Celebrate the Season with new Cook’s Flat & Chardonnay Releases

 

November 2018   Dear Friends, We’ve just completed an absolutely fabulous harvest. The weather was perfect, the grapes were small and flavorful with great color and chemistry. After several years of very small crops this year’s harvest was abundant. Clearly 2018 will be a vintage of importance. We have new vintages to present! Just in time for the holiday season we are delighted to announce the eagerly awaited release of our 2013 Cook’s Flat Reserve and the 2016 Estate Chardonnay. 2016 Spring Mountain District Estate Chardonnay Charlie, Sam and I agree that this is the best Chardonnay we have ever produced – hands down. It has a full, forward nose with complex notes of toasted hazelnut, white peaches and Meyer lemon. Admirably restrained oak. Beautiful mid-palate that is full and succulent without being the least bit heavy. Superbly integrated acidity. Overall the wine exhibits a remarkable structure that translates to a lip-smacking juiciness. It is delicious now but also has enough backbone to cellar well for ten to fifteen years. From our 7.5 acres of Chardonnay we produced 823 cases of this wine. This equals less than two tons to the acre. As I’m sure you know, all the fruit is grown by us at the winery. The vines are dry-farmed, which means they only get watered by Mother Nature. The wine was 100% barrel fermented in 80% new French oak and aged for 9 months in those barrels. Here is a wine that can compete with the best Chardonnays and white Burgundy that our world can produce. We have raised the price of this elegant wine due to its superior quality and unique vintage as we know the demand for this wine will be high. And of course, we have to keep the doors open.   Secure your Chardonnay here.   2013 Cook’s Flat Reserve The Cook’s Flat Reserve bottling represents the very best of which we are capable in a given year. It can only be made in small quantities and only in a vintage of superior quality. It is the ultimate distillation of our experience and expertise. The wine is a blend of 46% Cabernet Franc, 33% Cabernet Sauvignon and 21% Merlot; the wine spent 19 months in new French oak barrels from the forests of Tronçais, Nevers, and Allier. Charlie, Sam and I agree that this wine is the way great wines are supposed to taste – absolutely delicious. It is seductive, rich, dense and structured. The palate is the definition of ‘seamless,’ where Bordeaux flavors are integrated into the tannins in a velvety progression of power. The full, deep mid-palate offers waves of complexity, with bright acidity keeping the wine lively, focused and distinctly Smith-Madrone. We offer the wine in a 750 ML format and in 1.5L magnums. Magnums or three or six bottle orders will include custom-made wood collectors’ boxes. The boxes will be available this spring and shipped directly to you. Secure your Cook’s Flat here.   Another option: consider ordering some 2015 Riesling or 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon also for your table or cellar. We send you our best wishes for a wonderful holiday season. ________________________________________