Greetings:
42 years. Lots of wine reviews. Lots of attempts to capture our wines in words. In the June issue of Wine & Spirits Magazine, we achieved this never-before-realized goal: translating our work in the vineyard and the winery into words that literally transport you.
Without further ado, the reviews are below. You can click through to order them.
These can be found in the June issue of Wine & Spirits Magazine:
Price isn’t necessarily a predictor of quality….Check out the number of cellar-worthy wines that come in well under $100—like the stunning Chardonnay and Cab from Smith-Madrone.
In the magazine’s grouping of California Chardonnay, the
Smith-Madrone was the highest rated, at 94 points and a Best Buy:
Stuart Smith dry farms over 10 acres of Chardonnay, which he began planting in 1972 on north facing slopes. His brother, Charles, ferments this wine in new French oak barrels, and while the oak is there in the flavors, it doesn’t get in the way. Completely mineral-driven and rooty when first poured, this takes hours of air for the fruit to come forward, a wallop of pear and apple, as if biting into fresh fruit. The structure remains tight, holding the fruit succulence to a quiet shimmer, set to age with grace.
In the magazine’s grouping of California Cabernets, ours was also the highest rated, at 94 points and a Best Buy:
Grown at an elevation of 1,800 feet in weathered volcanic soils, this wine comes off dry-farmed vines that were planted in the early 1970s. They produced a magnificent 2007, a Cabernet in motion, changing and shifting from red scents of strawberries to black fruit (dark plum-skin tannins) and nectarine-like freshness. Aged in new American white oak barrels and bottled unfined and unfiltered, the wine has a coolness that belies its power, feigning an airy openness, the bass note of tannins held to a quiet rumble. Compelling to drink now, this has the stature to age for a decade or more.
The April issue of the Wine Enthusiast also reviewed the Cab and Chardonnay in glowing terms.
An update: we are sold out of the 2011 Riesling and will be releasing the 2012 this fall. We still have some availability of the 2007 Cook’s Flat Reserve.
Sincerely,
Stu Smith & Charles Smith
Smith-Madrone News 