Jameson Fink interviews Stu for his podcast—wine as ephemeral art and more

Smith-Madrone: Stu Smith on Wine and the Ephemeral Sense of Art

By Jameson Fink, March 4, 2015

Post-Symposium for Professional Wine Writers, all I wanted to do was eat tacos and drink cocktails. And guzzle beer. But I am very glad I took a trip up to the top of Napa Valley’s Spring Mountain to visit Smith-Madrone. A few months prior, I’d had the wines–a Chardonnay, Cabernet, and Riesling–sent to me and was mightily impressed. So I put down my High Life and jumped at the chance to visit the winery (1,900 feet up!) on a beautiful sunny day. Before I sat down to (a graciously hosted) lunch with founders (and brothers) Stu and Charles Smith, I had a great chat with Stu while Charles kept an eye on the winery.

Learn all about Smith-Madrone, founded in 1971, on this episode of the Wine Without Worry podcast. (And, hey, you can subscribe on iTunes). Some of the questions contemplated and answered: Why is Cabernet from Spring Mountain, as opposed to the Napa Valley floor, distinct? How is President Chester A. Arthur involved in this story? What did the property look like in the early 1970s? Was the winery almost named Smith-Poison Oak? Also: Napa Valley…Riesling?

http://jamesonfink.com/smith-madrone-stu-smith-wine-ephemeral-sense-art/

Author: corkingnapa

Julie Ann Kodmur is a second-generation Californian who was born in San Francisco and grew up in La Jolla. As an eighth grader she was the runner-up in the state spelling bee. She’s lived in Italy and New York and now lives in the Napa Valley with her family. She is a marketing and publicity consultant in the wine industry. Her business life can be seen at http://www.julieannkodmur.com. This is the home for the overflow. The ‘title’ is a reference to a sculpture honoring an Argentinean journalist who practiced his craft in the 1930s before literally dying for his words. No such drama here, just hopefully some provocative fun.

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