Cabernet Sauvignon Reviews

San Francisco Chronicle, Esther Mobley, December 20, 2024

Excellent value

2021 Cabernet Sauvignon

This earthy wine comes from a single estate on Napa Valley’s Spring Mountain, west of St. Helena. It smells like roasted coffee beans and tastes like black cherry.

…an excellent wine at less than $80, below average for Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. In the canon of wine, Napa Valley’s Cabernet Sauvignons are among the greats. But they don’t come cheap. The average price of 2023 Napa Cabs could be around $92 a bottle, based on the prices that wineries paid for grapes last year. Anyone willing to splurge will find no shortage of exceptional Napa Cabernets for $100 and more. But if you know where to look, you can find equally delicious wines for much less than that. The $50-$80 range is a particular sweet spot. Those wines may not satisfy anyone’s definition of inexpensive, but when they’re good, they can represent an excellent value. For wineries like Smith-Madrone the under-$80 wine is the main event; they just haven’t raised their prices as aggressively as some of their neighbors…..a tremendous Napa Valley Cabernet for under $80.


https://www.sfchronicle.com/food/wine/article/cabernet-sauvignon-napa-value-19930282.php

WineReviewOnline, Rich Cook, December 18, 2024

Classic in every sense and a crazy value

2021 Cabernet Sauvignon

97 points: This is a wine that I will leave open on the counter and revisit over the next four to five days, expecting it to continue to open wider and wider on each successive day. Winemaker Charles Smith brings his fifty plus years of experience with Spring Mountain fruit to bear here, and he clearly opts for letting a long haul type of vintage be exactly that. It is classic in every sense, and as it has always been, it is a crazy value. Though you could go in early, I definitely recommend laying this down. If you save birth year wines to celebrate a child’s or grandchild’s achievements twenty plus years up the road, this is just the sort of thing you are looking for. You won’t find another Napa Cabernet of this quality for this price. Contains approximately 18% Cabernet Franc and a dash of Petit Verdot.


https://winereviewonline.com/wine-review/smith-madrone-spring-mountain-district-napa-valley-california-cabernet-sauvignon-2021-65/

Nittany Epicurean, Michael Chelus, December 18, 2024

Good length

2021 Cabernet Sauvignon

The wine showed a dark ruby color. Cherry, raspberry currant, blackberry and oak were each discernible on the nose. Cherry, raspberry preserves, currant and blackberry wrote the foreword to a berry-laden palate followed by the story composed by notes of mossy earth and oak. The wine was full-bodied and exhibited good length along with soft tannins. It would pair very well with a grilled dry-aged ribeye.


https://nittanyepicurean.blogspot.com/2024/12/2021-smith-madrone-estate-cabernet.html

Jonathan Cristaldi, Decanter, October 31, 2024

A testament to mastery....a purity and elegance....

2021 Cabernet Sauvignon

97 points: Drinking Window: 2026-2046. From brothers Stu and Charlie Smith comes their 2021 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon from Spring Mountain, a precise blend of 81.9% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17.7% Cabernet Franc, and 0.4% Petit Verdot. Aged for 18 months in 65% new French oak, with only 1,652 cases produced, this wine showcases the meticulous dry farming of their 15.4-hectare vineyard at a 579-metre elevation, with vines dating back to 1971. The 2021 vintage is yet another testament to their mastery, offering a purity and elegance that define these Cabernets, with impeccable structure for long-term cellaring. In 2021, the tannins are firm, soaring, built like sky-scrapers, yet remarkably well-integrated. The nose offers a beautiful black cherry and red currant potpourri, mingling with pressed wildflowers, sage, capsicum, and tobacco leaf. Juicy plum fruit intertwines with a graphite minerality, and while there’s notable density to the fruit, a fine backbone of crunchy acidity imparts a stunning lightness and lift. Readers seeking Napa Cabernets from the 2021 vintage with serious cellaring potential should consider stocking up on Smith Madrone's offerings, as these '21s are true cellar-worthy gems.


