Consistently one of California’s best sauvignon blanc wines comes from Gainey Vineyards in Santa Barbara County’s Santa Ynez Valley. The Gainey Sauvignon Blanc 2009 includes 20 percent semillon grapes, an element that lends this complex wine touches of leafy fig, a hint of the tropical and a wash of provocative earthiness. Seeing only stainless steel — no oak — the wine is boldly fresh, clean and bright, displaying vivid and pungent scents of lemon and lime and lime peel with a trace of spicy gooseberry and that semillon-influenced fig. In the mouth vibrant acidity keeps the wine pert and compelling; melon is added to flavors of pear and grapefruit, and though the wine is bone-dry, there’s a bit of peach that feels almost honeyed in its ripe richness. The texture is sleek and elegant; the finish brings in more lime and grapefruit and a tide of scintillating limestone minerality. We drank this with grilled swordfish, prepared simply with salt, pepper and lemon juice, and a salad of new potatoes, green beans and red bell pepper in a mustard vinaigrette. Alcohol content is 13 percent. 2,300 cases were produced. Winemaker is Jon Engelskirger. Excellent. About $14, an Astonishing Bargain.

A sample for review.