The Last Throes of Summer - Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc

( A great place to sit at sunset, too bad it was cloudy at picture time! )

* This wine was the recommendation I contributed to today's (9/1/2011) post 12 Most Fabulous Wines to Enjoy Now For Under $20 at 12most.com which was coordinated by my wine blogger friend Marie Payton at www.lifeofvines.com. Click the link above to see the other 11 recommendations.

The sun is dipping ever more quickly at the end of each day now in New England. Summer is fleeting. While we hang on to those warm days our summer drinking habits still reign, and the Kim Crawford 2010 Sauvignon Blanc is a wine with summer written all over it!

Light in body with aromas of tropical fruit, herbs and a crispness that begins to quench with the first sip, this wine can help make your warm weather occasion the most it can be.

But all may not be well. It’s almost like I’ve gotten two different wines (both labeled as the most recent vintage) in my last two outings with the Kim Crawford 2010 Sauvignon Blanc.

My most recent tasting, for this post, was of an herbal, bell pepper driven Sauvignon Blanc with limited fruit in the nose and a just bit more on the palate. This was not what I expected. The wine is sound and pleasant to drink, but with a different profile than I have experienced before. I can see this wine working in the place I have in mind for it, because it is refreshing when cold, but without the tropical notes up front it just doesn’t have as strong of a link to summer. I have another bottle on hand and can’t wait to see what it holds.

My prior tasting was at the Firegrill in Montreal with Margot and her family as we celebrated the life of their uncle who had lived better than most people ever hope they could. Maybe the wine tasted better as I rode high on emotions, BUT it was different! The aroma on it was huge, slightly floral and definitely tropical. There was a touch more acid in this one than the most recent, and the finish was a bit more flavorful as well. This is the version I recall from two prior tastings. It was summer in Montreal and the warm walk back to the Grand Seminary with a bit of spring in my step from the refreshing wine was therapeutic.

This wine was sourced from my local state run liquor store for $17.99.

As we grasp the last days of another summer what are you drinking? Have you already thought of switching gears for the cooler days ahead?

Cheers!

Jason