https://www.decanter.com/wine-reviews/usa/california/smith-madrone-cabernet-sauvignon-napa-valley-spring-88799

International Wine Review, December 5, 2024, Don Winkler

Excellent depth of fresh fruit flavor, lovely long finish

2021 Cabernet Sauvignon

93 points: Dark red. Spicy bouquet with black raspberry, cassis, tobacco and a touch of cedar. Excellent depth of fresh fruit flavor and firm acidity on a mouth filling palate. Lovely long finish with round tannins. 82% Cabernet Sauvignon, 18% Cabernet Franc aged 18 months in 65% new French oak. pH 3.56, 14.3% alc. This is a youthful wine so decanting is recommended; aging a couple of years in cellar is also a good idea.


https://i-winereview.com/blog/index.php/2024/12/05/choice-california-cabernet-sauvignon-napa-paso-robles-santa-cruz-mountains/

IsaacJamesBaker, November 7, 2024

Depth and tanginess, beautiful now

2021 Cabernet Sauvignon

94 points: Vibrant purple color. Beautifully deep and complex aromatic display – I get roasted figs, dark plums, black cherries and currants, so tangy and vibrant, along with clay and loam, clove, pepper, creosote, black tea. The palate shows structured but fine-grained tannins, met nicely with bright acidity for a refreshing and balanced appeal. The black and red currant fruit, blueberries, and plum fruit shows depth and tanginess. All sorts of non-fruit nuances are packed in here (charcoal, minerals, cedar, tobacco, mint, black pepper, black tea) but will need time in the cellar to show their full potential. Love the tangy, mineral and earth-laden finish. This is beautiful now but needs some serious TLC (time laying in cellar) to express itself fully. At the price, and given the aging potential, this is a crazy value. Includes some Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, this wine spends18 months in 65% new French oak. 


https://isaacjamesbaker.blogspot.com/2024/11/california-new-releases-cabs-and-chards.html

AdVinetures, Alison & Chris Wallace, December 11, 2024

Approachable and delicious, luxurious mouthfeel but unique structure as a mountain wine

2021 Cabernet Sauvignon

Medium dark red in colour. The aromas reach our noses well above the glass and show cherry, plum and hints of vanilla. The body of this wine is medium+ with grippy tannins that are ripe and not at all bitter. For a young Mountain Cabernet, this is surprisingly approachable. We get flavours of black currant, plum and hints of blueberry. Hints of earth and fallen leaves and complexity and interest. With a bit of swirling secondary notes of cedar box and hints of cassis can be picked up. An approachable and delicious Cabernet Sauvignon (with about 18% Cabernet Franc and a drop of Petit Verdot) that has the luxurious mouthfeel of the top Napa Cabs but the structure that uniquely comes from the mountain vineyards. Other Napa Cabs at this quality level would command at least double this price. Buy by the case! Excellent.


https://advinetures.ca/smith-madrone-vineyards-rooted-in-resilience/

Imbiber's Journal, Steve McIntosh, December 9, 2024

Thumbprint of competence in the cellar

2021 Cabernet Sauvignon

93 points: Going back to the 2013 vintage, each release of this wine I've had the pleasure of sampling shares four qualities: approachability on release, ageworthiness, the indelible thumbprint of competence in the cellar, and the consistent register of Spring Mountain's character. Celebrating its 50th harvest this year, Smith-Madrone does it again. This year's release, the 2021 Smith-Madrone Cabernet Sauvignon Spring Mountain ($65) continues the tradition of the aforementioned qualities with finesse and elegance. Medium bodied and translucent garnet in the glass, the bouquet serves up a walk through a hillside forest: cedar bark, dried rosemary, and even a dab of eucalyptus delicately frame the honest cabernet fruit that is neither ostentatious or restrained. Complex and refined, with seamless tannins and a bit of grip without being aggressive. On day two, it begins to relax a bit, but remain quite poised, suggesting longevity for this fine Cabernet. This wine is a delight to drink and remains one of Napa's treasures, not to mention among its greatest values at a price point that - shockingly, and at odds with most of Napa - has remained unchanged in 5 years. Dry-farmed at around 1,900 above sea level with steep slopes, the vineyards were planted when they founded the winery in 1971.


