Monday, February 23, 2009

Saturday Night - Great Expectations, Part 1

Mick and Amy are back from vacation, in case anyone was wondering why the blog had been so quiet recently, so it was time for our usual Saturday night get together. I picked a couple of old favourites as the dishes for the evening – Gorgonzola dip as the starter and basil and pine nut salmon with mashed potatoes and caramelize onions as the main course.

"It's green but it is good!"

To go with the Gorgonzola dip I decided to pair it with a 2008 Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc. I hadn’t tried the 2008 yet but the 2007 Kim Crawford was a great pairing for Gorgonzola dip - http://zippysauce.blogspot.com/2008/01/saturday-night-dinner-love-boat-edition.html.

So I was curious to see how the 2008 version would be like.

The pale yellow with slight greenish tint was what you’d expect from a Sauvignon Blanc in colour. The nose of the wine was filled with different fruit aromas of pear, lychee, green apple and melon which was not what I was exactly expecting. Tasting the wine caught me completely off guard as it was very tart. Grapefruit and green apple were the dominate flavours with the acidity being very high and a complete lack of a finish being the biggest surprise.

"Not the 2006 or 2007 style"

If I hadn’t had the 2006 and 2007 Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc before I probably would have enjoyed this wine more. The earlier version of this wine were nicely balanced and were soft and approachable, whereas the 2008 was more like a typical Sauvignon Blanc with a more straight forward approach with big acidity. In spite of the character change in the 2008 version the Kim Crawford was still a good pairing with the Gorgonzola dip.

Here is the LCBO Information on the wine –

Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc

Vintages 35386
750 mL bottle
Price: $ 19.95
Wine, White Wine,
13.5% Alcohol/Vol.
Sugar Content : XD
Made in: New Zealand, New Zealand
By: Constellation Wines Nz
Release Date: Oct 11, 2008

Description - Vintage after vintage, the world-renowned Kim Crawford displays his winemaking prowess with Sauvignon Blanc. This version exhibits aromas such as gooseberry, asparagus, nettle, tomato leaf and citrus. Tantalizing with monkfish with tomato and fresh herbs, or steamed mussels.

Here is what the Wine Spectator had to say about it –

2008 Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc

Fragrant and complex, with a refreshing burst of lime, guava, grapefruit and grass flavors. Wet stone, passion fruit and oyster shell accents add interest, with bright acidity highlighting the vivid finish. Another outstanding Sauvignon from a perennial success. Drink now. 175,000 cases made. –DS, Score – 91, Price - $19.

Here is the group rating for the wine -Mick – 89, Mark – 86, Kathy – 87, Amy – 87, Overall – 87.25.

My 86 in the rating was probably a touch harsh as I wrote earlier I was expecting something very different from this wine. I will have to pick up another bottle and try it again with a more open mind.

Click here for Part 2

No comments: