimes bright and grassy, sometimes gregariously fruit and, at others, wonderfully layered and genuinely complex, Sauvignon Blanc is a wine of many faces and is a convincing reminder that interesting white wine does not begin and end with Chardonnay.

Very much a fringe player, but with the ability to occasionally surprise as do a couple of noteworthy offerings this month, Semillon is not a household name, but it merits consideration from those looking for something a bit out of the norm.

Since its appearance in 1993, Testarossa has been a winery very much worth watching, and its sizeable current offering of Chardonnays from up and down the state affirms that it belongs on the radar of collectors of California's most popular white wine.

Good wines assuredly need not come at a painful price, and this month's selection of fine values in Zinfandel, Rosé and Syrah are convincing reminders that drinking well does not necessitate thoughts of a second mortgage.