In most Cabernet issues, the pages are brimming with wines reaching out to our pocketbooks because they are so good we just have to have them. Such is not exactly the case here. After all, we are dealing mostly with the wines of 2011 and the vintage is now well-known for what it has not delivered. The late-arriving 2010s are, for the most part, the leftovers and left behinds, and if that is a bit of an exaggeration, so too are the reports of disaster in 2011. For sure, the rate of success is not as high as in better vintages, but there are many, many fine wines, and we went in search of answers as to why. The full Cabernet essay speaks to reasons why there are some quite exceptional wines from what is admittedly a less than stellar vintage.

There are times when we are tempted to pigeon-hole Sauvignon Blanc as a niche grape sort of like Gewurztraminer and Petite Sirah. But, it is more than that, and its status as the number two white in California continues without letup. Being number two is OK in our books.

This grape of the two names seems never to excite. It just earns its way be making pleasant, easy-to-like wines at reasonable prices. A Mercedes it is not, but then, neither is a Prius, and both have their places.

Turn your attention here for GOOD VALUE recommendations in Chardonnay, Syrah and Rosé. Yes, Rosé! Because a well-chilled, well-fruited pink wine will be just what the doctor ordered during the dog days of summer sipping.