Sauvignon Blanc

Sauvignon Blanc is the other white wine. In a number of ways it's a better wine than Chardonnay in my opinion. It's a clean, crisp, refreshing beverage. It's best chilled at refrigerator temp. This is notable because most Chard is better at a cool cellar temp and it's generally served to cold.

Chardonnay is fruity and often heavy, oily. Pinot Griggio/Gris more neutral (a drinking without thinking wine). Sauvignon Blanc is more herbal and bright (acidic). These general characteristics of the wine make it great in warm weather and make it a good food wine.

Sauv Blanc is also less expensive than Chard with most premium ones around $15-30, but there are many around $10-12.

Recent history

Sauv Blanc has changed in California since the '80s and '90s when the natural acids in the grape were more assertive and the wine often had a predominant green, grassy, sometimes vegetative note. Today California Sauv Blanc can still be a bit grassy when grown in cooler climates, but you can get tropical fruits, melons, and a stony flavor from more moderate growing areas.

The changes happened between the late 20th century and now, I believe, because of the competition from New Zealand. NZ Sauv Blanc is from a very cool, wet climate and is often picked underripe by California standards, but they can legally add sugar. This is needed to properly ferment the grapes into table wine and it makes a wine that people flock to. Note that adding sugar does not make the wine sweeter as it's all fermented into alcohol. You tend to get both fruity (a tart sweetness) and green characteristics (such as asparagus) from NZ Sauv Blanc.

Some Sauv Blanc is sometimes blended with a somewhat obscure grape, Semillon. Sauvignon Blanc is occasionally called Fume Blanc in California, to signify a stylistic difference that, honestly, is no longer significant.  

In Sonoma County

In Sonoma County the top spot for Sauvignon Blanc is probably Dry Creek Valley (not too hot, not too cool). You'll also find it from cooler areas like Russian River Valley and Bennett Valley, warmer areas like Alexander Valley, and from Sonoma Valley which can be warm or cool depending on where you are in the valley.

Some notable Sonoma County wineries for Sauvignon Blanc are Dry Creek Vyds, Hanna, Merry Edwards, Paradise Ridge, Simi, Quivira, and VML, though there are many more wineries producing quality SB. Merry Edwards is probably the most awarded one. It's made like a Chardonnay using oak barrels (somewhat unusual for SB) so if you like Chard you might like this one. It's also one of the more expensive.