Riesling Reviews

Santa Rosa Press Democrat, Peg Melnik, November 14, 2018

Impressive, pitch perfect balance

2015 Riesling

This complex riesling has layered notes of papaya, petrol and honeysuckle. It’s nice and dry, with bright acidity. Pitch perfect balance. Impressive.

https://www.pressdemocrat.com/lifestyle/8935952-181/wine-of-the-week-carlisle?ref=related

Grape-Experiences, Cindy Rynning, October 11, 2018

True expression of terroir

2015 Riesling

Thanks to consistency in quality, I’ll always keep wines from Smith-Madrone Vineyards on my go-to list. Offering a unique surprise in each sip, the Smith-Madrone Riesling 2015 presented aromas of stone fruit, juicy peaches, and tropical fruit. Full bodied and balanced, the glorious dry Riesling burst with intense, broad, and racy notes of orchard fruit, herbs, and mouthwatering acidity. Lean but not bone dry, the finish was persistent and absolutely delightful with elements of minerality and citrus. The Smith-Madrone Riesling 2015, fermented in stainless steel, was not blended with other varietals and did not experience malolactic fermentation or lees stirring. A true expression of terroir? You bet! A Riesling from Napa? This is one of the best surprises you’ll have! Only 685 cases were made.

http://www.grape-experiences.com/2018/10/new-releases-favorite-producers/

St. Helena Star, Catherine Bugue, September 25, 2018

A depth of aromas

2015 Riesling

Peel away the layers of a wine, and you’ll often find that the people behind the label are one of the most intriguing parts of the story. What brought the vintners or growers to this point? What luck or derailments have they experienced along the way? Stu and Charlie Smith have volumes to tell; they’ve been on Spring Mountain since the early 1970s. Armed with Berkeley degrees, they combine smarts with a no-nonsense approach, and make wines, like this Riesling, that don’t just show deliciously attractive fruit, but a depth of aromas that reveal themselves slowly and seductively in the glass. Put this Riesling next to many others, and you’ll see the difference. Even Germany, the quintessential home of the Riesling grape, recently purchased a pallet of Smith Madrone Riesling! For parts of their story, visit smithmadrone.com. To experience their "salt-of-the-earth" character and incredible line-up of wines, you’ll need to make an appointment and head up the hill.

https://napavalleyregister.com/community/star/lifestyles/wine-of-the-week-smith-madrone-riesling-spring-mountain/article_35b0cfac-7dcd-5cb4-a484-d1966739f9f0.html

Santa Rosa Press Democrat, September 19, 2018, Peg Melnik

Pitch perfect balance

2015 Riesling

This complex riesling has layered notes of papaya, petrol and honeysuckle. It’s nice and dry, with bright acidity. Pitch perfect balance. Impressive.

https://www.pressdemocrat.com/lifestyle/8741043-181/wine-of-the-week-husch

Santa Rosa Press Democrat, Linda Murphy, September 11, 2018

Incredible ripe fruitiness...and bracing acidity

2015 Riesling

There is an incredible ripe fruitiness to this wine — white peach, apricot, citrus and orange marmalade — for such a lean alcohol level. Bracing acidity balanced the fruit bowl.

There is an incredible ripe fruitiness to this wine — white peach, apricot, citrus and orange marmalade — for such a lean alcohol level. Bracing acidity balanced the fruit bowl.

The Wine Guys, Philip Kuo, September 11, 2018

94 points: the measuring stick for California Riesling

2015 Riesling

94 points: Every year, there comes a wine from Spring Mountain that is consistently an insane steal of a value and to us, one of if not the finest domestic Riesling around. Notes of white peach, crushed rock, yellow apple, honey, citrus peel, jasmine, lime and subtle spice. Refreshing and crisp palate, super clean, the acidity and minerality really sing. Well balanced, not overly sweet, just purity and freshness that rings throughout. Absolutely beautiful and the measuring stick of California Riesling. Enjoy now over the next 20+ years. 

https://www.instagram.com/p/BnkXehpANuf/?taken-by=thewineguys

BiggerThanYourHead, Frederic Koeppel, August 13, 2018

Excellent...vibrates with racy nervosity

2015 Riesling

The Smith-Madrone Vineyards Riesling 2015 is made from dry-farmed vines high atop Spring Mountain, west of the city of St. Helena in the central Napa Valley. Seeing no oak, the wine practically vibrates with racy nervosity and a scintillating limestone and flint element. A light straw-gold hue, it offers delicate aromas of peach, lychee and pear wreathed with notes of jasmine and honeysuckle and the true varietal character of slightly oily petrol, a quality sometimes referred to as rubber eraser; a few moments in the glass bring in hints of apple and lime peel. This one feels chiseled in its lovely, chiming tone and presence on the palate, delivering crystalline clarity of peach and spiced pear flavors driving through to a bracing, slightly saline finish pointed by a touch of grapefruit bitterness. 12.6 percent alcohol. Production was 685 cases. Enticing now, this superior riesling will drink best from 2020 through 2030. Excellent.

http://biggerthanyourhead.net/2018/08/12/wine-of-the-day-no-420/

Fred Swan, August 11, 2018

Substantial complexity

2015 Riesling

There’s substantial complexity to this wine both aromatically and in the mouth. Look for white flowers, under-ripe nectarine, pineapple, lemon-lime slate and a faint note of kerosene. The flavors are very long, more intense than the nose and carried alternately by waves of acidity and super-fine, brushed suede texture. Drink now though 2030.

As they stuck with Riesling, Smith-Madrone has also stood by their original winery building, traditional winemaking approach, and producing wines that are about balance and drinking pleasure, rather than impact and opacity. This is expected of Riesling, but applies equally to the Smith-Madrone Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon-based wines.

Like their Cabernet Sauvignon, Smith-Madrone Riesling ages beautifully. A recent seminar I conducted highlighted this fact. Part of my educational conference for wine writers (Wine Writers' Educational Tour) held this past May in Napa Valley), the session brought together five of the valley’s modern legends of winemaking and viticulture to discuss the past 50 years in Napa and pour both current releases and library wines. Most participants brought Cabernet Sauvignon, which were all excellent. But Stu brought his 2015 and 2008 Rieslings; the writers fell in love.

http://www.fredswan.wine/2018/08/11/smith-madrone-cabernet-riesling-chardonnay/

Vinography, Alder Yarrow, August 4, 2018

Best ever, exceptionally well-balanced and exciting

2015 Riesling

Let's start with the reliably excellent Riesling from Smith-Madrone, who have thumbed their noses at the world for decades and made Riesling from the slopes of Spring Mountain, where everyone else would be growing Cabernet. The wine is usually excellent, but I do think this is the best it's ever tasted on release. Pale gold in the glass, this wine smells of Asian pear and wet chalkboard and a touch of paraffin. In the mouth, Asian pear, lemon zest, and tangerine juice flavors are zippy with excellent acidity. Clean crisp, with a nice wet chalkboard minerality. This wine is always excellent, but the 2015 strikes me as exceptionally well balanced and exciting. 

 

http://www.vinography.com/archives/2018/08/vinography_unboxed_week_of_729.html

GoodVitis, July 9, 2018

Another brilliant vintage

2015 Riesling

This is the inaugural edition of Try this Wine, a series we hope to make regular on the website. You can’t know more than you taste, and knowledge is what builds a palate, so exploration is key to developing an appreciation for wine. Each edition will spotlight a wine that we believe has, whether we happen to like it or not, a compelling reason or two for people to try. Some of the wines will be harder to find and/or more expensive than others, but the one theme that will be constant is our belief that the wines we feature will improve your appreciation for wine. At the bottom of each Try this Wine post, you’ll find a list of places to purchase the wine.

Most wine drinkers aren’t going to like the Smith-Madrone riesling because they don’t like riesling, or so they think. “It’s too sweet” is the variety’s reputation, and the industry hasn’t done much to help itself in this regard. People see the grape and think ‘sweet’ and there’s nothing, except the occasional demi-sec or sec label (which doesn’t mean anything to most people anyways) to clue them in to the reality. Smith-Madrone’s 2015 riesling carries 0.68% residual sugar, which is for all intents and purposes a dry wine. But you wouldn’t know it from the label.

The other thing you wouldn’t know from the label, unless you knew the winery’s reputation already, is how good it is. The rieslings with the most widespread and greatest reputations aren’t grown in the United States, but I’d put money on a few domestics to place well in a Judgment of Paris styled event in Alsace or Wachau. Good Vitis hosted a blind tasting of thirty-two American rieslings with a couple of esteemed wine professionals about a year ago. All of us were more impressed than we expected with the overall quality, and super impressed with a handful of them, including Smith-Madrone. Stu Smith, a General Partner and winemaker at Smith-Madrone, dropped in and tasted with us, nervously hoping his wine would show well. It did.

There are a couple of things that combine to make riesling a special grape like no other. The versatility of the grape is, I would argue, without peers. It can be grown in so many different soils and climates, it’s remarkable. It also picks up terroir as well as any grape, and better than most. Multiply its ability to grow in so many different places by its ability to represent each unique location and you end up with a massive range of differences. With its racy acid, focus and complexity, riesling is also an incredibly versatile and nimble partner of food. On top of that, it ages gracefully and for decades (when grown and made to do so). In the collateral sent with the Smith-Madrone sample, Stu writes that “we think this will have a lifespan of 20-30 years” and there’s no doubt that he is right. The best-made riesling in Germany and Austria is known to gain complexity over decades and decades. Stu’s been making riesling long enough to know, when he says his will go twenty to thirty years, that it will do so while improving.

When you have a really good riesling, it’s impossible to objectively say there is better wine in the world. The kicker is, the best riesling is outrageously cheap by the standard of any other variety that can come close to riesling’s quality. You have to search far and wide to find a riesling that will cost you, off the shelf, over $100, or even $50. For a third of that ($32), you can get the 2015 Smith-Madrone, and it just might be the best $32 white wine you’ll find, and a wine that’s far better than many other varieties costing significantly more.

They ferment it in stainless, and keep it there through clarification, aging and filtration. It’s 100% riesling that is kept from going through malolactic fermentation and gets no lees stirring. This is all to say, it’s really well-grown estate riesling from a really great mountain site that showcases terroir and talent. Stu boasts of “a proud history with this varietal, from our very first vintage. That 1977 vintage won the Riesling Competition of the 1979 Wine Olympics, a tasting organized in Paris by the food and wine guide Gault & Millau.” Bring on The Germans and Austrians.

Tasting note: What a wonderful nose with elevated florals, dried apricot, tangerine, wet stones, chalk, margarita salt and white peach. Medium in weight, the acid is racy with a lush texture. The ripe flavors hit on tangerine, yellow peach, lime, rhubarb and tobiko. The finish goes for ages. Another brilliant vintage of this stuff, the 2015 should have a brilliant fifteen to twenty year lifespan, at least. 92 points, value A.

https://goodvitis.com/try-this-wine-2015-smith-madrone-riesling/

BriscoeBites, June 29, 2018, Stacy Briscoe

People who've been working to understand the land for decades

2015 Riesling

So, not too long ago I voiced my frustration with California — or “new world” in general — Riesling. I feel like the majority of us have a stigma surrounding German Riesling, stereotyping it much like Gewürztraminer as a sweet wine. This is not without its merit, as the country is technically known for that style of white wine, but it’s because they were (originally) catering to the palate of the American demographic. And, so, I don’t know if it’s because of that Rhine region interpretation of our tastes, or our initial misunderstanding of our California terroir, but it seems like a lot of American Riesling were, up until a point, created with sweetness in mind. Well thank goodness that this seems to be dissipating. California, even just within the last 10 to 20 years has seemed to develop a new understanding of terroir in regards to what grapes grow best in which areas. So, Riesling from Napa? I don’t believe I’ve had it before. And I, of course, had some doubts and hesitations. But that being said, Smith-Madrone has quality wines made by people who’ve been working to understand the land for decades. So, if Smith-Madrone says Napa Riesling, then I am, without a doubt, tasting Napa Riesling. Here we go…

About the Wine: The Smith Madrone 2015 Riesling is made from 100% Riesling grapes harvested from the Smith-Madrone estate vineyards located in the Spring Mountain AVA of Napa Valley. 12.9% ABV

Flavor Profile: Open the bottle of the Smith Madrone 2015 Riesling and breathe in strong scents of canned peaches or fruit cocktail. This Riesling presents a beige-y yellow on the pour and in the glass and sparkles like the glittering pointillism of summertime sand. Initial aromas are of honey, soft nuts, and water lily perfume. Swirl and find heightened tropical notes of pineapple pith, coconut, elderflower, along with a subtle acidity in the form of citrus zest.

