The 1998 Sauvignon Blanc is an exuberant, honeyed melon and lemon grass-scented and flavored Sauvignon. Displaying a medium-bodied, elegant, flavorful personality, it should drink well over the next 12 months. Tel. (805) 688-3300

As the scores attest, Sanford is one of California's most fashionable wineries. Consumers are demanding more flavor and complexity, and Sanford's wines deliver the goods. While these wines may be criticized for lacking subtlety, they are exciting wines that can dazzle the palate. I find Sanford's Sauvignon Blanc to be their most controversial wine. Among the richest and most concentrated of the California Sauvignons, its intense, honeyed and herbaceous character borders on being vegetal. Readers who do not care for too much green in their Sauvignon may want to avoid it. Made in a no-holds-barred style, it is an authoritative example of this varietal. Tel. (805) 688-3300