Smith-Madrone Vineyards and Winery

Smith-Madrone Vineyards and Winery is a Napa Valley winery founded in 1971 by Stuart Smith. The name Smith-Madrone comes from the madrone trees among the estate.

Vineyards

Smith-Madrone is located in the Spring Mountain District in the Napa Valley Appellation. The estate is a 200 acre ranch, planted partly as vineyards over a century ago. Stu Smith acquired the land soon after graduating from UC Davis. It sits at 1,600 to 1,800 ft. elevation at the top of Spring Mountain amid fir and madrona. Some of the vines are planted on slopes angling over 30 degrees. There are 6.25 acres of Riesling, 10.25 acres of Chardonnay, 13 acres of Cabernet Sauvignon, 1 acre of Cabernet Franc and 3.75 acres of Merlot.

Wines

Smith-Madrone's current varietals are Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, and Riesling. Stuart's brother Charles Smith is the winemaker. Charles joined the winery in 1973. Production of the first vintage was in 1977. There are less than 5,000 cases released each year.

Smith-Madrone is most known for its benchmark Riesling, "one of the most coveted California Rieslings" [Bonne', Jon. "Napa Off the Map", "Napa Valley Register", 2007-09-07] , and was voted "The Best Riesling in the World" by the Gault-Millau International Wine Championships in Europe in 1979. The Smith-Madrone Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay have also won several gold medals at various wine fairs across California such as the San Francisco International Wine Fair and Critic’s Challenge [http://criticschallenge.com/home.cfm] .

References

- Bonne', Jon. "Napa Off the Map", "Napa Valley Register", 2007-09-07
- cite web |author=Boyd, Gerald D.|title=Smith Aims for Consistency, Not Volume |publisher=San Francisco Chronicle |date=2001-3-14 |work=SF Gate |url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2001/03/14/FD190815.DTL |accessdate=2008-09-01
- cite web |author=Kramer, Matt|title=Mountain Climbing |publisher=Wine Spectator|date=2003-5-15 |work=Wine Spectator Online|url=http://www.winespectator.com/Wine/Archives/Show_Article/0,1275,4109,00.html |accessdate=2008-08-30
- cite web |author=Kramer, Matt|title=My Wines of the Year |publisher=Wine Spectator|date=2003-12-31 |work=Wine Spectator Online|url=http://www.winespectator.com/Wine/Archives/Show_Article/0,1275,4482,00.html |accessdate=2008-08-30

External links

* http://criticschallenge.com/home.cfm

* http://smithmadrone.com/

* http://www.calwineries.com/explore/wineries/smith-madrone

* http://wine.appellationamerica.com/vineyard/Smith-Madrone_Vineyards_%26_Winery.html