1. Ryme Vermentino LasBrisasVnyd/Carneros ("His"; 14.2%; www.RymeCellars.com) 2010: Med.amber/gold color; beautiful herbal/orangey/honeyed very spicy/nutmeg some resiny/pine sap/phenolic skin-contact very aromatic very complex light Vermen/floral lovely perfumed nose; lightly tart quite orangey/honeyed/slight graham cracker some phenolic/resiny/pine sap some floral/Vermen/carnations savory very complex flavor w/ little tannins or astringency; very long/lingering quite honeyed/bit orangey some floral/Vermen/carnations ligh resiny/phenolic/pine sap savory beautiful complex finish; speaks quietly of Vermentino but has evolved into a beautiful/complex skin-contact white that will probably go another 5-10 yrs; beautiful white. $32.00
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A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. Tasted in Nov 2011:
Tom wrote:3. Ryme Vermentino LasBrisasVnyd/Carneros (His; 14.2%; www.RymeCellars.com) 2010: Med.gold slight cloudy color; rather earthy/dusty bit orangey/orange peel/orange muscat/green olive slight oxidized quite complex nose; fairly rich/lush rather tart earthy/dusty bit tannic/bitter some orange peel/green olive quite savory very interesting flavor; very long rather tart/saline/savory slight floral/sunflower earthy/dusty light orange peel/green olive finish; not your usual rendition of Vermentino; lots of savory character and not for everybody. $32.00
Eight yrs of age has worked wonders on this wine. This is a great example of how some (not all) skin-contact whites can turn into beautiful swans.
Ryan & Megan make two Vermentinos from FrankMahoney's LasBrisas vnyd. "Hers" is made by conventional direct-to-press winemaking and has beautiful aromatics. "His" is made by using skin-contact ferments of varying length. It can sometimes be kinda hard on the palate and the nose dominated by the phenolics. But this example shows what magic a bit of age can bring upon the wine.
Tom