#ChampagneWishes #KeepingAmericaonTop Smith-Madrone 2019 Estate Riesling by Mover and Shaker Stu Smith is Napa Valley Spring Perfection in a Glass
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"Our 2019 Estate Riesling is our signature wine, a grape that thrives on our steep slopes and high altitude, like its European cousins in Alsace and Germany. It’s a wine that always surprises and delights people---definitively not sweet, full of flavor, lively acidity and also elegant."
The Riesling history behind Smith-Madrone is legendary and award-winning, and we're honored to be included in adding to their laudable commentary! Although everyone knows Peachy usually is sipping on a rich red, when she goes for Riesling, it's by Smith-Madrone. And of course, the whole world and our discriminating panelists of Champagne Wishes truly raved about this prized variety from California. Aromatically, the wine opens with Meyer lemons, pomelo, orange flowers and a hint of mandarin orange. This is all backed up with minerality. On the palate the wine is invigoriating and beautifully balanced with juicy fruit acidity. Wonderfully stylish and delicious and built to last, this wine is the one for spring. It's a classic to be enjoyed today or tomorrow or in time to come!
This wine is made from mountain grown grapes, honoring the international tradition of Riesling which thrives on steep hillsides. At Smith-Madrone, their goal is to make artisanal wines which are distinctive and are an expression of both the vintage and them as vintners. Above that, their goal is to produce wines which bring pleasure to the senses, and we find they exceed their goal. Every year the wine is made from the same vineyards, pruned by the same people in the same way, cultivated in exactly the same manner and harvested at similar levels of maturity, yet Mother Nature stamps each vintage with a unique set of flavors, senses and character. Vintage dating is a celebration of that uniqueness and diversity.
Phone 707/963-2283;
Open by appointment only
Wines available to purchase online.
FOUNDED: 1971, by Stuart Smith
MANAGEMENT: Stuart Smith, Founder, General Partner
Charles F. Smith III, Winemaker
François Bugué, Associate Winemaker
MOUNTAIN VINEYARDS: The vineyards sit at elevations between 1,300 and 2,000 feet, on steep slopes which range up to 34%.
PLANTING: Chardonnay, Riesling, Cabernet Sauvignon were initially planted in 1972. Cabernet Franc and Merlot were added in 1998. Petite Verdot was added in 2007. Pinot Noir was planted in 1972 but grafted over to Chardonnay in 1986.
ESTATE : All wines made entirely from the winery's dry-farmed estate vineyards surrounding the winery on top of Spring Mountain in the Napa Valley. Stuart Smith chose specific slopes with different exposures for specific varietals when planting the vineyards: eastern exposure for Riesling, southern and western exposures across flat stretches for the Cabernet Sauvignon and the coolest north-facing slopes for the Chardonnay. There are numerous historical sights on the ranch, as well as the huge array of natural beauty and wildlife.
SOIL: The soils are mostly deep-red Aiken Stoney Clay loam, part of the Aiken, Kidd, Forward complex of soils which are volcanic-based, well-drained and deep for mountain soils. The underlying geology is the Franciscan Assemblage, unique to California coastal ranges, which includes altered mafic volcanic rocks, deep-sea radiolarian cherts, sandstones, limestones, serpentines, shales and high-pressure metamorphic rocks, all of them faulted and mixed in a seemingly chaotic manner as a result of tectonic plate activity. The soils are rocky, with some rocks as large as small cars.
FARMING: Smith-Madrone is a pioneer of dry farming; from 2017 forward, the vineyards have been minimally irrigated, if at all. Stu Smith explains in this video.
CURRENT RELEASES:
2023 Estate Rosé (131 cases, $30)
2021 Estate Chardonnay (983 cases, $45)
2021 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon (1,652 cases, $65)
2019 Estate Riesling (1,087 cases, $40)
2021 Estate Cabernet Franc (153 cases)
2018 Cook’s Flat Reserve (2300 bottles, individually numbered, wrapped in proprietary tissue, $225)
Occasional availability of re-released library wines
All wines are Spring Mountain District appellation, all wines are estate-grown and estate-bottled.
Occasional availability of re-released library wines.
PRODUCTION: Approximately 3,000-4000 cases a year
HOSPITALITY: Tours and tastings by appointment only, on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays at 10:00 a.m.
THE ESTATE: 200 acre ranch, partly planted as vineyard over a century ago; California black bears and other wildlife once thrived here; enormous 120-year-old Picholine olive trees frame a path and view down to the floor of the Napa Valley and Bothe Napa Valley State Park
THE NAME: A tribute to the Smith brothers and the predominant tree on the ranch. The Madrone is an evergreen with a red-brown trunk and branches. In spring the tree bears lily-of-the-valley-like flower clusters; in fall orange-red berries appear.
HONORS: Stu was named one of the wine industry's most inspirational people in January 2018. [Link to Wine Industry Advisor]; Smith-Madrone was named Winery of The Year in 2014 by The Daily Meal and its earliest accolade was winning “Best Riesling” in a field of international rieslings put on by Gault-Millau in 1979. The winery is profiled in a segment of Behind The Glass on SommTV.