The palate of the Smith Madrone 2015 Riesling is light, bright, with a sharp acidity and a background of texture. The finish is a simultaneous tart and sour lingering one. Dominant flavors are of underripe yellow peach, apricot skins, agave nectar, and lime juice.

Food Pairing: I paired the Smith Madrone 2015 Riesling with a panini: roasted ham with caramelized onion and pear, topped with Swiss cheese. Perfect perfect perfect pairing. Also, I highly recommend this sammy. I loved how the decadence of the cheese paired with the sharpness and the overall refreshing nature of the wine. Meanwhile the salty-sweetness of the onion perfectly complemented the fruit components of the wine and the savory ham, which was roasted with rosemary, pulled out those floral aromatics.

 

http://briscoebites.com/smith-madrone-riesling/#more-68278

WineReviewOnline, Rich Cook, June 26, 2018

95 points...among the best wines in the world vintage after vintage

2015 Riesling

Smith-Madrone, Spring Mountain District (Napa Valley, California) Riesling 2015 ($32):  I never do this, but in this case I think it’s appropriate to throw some numbers at you. 12.6% alcohol (you can drink more of me) and 3.03 pH (you won’t get tired of me).  Those are numbers that will make you think you’re in some other part of the world, because they occur in only a small handful of wines from California.  The Smith brothers make legacy Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay, but this might be their best wine, and it’s certainly among the best wines in the world vintage after vintage.  This time around, it’s all about fresh lemon, lime, tangerine and white flowers that soar on an updraft of stony minerality, leaving you refreshed and ready for more -- more appetizers, more wine, more pleasure.  That pleasure promises to increase with extended bottle age.  This will easily outlive just about your entire collection -- thirty years isn’t out of the question.  Now that’s a number you can be impressed by!   

http://winereviewonline.com/wine_reviews.cfm

Winethropology, Steve McIntosh, June 25, 2018

Really darn good

2015 Riesling

The best rieslings I’ve ever had all share a juxtaposition in common - each of their qualities, when looked examined individually, appear incongruous and disjointed as a collection. Yet in the glass they mysteriously assemble into something irresistible and enjoyable. Such is the case with this bottling made of 100% dry-farmed riesling from Napa (and you thought they just grew cab and chard there!) 

This Smith-Madrone is like a bracing dip into a refreshing pool. A steely, slightly funky nose speeds into an iridescent, Granny Smith-aromatic palate framed by zingy, bright, electric fruit, and crisp energy.  The acidic vigor and clean finish all add up to smiles followed by refills. Fun to drink and really darn good.

http://www.winethropology.com/2018/06/smiles-in-bottle-smith-madrone-riesling.html

Sunset Magazine, Marin Preske, June 2018

An enlightening match

2015 Riesling

Teske

 

As a sommelier who works at NoMad in Los Angeles, I spend a lot of time matching up wine with items from a fine-dining menu. Certain wines are known to elevate particular ingredients, of course—think of Muscadet and oysters, Sauternes and foie gras, and Cabernet paired with a juicy steak. It’s also thrilling what a little effervescence can do to a dish. But I’ll be honest: I don’t come from the school of thought that there are rules for eating and drinking. And considering that the West yields some of the country’s most sought-after delicacies, from seafood to cheese, why not pair this culinary bounty with wines from resident vintners producing intriguing sips from esoteric grapes?

As with any great couple, you can easily discern why two elements work well together. A fruit-forward wine can enhance the savory or earthy components in a dish that might otherwise be subdued by others (think Pinot Noir and mushrooms); meanwhile, a glass of something with lifted acidity can cleanse the mouth after a rich bite and make you want to keep going back for more (imagine a crisp rosé with a buttery grilled cheese). Not every meal demands a perfect marriage. But it’s gratifying to discover a brilliant combination that enhances the experience of enjoying something delectable. Here are five of the region’s epicurean standouts with eclectic wine recommendations that go well beyond
 the usual suspects.

