Tried these two last Thurs w/ friends out on the portal at Susan's:
1. Ryme Vermentino "His" LasBrisasVnyd/Carneros (11.9%) 2011: Deep gold/burnished bronze color; lightly phenolic/resiny quite perfumed orangey/lemon curd/spicy/floral/cardamon quite perfumed/aromatic complex nose; quite tart/dry/austere honeyed/orangey/lemon curd lightly phenolic/resiny flavor w/ light smooth tannins; very long lightly phenolic/resiny slight cidery strong honeyed/lemon curd/orangey rather tart/dry/austere finish w/ light tannins; seems to have lost much of the tannic bite it once had; no evident Vermentino varieta character. $30.00
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2. Forlorn-Hope The Faufreluches GWT HillVnyd/RRV (13.50%; 134 cs) Fairfield 2013: Light golden bronze some cloudy color; rather phenolic/resiny light earthy some spicy/GWT/lychee/orangey/honeyed quite interesting/complex nose; fairly tart rather phenolic/resiny/cidery bit orangey/orange peel fairly GWT/lychee/spicy fairly rich flavor w/ light brisk tannins; very long pretty phenolic/resiny some GWT/lychee/spicy/hair oil bit honeyed finish w/ light sharp tannins; still has loads of phenolic character but shows definite GWT varietal character. $20.00
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A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. The Ryme I recall, on release, as being brutally tannic & austere, no pleasure to drink. This is one of the older Calif skin-contact whites I've tried and it seems to have tamed down some w/ age. I hope that's true of all of them.
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2. These skin-contact whites, if they have extended maceration, can often be a bit brutal/austere/tannic on the palate...no fun to just taste. I think they really need food to show their best. So I selected these two phenolic wines to put this to the test.
One of the things I like to cook is "grilling cheese" on the grill, usually on a cedar plank. These are low-fat/low-moisture cheeses that you can put on the grill until they're soft in the center, but don't get runny. "Robusto" is one commonly-available (I think) such grilling cheese. The Greek Haloumi cheese is another. Sometimes they can be flavored w/ garlic or something. I then serve these w/ a selection of condiments for people to try. The cheese itself is pretty tasteless & rubbery. But w/ condiments, it makes for a great app.
So I served these two wines w/ grilled Robusto and a selection of condiments. It really tamed the tannins in the wine down and made for a great combination. Seems to worked the best w/ the jalapeno jam and the fig mostardo. They also went well w/ the stir-fried shishito peppers of Susan's.
Tom