Riesling Reviews

Orange Coast Magazine, Valory Reed, May 5, 2017

A great wine

2014 Riesling

Sometimes a great wine goes happily down the hatch and I make a mental note to buy it again.  Sometimes a great wine sucks me in hook, line, and sinker and I want to learn everything about the who, what, where, when, why, and how.  The Smith-Madrone Vineyards 2014 riesling did just that.  I’d been gardening in the sun for several hours and was starving.  I grabbed some leftover grilled chicken, a few tortillas, a splash of salsa, and a bottle of riesling to enjoy in the backyard.  Riesling on a hot day, enjoyed al fresco, is the quintessential wine moment.   I went from sore and angry at the snails and white flies on my hibiscus, to relaxed and appreciative of life in Orange County.  A glass of Smith-Madrone produced this 180-degree attitude change, so I feel compelled to share my “5 W’s” research with Orange County wine lovers.

Who Brothers Stuart and Charles Smith. Stuart is the general partner and enologist.  Charles is the winemaker.  Sam Smith, son of Stuart, is assistant winemaker.

What 2014 riesling, 1,500 cases.  2014 chardonnay, 850 cases.  2013 cabernet sauvignon, 1,500 cases. The soil is rocky, volcanic, and has great drainage.

Where Spring Mountain District of Napa Valley. The vineyards sit at an elevation between 1,300 and 2,000 feet on steep slopes, with grades up to 34 percent.  Each varietal is planted with a specific exposure, to garner the best character and personality.

When Planted in 1972.  The riesling vines are 42 years old!

Why The brothers grew up in Santa Monica.  Stuart got his Masters in Viticulture from UC Davis.  In search of land for a vineyard, he learned of this forest location atop Spring Mountain, which he purchased in 1971.  He discovered it was actually a vineyard in the 1880s, and was on the Wagon Trail between Napa and Santa Rosa.  Stuart is now renowned as a mountain winegrower.   Charles, who became an internationally famed croquet player, joined him in 1973.

How The mountain-top location and the history as a vineyard inspired Stuart to dry-farm the vineyard.  Dry-farming means that no irrigation was given once the vines were established several decades ago.  This forces the vines to struggle in search of water that is deeper in the soil.  This struggle produces berries that are hardy enough to endure the thirsty challenge.  The grapes are smaller in size, but packed with flavor.

I would love several hours at a dinner table with Stuart, Charles, and Sam.  The stories and connection they must have from this family venture high in Napa’s mountains is the perfect dinner and drinking lore.  The closest I’ll come is a refill of riesling in my own backyard, but I have a big smile on my face.

http://www.orangecoast.com/booze-blog/smith-madrone-vineyards-riesling/

Good Vitis blog, Aaron Menenberg, April 26, 2017

Expertly crafted

2014 Riesling

Bright nose of limey minerality, apricot, banana leaf and peach. The palate is medium bodied with a high viscosity and cutting acidity. Loads of lemon, lime and slate on the initial hit, followed by white pepper as it turns to key lime pie with whipped cream and a hint of nutmeg and gets lush. The acid carries through on the long finish. Expertly crafted riesling with a promising decade of evolution ahead. 

https://goodvitis.com/2017/04/26/good-vitis-unplugged-stu-smith-and-the-wines-of-smith-madrone/

ArmchairSommelier, Kirsten Georgi, April 22, 2017

Consistency and a keen sense of place

2014 Riesling

Smith-Madrone's wines are made from well-tended, well-loved, dry-farmed vines. The wines are a lean, elegant, and focused expression of cool climate, mountain terroir. They reflect a consistency and keen sense of place . . . and good stewardship.

Beautifully dry and just plain clean, this might just be my favorite Napa Valley Riesling.  Bright, sassy acidity.  Loaded with minerals, wet rocks, green apple, lemon rind, and pears.  A long, rewarding finish ends with a hint of honey.  This Riesling has aging potential in spades

Santa Rosa Press Democrat, April 20, 2017, Michele Anna Jordan

Absolutely exhilarating

2014 Riesling

If our Wine of the Week, Smith-Madrone 2014 Napa Valley Spring Mountain Riesling, had a proprietary name it could be "Mountain Joy" for the high-elevation pleasure it imparts. It has the suave delicacy of grapes grown in rocky mountain soil with long light exposure and cool temperatures, along with a bit of the swagger and sass this varietal can display when handled with care and understanding.