Sea Urchin: Once rarely seen outside of sushi restaurants and more often exported straight to Japan, sea urchin (aka uni) has become one of the most popular mollusks on menus no matter if they are French, Italian, or California-focused. With a flavor that’s a distinctive mix of briny, sweet, and buttery, the sea creatures are harvested off the coast near Santa Barbara. One of the most enlightening matches I’ve had was sea urchin pasta with a glass of off-dry Riesling. The uni had melted into the spaghetti strands, coating them in a creamy saline sauce, and the wine lent just a hint of sweetness. I’ve been trying to re-create the contrast of flavors ever since and would attempt again with a bottle of Smith-Madrone Riesling 2014 (Spring Mountain District, Napa Valley).

 

https://www.sunset.com/food-drink/wine-drinks/unusual-wine-pairings

Tasting Panel Magazine, Meridith May, June 2018

Impressive...both lush and lean

2015 Riesling

Stuart Smith planted the original Riesling vines in 1971 on the steep, dry-farmed slopes that surround the winery on Spring Mountain. With a low 12.6% ABV, this impressive white has the typicity of the variety with an Old World side. Cutting-edge, racy tight-wire acidity leaves its mark. After starting with a perfume of petrol and honeyed apricot, it takes on a palate that owns up to a paradigm both lush and lean. The stone fruit is surrounded by a minerality that’s fierce but will probably prove incredibly age-worthy.

http://digital.copcomm.com/i/990824-june-2018

I Like This Grape, Paul Hodgins, June 16, 2018

An epic riesling from one of Napa's best producers of this grape

2015 Riesling

An epic riesling from one of Napa’s best producers of this grape; Smith-Madrone has been growing riesling in the Spring Mountain District since 1971. Unlike the 2014 vintage, which was lush, deep and round, the 2015 is the very definition of racy. It is bright, clean and delicious with a solid core of minerality surrounded by grace notes of citrus fruit and honeysuckle.

https://ilikethisgrape.com/top-10-wine-bargains-for-summer-2018

Napa Valley Register, June 15, Allison Levine

Crisp, bright, elegant

2015 Riesling

When Stu Smith first planted vines in 1970, Riesling was one of the grapes he planted. At the time, Riesling sold for the same amount of money as Cabernet Sauvignon. His 1979 Riesling was entered in the wine competition sponsored by the French restaurant guide Gault Millau and won Best Riesling over German wines. Unfortunately, a red wine boom in the 1980s resulted in much of the Riesling being pulled up. Today there are 87 acres planted to Riesling in Napa and Smith Madrone has 9 acres and produces 685 cases. The 2015 Riesling has fresh aromas of lemon, apricot, green apple and wet stones. It is crisp and bright and elegant and the acidity dances on the tongue.

https://napavalleyregister.com/wine/columnists/allison-levine/allison-levine-please-the-palate-six-wines-from-napa-valley/article_72f140e6-1740-50b4-a477-7be68ab9f613.html

Nittany Epicurean, Michael Chelus, June 6, 2018

Delicious, great acidity and minerality

2015 Riesling

Typically, my favorite riesling is made in cool climates like the Mosel region of Germany or the Finger Lakes here in New York....that is to say a riesling that shows both bracing acidity and delicate pear and citrus notes, along with harmoniously balanced residual sugar. What I'm rarely impressed with is riesling made in warm climates. Most examples I've tried from California, for instance, are overly ripe juice bombs that show no skill in winemaking or grape growing.That certainly wasn't the case, however, when I enjoyed this excellent riesling from Napa: 2015 Riesling grown, produced & bottled by Smith-Madrone (St. Helena, California). This wine is 100% riesling from Napa's Spring Mountain District. This delicious riesling (which in a blind tasting could easily make you think it's cool climate riesling) comes in at 12.6% ABV and 0.68% residual sugar. The wine showed a pale straw color. Pear, apple, lemon, slate and whiffs of petrol each arrived on a nose that slowly developed as the wine opened up. Pear, apple, lemon curd, slate and hints of stone fruit followed on the palate where the pear and apple met the ripe citrus and stone fruit on the finish. The wine exhibited great acidity and minerality, along with good structure and length. This wine would do well as an aperitif on a warm afternoon and would pair nicely with a Thai green curry.

