Sometimes, when you open a bottle of wine, and the first smell hits your nose, you just can’t believe the aroma.  Other times, you happen to be confused if it was wine you just opened.  Such is the curious case of 2010 Kemblefield Sauvignon Blanc.  When I opened this wine, I momentarily thought I had ordered a large pot of asparagus.  After smelling it, and tasting it, and smelling it, and tasting it, and googling it, and asking twitter, I finally gave up and decided that perhaps, this was just the unintended results of the winemaker.  With that full disclosure in mind, I welcome any one else who has an experience with this wine to comment. 

Sight:  Nothing unusual yet, gold, with a slightly green color.

Smell:  Hey, asparagus.  Wait, asparagus?  Right, well it’s sauvignon blanc right?  So that’s green.  Bell pepper, kale, gooseberries, jalapeño, and a lot of cilantro.  Did I mention this smells green?

Sip:  Dear green.  It’s light and bright like one would expect of Sauvignon Blanc, and its so unbelievably green.  There’s just loads of sage, thyme, kale, asparagus, green bell pepper, jalapeño, gooseberries out the wazoo, cilantro, and surprisingly, strongly like fiddleheads.  There’s minor hints of lime and passionfruit, but fruit is not the predominate player here. [A.B.V. 13%]

Savor:  It gets greener and greener, then it suddenly gets lime pithy.  Overall, it stays pretty herbal through the finish.

2010 Kemblefield Sauvignon Blanc is for those that really want to know what it means when someone calls a wine green.  It might also be for those that are curious about what it means for a wine to be vegetal.  Vegetal, for reference is normally considered flawed, but not always.  In the entirety of the time that First Pour Wine has been trying wine, this wine wins the “Salad in a Glass” award.  Certainly an experience not soon to be forgotten.

Verdict:  Field of greens.
Marlborough, New Zealand
Price:  $8.99