2020 Ryme Cellars Vermentino Las Brisas Napa Valley

The 2020 Vermentino is lithe and refreshing. Eminently mouth watering it bursts with lemon rind, chamomile, and salty sea spray. The palate is zippy and crunchy but rounds out with texture and depth. 
The wine was whole cluster pressed, settled clean, and fermented without inoculation in a combination of old neutral barrels and stainless steel. The wine underwent a spontaneous partial malolactic fermentation.

Ryme Cellars is a collaboration of husband and wife with old world sensibilities, as well as admiration for California’s terroir. Our wines come from organic or sustainable vineyards. We use no cultured yeast, no temperature control, no enzymes or other adulterants. 

Megan and I make a great pair. Our tastes in wine rarely diverge. We agree 99% of the time. This Vermentino represents a fundamental disagreement of the most endearing qualities this grape has to offer. Inspired by some of our favorite producers in Italy like Dettori and Massa Vecchia, and being an orange wine fanatic in general, I knew we had to make Vermentino as a compliment to the Ribolla Gialla when I came across the Las Brisas Vineyard in Carneros. Megan thought it was a superb idea, but had her sights fixed on the bright, clean, aromatic examples from places like the Ligurian coast or Gallura in Sardegna. The only compromise was to have separate projects, “His” and “Hers”. “Hers” with a green label harvested for freshness and energy. It is whole cluster pressed and bottled early. “His”, orange label, is fermented on the skins, and requires more time in barrel. This aromatic late-ripening variety comes from the cool foggy Las Brisas Vineyard on the Sonoma side of Carneros AVA. Situated on sandy silt and gravel at the end of the Petaluma Wind Gap and just off San Pablo Bay, it is a beautiful site for white wines.