90 Santa Barbara Winery 2008 Sauvignon Blanc (Santa Ynez Valley); $15. A beautiful Sauvignon Blanc that shows why this warmish Santa Barbara County valley is such a natural home for the variety. With crisp acidity and a creamy texture, it’s dry and minerally, with interestingly rich flavors of citrus fruits, melons and pears, and a touch of smoky oak. Editors’ Choice. —S.H.
87 Santa Barbara Winery 2008 ZCS (California); $13. This blend of Zinfandel, Carignane and Sangiovese probably tastes like the red wines the immigrants drank years ago. It’s bone dry and rustic and clean and pure, with modest alcohol. Wash it down with salumi, pasta marinara, or just a plain roast chicken.—S.H.
92 Santa Barbara Winery 2007 Reserve Chardonnay (Sta. Rita Hills); $22. This is an elaborate, oaky Chardonnay made in the popular style that has made California Chard such a success. It’s rich in pineapple jam, apricot, buttered toast, vanilla and leesy flavors, and grows better as it warms in the glass. —S.H.
90 Lafond 2007 SRH Chardonnay (Sta. Rita Hills); $22. Good price for such a nice Chardonnay from the Santa Rita Hills. The wine is very dry and crisp in acidity, with a bracing mouthfeel that offers rich, oak inspired flavors of pineapples, pears and green apples. Nice now with Ahi tuna tartare or grilled salmon. —S.H.
90 Lafond 2006 Pinot Noir Lafond Vineyard (Sta. Rita Hills); $48.This is a big, ripe, full-bodied and oaky Pinot Noir. It’s too powerful to drink now, unless you don’t mind immaturity. The raspberry, cherry and blood orange flavors are of the pie-filling type,and the oak sticks out in smoky, vanilla sweetness. Give it 4–5 years in the cellar to come around. Cellar Selection. —S.H.
On January 8th, 2010, the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition concluded the annual week of judging at the Cloverdale Citrus Fairgrounds in Sonoma County, California. Over five days, 63 professional wine experts within the media, restaurant and hospitality, education, winemaking and retail wine industries tasted and evaluated a world-record breaking 4,913 entries, a number that maintains the competition’s status as the largest competition of American wines in the world.
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has proclaimed September 2009 California Wine Month for the fifth consecutive year. Recognizing the positive impact of the more that 200-year-old agricultural tradition, the proclamation praises the wine community’s many contributions. 
Recent Comments