Independent desk research · bottle match pending

Kim Crawford
Sauvignon Blanc

Name: Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc
Brand: Kim Crawford

Kim Crawford is the benchmark because shoppers recognize it, not because recognition settles quality. The dossier shows a polished regional blend with a confident house style—and a surprising lack of public chemistry for a bottle with this reach.

Largest retail snapshot1,057

2 retailer snapshots are shown separately below. Counts may overlap and do not become one audience or our score.

Region: Marlborough
Grape: Sauvignon Blanc
Release studied: 2024
Dated price evidence: $11.99–$18.49 · observed 2026-08-07

Brand/package imagery supplied through a retailer feed · editorial use · takedown policy available

The 30-second decision

Choose Kim Crawford for the louder brand signal and the more extroverted tropical-herbal promise. Do not pay a premium assuming it buys greater transparency—it does not.

Desk verdict based on producer, region, chemistry availability and retailer signals. The shelf bottle has not been independently tasted or physically matched.

Compare the two bottles

Choose it if

You want the familiar, high-aroma Marlborough house style
Passion fruit, grapefruit and a herbal snap sound appealing
You value a larger observed shopper-rating footprint

Skip it if

You want published residual sugar, acidity and pH
You dislike forceful citrus-herbal Sauvignon Blanc
You expect brand recognition to prove the vintage or bottle in front of you

Serve

Start well chilled, around 45–48°F; let the glass warm slightly if the aromatics feel muted.

Put it with

Oysters, goat cheese, herb-heavy salads, asparagus, ceviche and simply grilled seafood match the expected acid-and-aroma profile.

Identity chain

Researching a release is not the same as verifying your bottle.

The producer page and supplied artwork support a 2024 release record. Current US retailer listings support a market package, barcode and 12.5% ABV, while a UK trade source reports 13.5%. Without the physical label, those records remain related evidence—not one proven object.

2024 release researched · physical shelf specimen not yet matched

US retailer UPC: 689352009611
Retailer-feed identifier: 0068935200961
Physical specimen: Not yet acquired

Expected style · not a tasting note

What the evidence lets us expect.

Every sensory expectation carries a confidence level and an evidence basis. Chemistry can support a conclusion; marketing copy cannot become our palate.

drynessExpected dry; exact residual sugar undisclosed

Regional style and producer positioning; no release chemistry found

medium confidence

bodyLight to medium

Producer style and market-package alcohol listing

medium confidence

acidityHigh and deliberately vivid

Producer explicitly claims vibrant acidity; chemistry undisclosed

medium confidence

oakFreshness-first; oak use not disclosed in reviewed sources

Do not convert silence into a no-oak claim

low confidence

fruitPassion fruit, melon, grapefruit and bright citrus

Producer-stated expected profile, not our tasting

medium confidence

herbalCrushed-herb edge expected

Producer-stated expected profile

medium confidence

intensityHigh-aroma, extroverted

Producer-described house style; rating volume is not sensory evidence

medium confidence

retail receptionLarger observed retail rating footprint

Separate retailer rating counts, not recognition research or a quality verdict

high confidence

Reception, without fake precision

Separate platforms. No blended score.

Each platform remains a separate dated snapshot. Counts are not added because audiences may overlap. None is assumed to describe the exact 2024 release.

Kroger4.70

/ 5 · 871 ratings

mixed or unknown · observed 2026-08-07

Target4.67

/ 5 · 1,057 ratings

mixed or unknown · observed 2026-08-07

Shared corpus recordmarlborough-nz

One maintained Marlborough record can power every relevant bottle while release claims stay attached to their own evidence.

Region intelligence

Understanding Marlborough without flattening it.

Marlborough is not a generic synonym for punchy Sauvignon Blanc. It is a large, internally varied cool-climate region whose sunlight, low rainfall, free-draining ground and subregional differences give producers useful blending choices.

Legal identity

A protected place

Registered New Zealand wine GI 1004 since 26 February 2018; renewed through July 2032.

Climate

The climate frame

New Zealand Winegrowers describes a cool climate with high sunshine and low rainfall. Warm, bright days build aroma and flavor while cool nights help retain acidity; the tradeoff is that frost, drought and harvest weather remain real vintage variables.

