I first heard about Kim Crawford a few years ago while I was working at Alphabet City Wine Co. in New York when a few women came in looking for the sauvignon blanc. We didn’t carry it, but I made a mental note to find and try it. Well now I see ads for it everywhere, and it’s no wonder; the wine is imported by the behemoth wine company Constellation Wines from Marlborough, New Zealand. I found it, tasted and enjoyed it, and moved on.

However, when I had the opportunity to taste KC’s pinot noir, I was intrigued. I had tasted a few pinots from New Zealand, mostly from the Central Otago, and had been fairly blown away. Marlborough as a region is less known for the grape and perhaps with reason. The wine had a thin quality to it, despite its 14% alcohol: tart red fruit on nose, heavy on the black pepper, with a light body and more of the tart red cranberry fruit and pepper on the palate. It just seemed out of balance when sipped alone, not quite developed; the region’s famous sunlight seems to have ripened the grapes too quickly, causing the fruit to have been picked before the sugars were ready.

2 out of 5 stars

Imported by Constellation Wines