http://www.imbibersjournal.com/2024/12/a-delight-to-drink-smith-madrone.html

Robb Report, December 2, 2024, Mike DeSimone and Jeff Jenssen

Silky smooth tannins

2019 Cabernet Sauvignon

Smith Madrone was founded in 1971 when brothers Stuart and Charles Smith purchased the land that would house their vineyard and winery. The moniker is a mash up of the brothers’ family name and the Madrone trees that grace the property. Their 2019 Spring Mountain District Cabernet Sauvignon is inky purple with aromas of graphite, violet, and cassis. Silky smooth tannins envelope the palate with flavors of blackberry, red plum, and brown baking spices.


https://robbreport.com/food-drink/wine/gallery/best-napa-valley-cabernet-sauvignon-wines-under-100-dollars-1236010028/heitz_cellar_2018_cabernet_sauvignon_napa_valley_california/

WineSipping, Oded Cohen, December 1, 2024

Spicy and entertaining

2021 Cabernet Sauvignon

Deep ruby in color, almost inky, with a reddish rim. Nose of blueberries, black currants, black plums, light oak, earth, dark chocolates and black pepper. Medium plus in body with medium acidity and long legs. Dry on the palate with black currants, plums, stewed cherries, spices, oak, licorice, chocolates, tobacco, herbs, light earth and peppercorn. Tangy finish with fine grained tannins and sour raspberries. This young Cabernet Sauvignon from Spring Mountain District in Napa Valley is still very young, and needs a few years in the bottle to mature. Fruity and interesting. Spicy and entertaining. Showing nice complexity and mouthfeel. Feels like a Left Bank Bordeaux at this point. Very Interesting. A good quality wine that will continue to age nicely in the next 25 years. Would be nice to revisit it in 5 years. Showing good potential to become a 94+ point wine. Needed 3 hours in the decanter to open up properly.
I’ve had a few vintages of this wine, and it definitely needs time to show its capabilities. A good food wine that will pair nicely with BBQ Meats. 
91 points.


https://winesipping.wordpress.com/2024/12/01/smith-madrone-vineyards-spring-mountain-district-cabernet-sauvignon-2021-napa-valley-california/

Kathleen Willcox, Instagram, November 17, 2021

Iconic...drinking beautifully now...with a gorgeous future ahead...

2021 Cabernet Sauvignon

Smith-Madrone Winery was founded in 1971 by Stuart Smith, with vineyards perched at an elevation of between 1,300 and 2,000 feet on slopes that angle up to … 34%. High elevation, check. Also dry farmed. Chardonnay, Riesling and Cabernet Sauvignon were planted in 1972; Cabernet Franc and Merlot were planted in 1998; Petit Verdot in 2007.

The winery itself sits on top of Spring Mountain, and the estate vineyards unfurl down those steep slopes around it. Stuart paired up slope exposures with wine varieties, i.e. eastern for Riesling, southern and western + flat for Cabernet Sauvignon, north-facing for Chardonnay. The soils are deep-red Aiken Stoney Clay loam of volcanic origin (POW), well-draining, flecked with goodies from the deep geologic past—deep sea radiolarian cherts, limestones, shales …. And rocks as big as Italian race cars.

All of Smith-Madrone wines are made from grapes plucked from their estate vineyards. The Cabernet Sauvignon has become iconic.

The 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon (with a 17.7% dollop of Cabernet Franc, a sprinkle of 0.4% Merlot) is drinking beautifully now, with a gorgeous future ahead. Right now, it’s blackberries, blueberries, red cherries, white flowers, pepper, grippy but not clingy, full-bodied but not lush.