Ground

What can be claimed

Free-draining, moderately fertile alluvial soils are common, but the region is not uniform. The Southern Valleys carry more clay than the Wairau plain, while river gravels and sandy loams recur through central Wairau sites.

Scale, without the fog

Producing vineyard area, 2024: 30,444 hectares
Sauvignon Blanc area, 2024: 25,156.78 producing hectares
Industry sustainability context: 98% of New Zealand's producing vineyard area is SWNZ certified; bottle-level certification still requires bottle-level evidence.

Subregions worth tracking

Wairau Valley: The broad valley floor and river terraces at the center of Marlborough's modern Sauvignon Blanc story.
Awatere Valley: A cooler, windier southern valley that gives producers a contrasting component for regional blends.
Southern Valleys: Omaka, Fairhall, Brancott, Ben Morvan and Waihopai; generally heavier and more clay-influenced than Wairau soils.

Shared region × vintage record · marlborough-nz-2024

A smaller Marlborough harvest after encouraging pre-harvest signals.

The pre-harvest read was unusually clean: El Niño brought warmth and sunshine, post-flowering weather was close to ideal, and disease pressure was low. The catch was quantity, not an obvious quality collapse—a lighter crop was expected before harvest.

Marlborough ultimately harvested 312,812 tonnes, 21% below the previous vintage. It still accounted for 81.8% of the national survey harvest. That combination—smaller crop, generally favorable ripening signals—supports optimism, but not a blanket verdict on every bottle.

Marlborough harvest: 312,812 tonnes
Change from 2023: Down 21%
Share of NZ survey harvest: 81.8%

Bottle × release intelligence

What is specific to this 2024 record.

A regional blend built to deliver the extroverted side of Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc. The producer gives us a clear house-style argument, but not the release chemistry or exact subregional composition needed for a fully transparent technical account.

How it was made

Production

Kim Crawford says vineyard blocks are harvested separately, fermented in small lots and blended after tasting. The 2024 product page emphasizes stainless-steel freshness and sustainable practices, but does not publish harvest dates, pH, total acidity or residual sugar.

What the producer promises

Taste claim

Producer-stated, not independently tasted: citrus, tropical fruit, crushed herbs, passion fruit, melon and grapefruit, with vivid acidity and a long finish.

Who is behind it

Kim Crawford

A Constellation Brands wine brand.

Launched in an Auckland cottage in 1996. The brand says it rented winery space and purchased vineyards in Marlborough's Waihopai Valley in 2000; it now draws across seven Marlborough subregions for blending options.

The producer frames this as block-by-block selection followed by small-lot fermentation and blending. That is a useful explanation for consistency at scale, though exact blocks and lot proportions are not disclosed for this release.

Vintage: 2024 on supplied artwork and producer release page
Alcohol: 13.5% in a 2025 UK trade booklet; prior US retailer data reported 12.5%. Treat as a market/bottling conflict until the physical bottle is read.
Winemaking detail: Individual block harvest, small-lot fermentation, post-fermentation blending
Published chemistry: No pH, total acidity or residual sugar found in the primary release sources reviewed

Disclosure audit

Transparency is measurable. Quality still requires judgment.

Missing information is not proof of poor wine. It is still useful to know which producer gives the shopper enough evidence to test its claims.

partial

Subregional sourcing

Producer discusses seven subregions; current US retail copy names Wairau and Awatere, but 2024 blend proportions are not published

release

not found

Harvest dates

Not found

release

conflicted

Finished-wine chemistry

Alcohol conflicts by market; residual sugar, TA and pH not found

release

partial

Fermentation

Small lots and post-fermentation blending disclosed; vessel and temperature incomplete

release

partial

Ingredients / allergens

US retailer reports sulfites; full ingredient statement not established

market package

not found

Bottle-level sustainability

No bottle-level certification verified

market package

Fieldwork queue

The unknowns have owners.

These package- or producer-specific gaps stay outside the shared Marlborough record.

Which Marlborough subregions and vineyard blocks entered the 2024 blend?
What do the US bottle's alcohol, importer, lot code and barcode actually say?
What are the release's residual sugar, pH and total acidity?
What are the sealed and empty bottle weights, closure, glass color and recycled-glass claims?

Source ledger