Party Leftovers

It would seem that one of the benefits of throwing a party nowadays is that most of friends don't drink nearly as much as we used to and, and as a result, there is usually a bottle of this or that left over after the soirée. Such was the case after our Mardi Gras bash and one of the bottles that was left behind was a classic.

1263. 2012 Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc (Marlborough - New Zealand)

The surprising thing to me is that this is the first Kim Crawford Sauv Blanc that I've added to The List. We've polished off bottles of the Pinot Gris and the Rosé but no Savvy - and that's probably the variety that Kim Crawford made it's name on in Canada, if not the world.

I suppose some times you can just take a wine for granted when it always seems available. Maybe that's why this wine hasn't made it to The List prior to now.

I'm not going to try and pretend that I can add anything new or exciting about Kim Crawford's Sav Blanc. Google it and there's no end of reviews and sites offering the best price for it. Virtually every one of those page hits will sing of the wines characteristic Kiwi notes and its value for money. I don't disagree. I do like, however, that the grassiness - that is often so profound in New Zealand Sav Blanc - is somewhat more restrained here, letting a bit more fruit shine through.

I didn't immediately run across Kim Crawford's production levels but I did see that total output was about 86,000 cases a decade ago when the winery was acquired by Vincor International (one of Canada's biggest players in the industry before it was bought out in turn by Constellation Brands). The plan was to increase production appreciably. Those original numbers weren't particularly huge; so I guess Vancouver's familiarity with the Kim Crawford name might stem from the fact that Vincor looked to its Canadian roots and markets to expand the brand. They've done quite the job on all fronts as Kim Crawford is not only one of the most recognizable Kiwi brands in Vancouver but I read that it now "enjoys the status of the best selling New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc in both the USA and Canada" and recently "hit a record one million case sales in the past 12 months with 60 percent of them going to the USA."

If this is an example of the bottles I might expect to be left over after a party, we just might need to throw them on a more regular basis.