Can’t wait to revisit in a decade.


https://www.instagram.com/p/DCcebtqS9fY/

The Tasting Panel Magazine, Meridith May, January 2025

A plush blend...a spice box of flavor

2021 Cabernet Sauvignon

PUBLISHER’S PICKS: 95 points: Grapes grown on a non-tilled, steep, dry-farmed mountain vineyard create a plush blend of 81.9% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17.7% Cab Franc, and a fraction of Merlot. Aged 18 months in 65% new French oak, it shows black peppered dark plum, green bell pepper, sage, and mint for a spice box of flavor. At mid-point, blue fruit emerges with a noticeable creamy vibrancy and finishes with intensity.



smashed.grapes, November 11, 2024

A really beautiful wine

2021 Cabernet Sauvignon

A really beautiful wine. This newly released wine from Smith-Madrone is a baby but really delicious in its youth. Powerful red and blue fruits on the nose, with a little tobacco and oak. 17.7% cabernet franc that enhances the nose and provides a herbaceous nose in addition to the fruit. This isn’t your typical over concentrated, over oaked Napa cab with a ripping 15+% ABV. This 2021 Cabernet comes in at a perfect 14.3 ABV with medium weight on the palate. The tannins are present but not over powering and a nice acidity to balance everything out. Perfect cab to drink now or lay down for some years. Thankful I ordered a few because these will improve and cruise in the cellar. This is the real deal and an absolute steal at $65. Truly respect these brothers, the quality of their wines, and commitment to fair pricing in a world of Napa cabs that are increasingly unattainable to the everyday consumer. Bravo and cheers to another great vintage.


https://www.instagram.com/p/DCDnOc4NBio/

Isaac James Baker, isaacjamesbaker.com, November 7, 2024

Beautifully deep and complex...this is beautiful now...a crazy value

2021 Cabernet Sauvignon

Folks don’t seem to agree on much these days. There’s a lot of division out there. But I like to think the vast majority of wine-consuming Americans can agree on this – California Cabernet and Chardonnay are great. They’re classics for a reason. And this week I’m focusing on some new releases from well-known California producers that deliver. Most of the wines are widely-available, and there’s a lot of value in here as well. And, these days, that matters a lot.

94 points: Vibrant purple color. Beautifully deep and complex aromatic display – I get roasted figs, dark plums, black cherries and currants, so tangy and vibrant, along with clay and loam, clove, pepper, creosote, black tea. The palate shows structured but fine-grained tannins, met nicely with bright acidity for a refreshing and balanced appeal. The black and red currant fruit, blueberries, and plum fruit shows depth and tanginess. All sorts of non-fruit nuances are packed in here (charcoal, minerals, cedar, tobacco, mint, black pepper, black tea) but will need time in the cellar to show their full potential. Love the tangy, mineral and earth-laden finish. This is beautiful now but needs some serious TLC (time laying in cellar) to express itself fully. At the price, and given the aging potential, this is a crazy value. Includes some Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, this wine spends18 months in 65% new French oak.


https://isaacjamesbaker.blogspot.com/2024/11/california-new-releases-cabs-and-chards.html

Michael Kelly, CaliforniaWinesandWineries, November 5, 2024

Intense flavor and more

2021 Cabernet Sauvignon

A dichotomy as defined by Cambridge Dictionary is “a difference between two completely opposite ideas or things”. This was the case with this Smith-Madrone Cabernet Sauvignon, fragrant, fruit forward and soft going into the palate, yet once there, burst forth with intense flavor and brute strength and enjoyable tannins a wonderful surprise. This wine is the first Cabernet Sauvignon vintage since the Glass Fire in 2020 during which they produced no Cabernet Sauvignon. On the eyes a deep penetrating purple and crimson coloring. In the glass medium to medium heavy viscosity. Then on the nose fresh red cherries burst in the olfactory senses with a bramble scent. Once on the palate, luscious and impactful red berries filled the mouth with a soft caressing flavor with a secondary note of blueberries and light vanilla pipe tobacco. Expecting a soft and abbreviated finish, this is where the dichotomy came forth. Strong bold tannins showed the pedigree of this vineyard with their jagged tannins. This is why I believe this youthful wine will appreciate and improve with aging over the next 10 years.