http://nittanyepicurean.blogspot.com/2018/06/2015-smith-madrone-riesling.html

Terroirist, Isaac Baker, May 26, 2018

Juicy and zesty with live-wire acidity

2015 Riesling

Light yellow. Aromas of which peaches, salted limes, chalk dust, white tea and fresh tennis balls. On the palate this is juicy and zesty with live-wire acidity that kicks off the wine and finishes it. Gorgeous peaches, nectarines and limes, with complex minerals, ocean rocks, mountain streams. Lip-smacking stuff that leaves the palate salivating. Another great vintage of this Riesling, and t will surely age quite nicely for at least a decade. 

http://www.terroirist.com/2018/05/wine-reviews-summertime-california-whites/

Slow Wine Guide, January 2018

White peach, citrus and wildflowers

2014 Riesling

The 2014 Riesling is a structured, unoaked, bone-dry expression of white peach, citrus and wildflowers underpinned by wet-stone minerality and bracing acidity. It, like the Cabernet, has shown a capacity for long aging.

Slow Wine Guide, January 2018

White peach, citrus and wildflowers

2014 Riesling

The 2014 Riesling is a structured, unoaked, bone-dry expression of white peach, citrus and wildflowers underpinned by wet-stone minerality and bracing acidity. It, like the Cabernet, has shown a capacity for long aging.

PleaseThePalate, Allison Levine, May 26, 2018

Powerful but elegant

2015 Riesling

The minerality is screaming out of the glass. With fresh aromas of lemon, green apple, apricot and wet stones, this wine is powerful but elegant. It is crisp and bright and the acidity dances on the tongue. This wine is just so enjoyable!

http://pleasethepalate.com/please-the-palate-pick-of-the-week-smith-madrone-riesling-napa-valley/

Forbes, Cathy Huyghe, May 9, 2018

Drink more Riesling!

2015 Riesling

Seriously, people. Why are we not all drinking more riesling? The price-to-quality ratio for most rieslings we’ll find on the market is pretty much off the hook even, or especially, for older vintages. Both things are true for this riesling from Napa – that it’ll be even better 10 to 15 or even 20 years from now, and $32? For a single varietal bottle, of this quality, from the Spring Mountain District? Come on.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/cathyhuyghe/2018/05/09/how-to-take-a-90-minute-lunch-break-with-wine/2/#3f480a746547

CMK Wine, Cameron Kossen, May 12, 2018

Pure and classic Riesling

2015 Riesling

American grown Riesling is gaining popularity but at Smith-Madrone, that is nothing new. They have been producing Estate Riesling since soon after they planted it on the steep slopes of Spring Mountain in 1971. Winemakers, Charlie Smith and Stuart Smith, let the fruit and the vintage do the talking and just make pure and classic Riesling. Their newest release, 2015, is tasting delicious out the gates but has some major potential to evolve over the next couple decades. Fresh zesty aromas and flavors of lemon peel, green apple, honey suckle, and crushed stone. It is clean and bright with a fabulous tingly minerality on the finish that feels like it is dancing throughout your palate to entice the senses. This is a wine that will reward patience but your patience will be tested. 

https://www.instagram.com/p/Birp8oXh8JL/?taken-by=cmkwine

Enofylz, Martin Redmond, March 28, 2018

Impeccably balanced

2014 Riesling

This impeccably balanced Riesling is among the best I've had. This wine is crafted from 100% estate fruit from 42 year-old vines at 1,800 ft elevation. The dry-farmed vines are planted on very steep slopes (up to 35%), thereby honoring the international tradition of Riesling which thrives on steep hillsides.

Color – Very pale green with yellow highlights

Aromas – Appealing and aromatic with petrol, orange blossom, pear, lemon and lime zest, and wet stones
Body – Light-bodied, dry, and impeccably balanced with very refreshing acidity and a great mouthfeel
Taste – White peach, pear, lemon-lime, and honey flavors with a hint of apricot gelée and very appealing minerality.
Finish – Long

Pair with: We paired with take-out Thai, but this is such a food friendly wine consider pairing with fried or baked fish, simple seafood dishes, cream sauces, butter sauces, sauteed mushrooms, roast

chicken, grilled pork chops, or charcuterie.

http://enofylzwineblog.com/2018/03/28/wine-of-the-day-2014-smith-madrone-riesling/

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