Wine review: 2007 Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc

Tonight for dinner I made a California-style pizza. It’s a pretty easy recipe from Everyday Food magazine that I’ve modified somewhat, so I’ll post my modified version here.

Take one pizza crust (I normally make my own but for lack of time used a ready-made crust) and brush with olive oil. Layer with a large thinly-sliced tomato and crumble on 4 ounces of goat cheese. Bake in a 375 oven for about 15 minutes or until the crust is golden. Meanwhile, mix about 3 cups of fresh spinach with 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar and 1 tablespoon olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Toss in one diced avocado and two sliced green onions. Mound green mixture on the pizza, cut, and serve.

The classic wine pairing with goat cheese is sauvignon blanc, and since Natalie MacLean also recommended it with avocado in a Wine Enthusiast story I did not long ago, it was a double dunk. Natalie mentioned in our interview that she considers Kim Crawford a great house wine, so I was looking forward to trying it.

Here in Tennessee Kim Crawford is comparatively expensive–$16.99 at my local shoppe. But I was in Fort Wayne, Indiana, a few weeks ago and I ran over to World Market to pick up some wines, and the Kim Crawford was only $11 there. (As to whether I actually saved anything by driving all the way to Indiana is beside the point.)

The wine was very good–the nose is grassy and herbal but fresh and fruity. It tasted bright and acidic, yet smooth, with grass and grapefruit and a distinctive herbal taste, like fresh thyme and sage rolled into one. At 13 percent alcohol it’s an excellent food match. New Zealand is one of the premier regions in the world to grow sauvignon blanc, so if you haven’t tried one, you should just so you know what a good example of a sauv blanc tastes like.

I’ll admit it’s not my favorite grape, but I enjoy it paired with the right foods. And the goat cheese-avocado pizza was definitely right.