The wine is a blend of 81.9% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17.7% Cabernet Franc and .4% Petit Verdot. It was barrel aged 18 months in 65% new French oak. 1,652 cases were produced, and the retail price is $65/bottle. For a Spring Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon this is perhaps one of the best bargains in Napa Valley!

Paired this evening with a ribeye steak seared on the BBQ at 1500 degrees and served medium to medium rare. Accompanied by roasted quartered and seasoned potatoes and steamed broccoli. Also a wonderful baby spinach salad was prepared with Bartlett pear slices, bacon and Point Reyes crumbled blue cheese. A homemade balsamic dressing was drizzled on the salad. Here is where the Smith-Madrone shined with its fruit forwardness making it a wonderful flavor to the BBQ steak and yet strong and bold enough with tannins to “cut through” the meat to make it a delightful meal.

 

 


https://californiawinesandwineries.com/2024/11/05/2021-smith-madrone-cabernet-sauvignon-a-dichotomy/

Alder Yarrow, Vinography, November 2, 2024

Fantastic balance and excellent acidity

2021 Cabernet Sauvignon

This offers a wonderfully juicy expression of mountainside Cabernet in a stellar vintage for an almost ridiculously low price in this day and age of $300 Napa wines…Dark garnet in the glass, this wine smells of cherry, sweet oak, and green herbs. In the mouth, gorgeous black cherry and blackcurrant flavors mix with chopped green herbs, sweet toasted oak, and a hint of tobacco. Fine-grained tannins coat the mouth, and flex their muscles over time. Fantastic balance and excellent acidity. The oak is fairly well integrated at the moment, but in 3-4 years this wine will truly be singing. 


https://www.vinography.com/2024/11/vinography-unboxed-week-of-10-27-24

Philip Kuo, The Wine Guys, October 31, 2024

Classic Napa...one of the great values on Spring Mountain

2021 Cabernet Sauvignon

94 points. Double decanted 8 hours. Red florals, cherries, raspberries, peppercorns, licorice, earth, tobacco and graphite. Lots of aromatic fruit up front with a smooth mid-palate, and a tinge of tartness. Layered spice and earth undertones give way to a rustic dusty-tannin finish. Continues to drink excellent across day two and three, built for the long haul. A nod to the old world in style but undeniably still classic Napa. Year after year this remains one of the great values on Spring Mountain that really gives you a sense of place. 



Joe Czerwinski, The Wine Advocate, October 17, 2024

Classic Spring Mountain Cabernet

2021 Cabernet Sauvignon

93+ points: Marked on the nose by subtle herb and floral notes, the cherry-scented 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon is medium to full-bodied in the mouth, framed by firm tannins that promise a long evolution. Thankfully, the tannins are ripe and silky on the finish, where that dusty quality is joined by attractive hints of licorice. It's a classic Spring Mountain Cab, capable of 20 years of cellaring.


https://www.robertparker.com/wines/F7i3B2uN99adnRiG5/smith-madrone-cabernet-sauvignon-2021

Ellen Landis, EllenOnWine, September 30, 2024

Full-bodied and complex with a velvety texture

2019 Cabernet Sauvignon

 Deep, dark fruit and fresh-turned earth on the nose awaken the senses, paving the way to a sumptuous, well-defined, multilayered palate. Black currant, spice-dusted plum chutney, crushed tobacco leaf, tinges of leather, and finely managed oak are beautifully framed by a firm backbone of tannins, and the balancing acidity is spot on. Full-bodied and complex with a velvety texture and an unforgettable, everlasting finish. Approachable now, yet ageworthy, if you have the patience to wait.


https://ellenonwine.com/ellen-on-wine/tcn12mxtfrpbuklghsxczwrznqvkhe-7blkd

Kara Daly, WineIsConfusing, August 28, 2024

Hiding under the ripe fruit was a lavender-garrigue thing, and we love a lavender-garrigue thing

