Kim Crawford Small Parcels Spitfire Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough 2014: Translucent straw color; lemon, green melon, tropical fruits on vivid nose;
array of intense flavors—melon, citrus, peach, green apple, textbook cut grass (if you have not figured out the Marlborough cut grass descriptor, this will end your puzzlement). Crisp acidity—the key to New Zealand sauv blanc’s legendary complementarity with food; good depth, excellent finish that includes a cleansing dash of lemon and grains of minerality; forceful example of why Marlborough sauv blancs seized the attention of the wine world. This is a step up from the entry-level Kim Crawford sauv blancs (which are excellent value-for-price plays, but do not have the nuances, grassiness, and depth of fruit flavors this effort flaunts). Kim Crawford now is part of Constellation Brands, the New York Finger Lakes winemakers who expanded to become the world’s largest makers of wine; to their enduring credit, Constellation has not screwed things up after the acquisition. The brand began in 1996 when Kim and Erica Crawford turned a passionate dream into a world-recognized reality from a spare room in their home in Central Auckland. In two years, they were exporting to the United States. In four years, they had built a state-of-the-art winery in Marlborough. In six years, their sauv blanc made Wine Spectator’s Top 100 List; they appeared again in 2005, 2006, 2008. Their sauv blanc scored 90-plus points seven years in a row. Today, Kim Crawford is the #1 New Zealand wine in the United States. They clearly are doing things right, as this quality effort effusively demonstrates. $20-26 