Category: 2010 Chardonnay

2010 Chardonnay is a “brave wine” – read on!

Terroirist captured the essence of the 2010 Chardonnay, with our thanks:

92 points:

The fruit smells honeyed and rich, yet these shaved lime peel, sea shell and peanut brittle notes demand attention as well. It all combines in a beautiful aromatic display. This chardonnay introduces itself by barging through the door, with pineapple, melon, honey, and mixed nuts from the oak. (It spends 8 months in 100% new French oak). But it’s still bright from the acid, which is crucial to have in wines with this kind of intensity. Orange peel, seashell, caramel and hazelnut linger long onto the finish. A brave wine that challenges — and rewards — my palate. I’m kind of in love with it.

http://www.terroirist.com/2013/04/reviews-california-chardonnay/

Enofylz tastes the 2010 Chardonnay

The Chardonnay was delightfully different, and I was surprised it was aged in new oak because the oak manifests itself so judiciously.

2010 Smith-Madrone Chardonnay:  Spring Mountain District: Pale golden yellow color with citrus, peach, spiced oak and a kiss of butterscotch aromas. On the palate it’s medium-bodied, and balanced with vibrant acidity, and peach, lemon, guava, mineral and vanilla flavors. Medium-long finish. 100% Chardonnay, barrel-fermented in 100% new French oak. 703 cases produced. (90 pts.)

http://enofylzwineblog.com/2013/04/11/wine-of-the-week-2011-smith-madrone-riesling-2/

2010 Chardonnay is a great example of…read on!

Our thanks to WineForNormalPeople for reviewing the 2010 Chardonnay:

Color:  Rich brass, darker from the oak aging of the wine
Smell:  Oak, caramel, vanilla, a salty mineral smell, lime, green and red apple, lemon notes.
Taste:  Great acid balances the moderate oak and lush tropical fruit flavors. The wine tasted like pineapple and guava, but also had acidic fruit notes like lemon and lime. There was a good hit of wood, butterscotch and vanilla flavors but the wine had a lot going on so everything was in balance. It was lightly creamy and had a very light mouth drying texture from the oak tannin.

This wine is a great example of a moderately oaky, high acid Chardonnay. A great wine for people seeking balance in their Chardonnay. Very well made wine and GREAT with fish!

http://winefornormalpeople.blogspot.com/2013/03/wine-review-smith-madrone-chard-take-2.html

2010 Chardonnay is ‘one heck of a wine’

Our thanks to Bacchus & Beery for reviewing the 2010 Chardonnay:

A truly crafted Chardonnay with an enchanting nose of baked apples, ripe citrus and even notes of grilled pineapple. Crisp flavors of ripe red apples, caramel and baking spice with subtle notes of oaky vanilla. Add a touch of minerality combined with perfectly balanced acidity and you have one heck of a wine. But one would expect nothing less from the Smith brothers.

http://wine-blog.bacchusandbeery.com/wine-blog/winereview/chardonnay-wine-reviews/smith-madrone-chardonnay-2010/

Snooth reviews the 2010 Chardonnay

92 points. Cool on the nose with a very fine, crisp orchard fruit aroma that is supported by almond butter notes. With good acidity offering a nice mineral wash on entry, this builds to exhibit lovey fruit that once again shows a bit of nutty but not terribly oaky character on the palate.  The finish is clean, focused and mineral-rich with some aromatic, lightly bacon-toned oak notes. The texture is really lovely here, pretty tense with lovely clear apple and lemon fruit that is long, elegant and really quite nuanced. 

March 7, 2013 by Gregory Dal Piaz

 

Bullz-eye on the 2010 Chardonnay

The Smith-Madrone 2010 Chardonnay was made using fruit grown at the estate property on Spring Mountain. The Chardonnay vines were 38 years old at the time of harvest. This wine is 100 percent Chardonnay. It was entirely barrel fermented and aged in all new French oak over a period of 8 months. They produced 703 cases of Chardonnay in the 2010 vintage, and this wine has a suggested retail price of $30. Golden Delicious and Gala apple aromas leap from the rich nose of this 2010 Chardonnay. The palate is studded with pure orchard fruit flavors that include a variety of apples, as well as Anjou pear characteristics. Apple pie and crust spices are present along with a bit of crème fraiche. This beautiful Chardonnay has a lengthy finish laden with spice and minerals. If you’re fond of excellent Chardonnay you’ll have trouble putting the glass down once you taste this one. This is a testament to the balance achieved when fruit is picked properly, oak is used judiciously and balance is achieved. This is a rich, practically luxurious wine, but it’s also incredibly harmonious. For me, there are a handful of Chardonnays in NapaValley that stand above the rest year after year, and the one from Smith-Madrone is in that small circle. This wine simply blows away Chardonnays that are selling for twice the price.  And more at

http://www.bullz-eye.com/wine/reviews/2013/smith_madrone.htm

WineWiseWeb considers the 2010 Chardonnay

A difficult vintage just gives Stu and Charlie a chance to show another facet of what can be extracted from the vineyard with diligence and care. This wine has a nose of vanilla, lemon crème, flint, apple, passion fruit and stony minerality. The palate has a silky entry with flavors of lemon, nut, vanilla well-integrated into a rich, long and elegant package. Food friendly – of course!

Read more: http://www.winewiseweb.com/Site/Tasting_Notes/Entries/2012/12/29_Smith_Madrone_Trio.html