2019 Cabernet Sauvignon

I was sent this bottle a while ago and I waited ‘til one of the hottest July days to open it. Why? I was in the mood. Just goes to show, weather need not always dictate your wine. I took refuge in my air-conditioned kitchen and poured a glass of this deep garnet. Stewed plum, eucalyptus, dark chocolate and strawberry smells. Halfway through sipping, the wine started to decant in the glass and morph before my nose. This is one of those moments I love, when a new aroma pops its head and goes HAY—it’s really magical. Notorious for not being able to identify an aroma, I sat wondering over this for some time. Eventually, I landed on herbs de Provence, and a proper rifle through my spice cabinet confirmed that hiding under the ripe fruit was a lavender-garrigue thing, and we love a lavender-garrigue thing.


https://wineisconfusing.substack.com/p/mixed-bag-drinking-in-my-kitchen

Gabe Sasso, Substack, August 19, 2024

Best Cabernet in Napa...a genuine wine, reflective of its vineyard....selling for an amazing price

2019 Cabernet Sauvignon

Drive around Napa for a short while and you’ll quickly understand that Cabernet Sauvignon is the king. When you walk into nearly any winery tasting room, there are more and more Cabernets on offer than ever before. In some instances, the array of different Cabernets is quite simply dazzling. So much so, that you’ll be forgiven if you miss the fact that there are less and less wines that are not Cabernet Sauvignon on offer. Look at the planted acres that are marked, Cabernet, Cabernet, Cabernet. This isn’t fresh news, but it’s increasingly true as time marches on. Cabernet Sauvignon can command big scores and big scores command big dollars. Plenty of wineries are chasing both. And hey, commerce has to be part of the equation for it to work. To be fair, it’s worth noting Cabernet produces some of the best wines on earth. But the monoculture we’re seeing with a nearly singular focus on Cabernet, specifically in Napa, is over the top in my view. Especially when you consider how well certain other grapes thrive there too. The more salient part of the issue is that many of the producers chasing scores are crafting wines to hit a particular profile, not necessarily to bottle what’s most reflective of their vineyards. But then we come to my personal favorite Napa winery, Smith-Madrone. Their portfolio is comprised of three core wines that are out in the marketplace, and a couple of smaller production wines available directly through them. Their core is Riesling, Chardonnay, and Cabernet Sauvignon. In my view, all things considered, it’s the best Cabernet Sauvignon in Napa. It's 85 % Cabernet and the balance Cabernet Franc (12%), and Merlot (3%). Just more than 1,500 cases were bottled, and that represents their largest production wine, but just by a few hundred cases. As with their Riesling and Chardonnay which I covered recently, the Cabernet Sauvignon is truly reflective of its place in the world. It’s clearly Spring Mountain fruit from Napa. Black raspberry aromas are the first sign of the dark fruit that defines this Cabernet Sauvignon from first whiff, to last sip. Minerals and earth notes are at play too. The finish is long and refreshing. Drink this Cabernet now or lay it down for a decade or more. In either case, when you open it you’ll be pleased. Bottom line, that’s a damn good glass of Cabernet Sauvignon.

Stu Smith, who along with his brother Charlie have run the winery for over 50 years, once told me, “that they like to price their wines at the high end of drinkability.” In short they want you to enjoy these wines with your meals and your life. A lot of producers are chasing big scores and trophy wines. I’m sure Stu and Charlie appreciate good scores too, but their overriding goal, has always seemed to me, to be growers of good, and genuine wines, reflective of their property. It’s pretty obvious when you taste the wines, they’re nailing those goals. $65, for the level of quality in the bottle is a steal. So to recap: genuine wine, reflective of its vineyard, made in comparatively low quantities ready to drink now and worthy of aging, selling for an amazing price relative to its local competition. So yes, for all of those reasons Smith-Madrone consistently produces Napa’s best Cabernet Sauvignon. That’s a hill (maybe mountain) I’m ready to plant a flag on.


