Another Bargain Grocery Store find. I've tried Oak Hollow's California Zinfandel previously. This Oak Hollow 2006 California Sauvignon Blanc is a lovely very pale gold, with a slightly green tint. The appearance is quite attractive, and looks like a Sauvignon Blanc. It's very much like the palest possible shade of apatite, bordering on pale citrine. The fragrance is slightly citrusy; a bit like lemon or possibly grapefruit peel. At first taste, it's sharply acidic, with very grapefruit-like overtones. It's a bit like green apples and pineapple, but the dominate flavor is more like grapefruit. It's very definitely a slightly dry Sauvignon Blan. As odd as this sounds, this Sauvignon Blanc feels almost as if it's slightly carbonated. It reminds me very much of slightly acidic dry pear cider with perhaps a dash of grapefruit juice. According to the Oak Hollow Web site, the grapes were picked at various levels of ripeness, from several different coastal California vineyards, and then fermented in stainless steel before being aged for four months in the bottle. The ABV is 12.5%. This is a Sauvignon Blanc that very much makes me understand why it is so very often blended with Semillion, and why that works so well.

At twice what I paid, this isn't a bad bottle of wine at all; at $3.99 it's a bargain, though honestly, I'd rather pay the two dollars or so extra for the excellent Washington Barnard Griffin 2007 Columbia Valley Fume Blanc. There's a point where it's not so much that Wine A is bad, or unpleasant, but where I'd just enjoy something that's a bit more complex and subtle more, even if it costs a little more. That said, the Oak Hollow is the sort of thing you might purchase at the spur of the moment, with some crusty French bread and a seafood salad for an impromptu picnic as you take advantage of the last bits of warm sun and clear skies before Winter arrives in full snowy glory.