Sauvignon Blancs Perfect for Summer

We have reached “the vast plateau in the middle of summer,” the time when “one of wine’s primary purposes is to offer relief from the daily bout with seasonal oppression,” writes Eric Asimov in the New York Times. Summer wines, “like a good beach read, should be engaging enough to retain interest but not heavy.” Sauvignon blancs fit perfectly, so his tasting panel sampled a variety from South America:

• Best value: 2008 Montes, $11. “Exceedingly pleasant yet not overly memorable. Faint praise? No, because sometimes that’s just what one wants in a wine.”
• Most expensive: 2008 Casa Marín, $26. “Perhaps too expensive for the category of summer sipper,” but “a thoroughly enjoyable wine.”
• Honorable mention: 2008 Errazuriz, $16. It “offered a distinct whiff of jalapeño, which if not typical was not at all displeasing.”

For the complete list, click the link below. (More Jay-ZTV stories.)