https://smithmadrone.wordpress.com/

CaliforniaWinesandWineries, Michael Kelly, August 17, 2024

Absolute stellar Cabernet Sauvignon

2019 Cabernet Sauvignon

The first thing that comes to mind, besides the actual wine is the price of $65/bottle! I have not found a comparable wine at this price from Napa Valley. This is an absolute bargain and should not be overlooked. When popping the cork and smelling it, I knew this was going to be an exquisite treat! Can’t remember getting such a beautiful aroma from any cork. Once poured into the glass, the coloring was a deep dark black coloring with dark red hues on the edges. On the nose, blackberry and dark cherries greeted the imbiber not only with fruit but with a classic Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon of days long gone by going back to the Napa Valley roots. On the palate, the fruit swirled about like a tropical storm in the mouth, the deep dark colored fruits conjoined with cedar, light oak, minerality and earthiness to create a layered and intense flavor. On the finish, a light vanilla scent and anise accompanied with soft leather were dominant. The tannins were gripping but did not hold the overall experience hostage.  An absolute stellar Cabernet Sauvignon. So it is understandable why this wine will make my annual Best Wines tasted during the year. This list comes out each December and represents 2-3% of the wines reviewed.


https://californiawinesandwineries.com/2024/08/17/2019-smith-madrone-cabernet-sauvignon-an-exceptional-wine-at-a-remarkable-price/

Dan Berger, Napa Valley Features, August 8, 2024

Exceptional

2019 Cabernet Sauvignon

The aroma here is classic 1970s Napa Valley, particularly with the overwhelming complexities that add to the first and most powerful scent — dark fruit, cassis, blackberry and even a trace of loganberry. There also are traces of dried herbs, aged pipe tobacco and tree-ripened olives. In short, it is complex, which stands to reason since it is already 5 years old and still in perfect condition for aging. This producer has always made exceptional wines, including an alluring, food-friendly chardonnay and an off-dry riesling that develops beautifully in the bottle. I have enjoyed this cabernet for decades because it almost always has a sprightliness and a vitality based on modest alcohols (this is just over 14%) and bright acidity. There is a trace of oak, but it is well under the line. I have varying vintages of this wine dating back to 1989, a year some people disparaged, but with beautiful mountain-grown fruit, this producer made a brilliant wine. Given the ridiculous prices of so many cabernets from Napa that simply do not stand the test of time, Smith-Madrone’s version is a relative bargain.


https://napavalleyfocus.substack.com/p/dan-bergers-wine-chronicles-less

Jonathan Cristaldi, Decanter, June 12, 2022

One of the most structured, classic expressions of the Spring Mountain AVA

2019 Cabernet Sauvignon

93 points: brothers Stu and Charles Smith craft some of the most structured, classic expressions of the Spring Mountain AVA, and the 2019 is no exception. Subtle dark berry fruit, wild mountains herbs and a pretty capsicum nose. Full-bodied, the palate has ample acidity and freshness, revealing green tobacco, blackcurrant, earth and crushed stone minerality. Drinking Window: 2024 - 2050.


https://www.decanter.com/wine-reviews/usa/california/smith-madrone-cabernet-sauvignon-napa-valley-spring-61723

Clive Pursehouse, Decanter, April 1, 2024

May be the best value in the entire Napa Valley

2019 Cabernet Sauvignon

95 points: The classic Cabernet from Smith-Madrone may be the best value in the entire Napa Valley at $65. Old World elegance is ever present, along with a generosity of fruit balanced with great savoury herbs and streaking graphite minerality. Aromas of wild anise, pine bough and dried sage rise in the glass, framing dark mountain blueberries and a touch of pomegranate pulp. The palate is classically cool, medium-weight, and lively with an old-school Napa authenticity. Alpine berry fruits, spearmint and earthen umami elements combine with smoky clove and wild mountain scrub, framing a sense of place and mountain terroir from the dry-farmed vines at Smith-Madrone. Drinking window: 2024 - 2044.


https://www.decanter.com/wine-reviews/usa/california/smith-madrone-cabernet-sauvignon-napa-valley-spring-61723
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