Sauvignon Blanc “Spitfire” Small Parcels Marlborough 2022 – Kim Crawford

To produce the Sauvignon Blanc “Spitfire” Small Parcels Marlborough Kim Crawford, the fruit was crushed and the free-run juice was drained for about three hours before the skins were pressed. Fermentation was long, slow and cool, with a yeast selected to express the grapes’ grapefruit and passion fruit characteristics. Only the best wines were selected for the Small Parcels blend, following a rigorous tasting selection. The blend was left to marry for a brief period and the wine was bottled early to retain its freshness and purity of fruit.

The Small Parcels ‘Spitfire’ Sauvignon Blanc takes its name from a famous site in Marlborough that was used as an air force base during WWII. Two outstanding vineyards were selected for the 2019 vintage. The first, Awatere Hills, W Block, is located in the southerly subregion of Blind River. This block is in a small valley protected from the cold winds. A small patch of rich alluvial silt provides a large, healthy vine canopy, and a massive blast of zesty capsicum and grapefruit on the nose and mid-palate. The other, Awarua, is one of Kim Crawford’s newest vineyards. Just 6 years ago this was rich dairy farming land at the mouth of the Wairau Valley. Conditions were perfect in 2019 for development of Marlborough’s famed thiol passionfruit flavours overlaying delicious tropical notes.