Sauvignon Blanc when it’s good is one of the easiest, least complicated wines to enjoy. It's the light-lager of wine. In its prime, it's slightly effervescent, with notes of peach, cut grass, granny smith; and even green olive, saline, and pine nut depending on where it’s from.

So you’re sitting on the patio this evening at the pool in Cancùn waiting on the shrimp skewers you ordered thirty minutes ago. How long...