On the palate, the wine offers an almost tempestuous swirl of fruit, full and lively, a merry-go-round of apricots, white peaches, nectarines, papaya, mango, pineapple, ripe Gravensteins and suggestions of orange honeydew melon. There are hints of orange flower blossoms, citrus zest, and enough mangosteen to make you long for a trip to Malaysia, where that elusive fruit is queen. This wine is best with the tangy foods of Southeast Asia, especially Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam. Thai larb with pork or squid, green papaya salads, green curries and the Vietnamese noodle salads known as "bün" are happy companions. As an aperitif, you'll enjoy it with feta cheese, green olives and Marcona almonds. For an easy weeknight dinner, enjoy a glass alongside a quick sauté of chicken thighs, sliced celery, sliced radishes, spinach, olive oil, lemon juice and fresh snipped chives.

A simple taco of corn tortillas filled with avocado and radish salsa is a quick and delightful pairing, as are open-faced radish sandwiches with creme fraiche or fresh chevre. It is also excellent with most simple green salads.
The wine is also absolutely exhilarating with green papaya salad.  

http://www.pressdemocrat.com/lifestyle/6910400-181/pairing-green-papaya-salad-with?ref=related

Santa Rosa Press Democrat, April 19, Peg Melnik

Wine of the week winner is impressive

2014 Riesling

The Latin poet Virgil wrote “Bacchus loves the hills,” and he was on to something. Smith-Madrone’s riesling is planted in vineyards perched at 1,900 feet and it’s impressive. This dry riesling’s rich mouth-feel is kept in check with its bright acidity. It has notes of honeysuckle, papaya, apple and petrol. With its depth of flavors and lingering finish, the Smith-Madrone is striking.

http://www.pressdemocrat.com/lifestyle/6865345-181/wine-of-the-week-smith-madrone

CleanPlates.com, by Peter Hellman, April 14, 2017

A nimble partner which ages beautifully

2014 Riesling

Contrary to what the poet said, April is not the cruelest month, at least not when it comes to wine. If you’re wondering what to pour with your Easter meal, Passover Seder, or any Spring celebration, this is the month to leave behind the heavier wines of winter and bring on brighter, lighter bottles. Read on for wines that tick all the boxes: Delicious, organic and/or sustainably grown, affordable, and widely available. You can thank us later.

Smith-Madrone Riesling: For delicate, white-fleshed fish, such as spring’s first flounder, a nimble partner is this bottling, evoking ripe honeydew melon spritz with Meyer lemon. If you spot an older vintage, grab it. This wine ages beautifully for years.

http://www.cleanplates.com/eat/menus/best-wines-to-serve-for-easter-and-passover-spring-celebrations/

St. Helena Star, April 13, 2017, by Catherine Bugue

Wine of the Week: best riesling in Napa Valley, hands down

2014 Riesling

Amid the millionaires, castles and vanity wines that spring up in Napa Valley, there remain salt-of-the-earth types who came here without pretense, with a love of the land, and the grit to conquer the rugged terrain in the name of fine wine. The Smith brothers (Stuart and Charles) epitomize that renegade spirit of the second wave of individualists who came to Napa Valley and made something out of nothing.

Their foresight should be legendary: they listened to forebears; looked at the steep slopes of Spring Mountain and saw great wines. One of their most sought-after productions is their riesling, and the 2014 has laser-like fruit focus with refreshing, yet deeply nuanced, complexity. This is the best riesling in Napa Valley, hands down.

http://napavalleyregister.com/star/wine/wine-of-the-week/smith-madrone-riesling-spring-mountain/article_020e3cda-7341-5616-8bc6-49cf62f4e36f.html

Washington Wine Blog, Owen Bargreen, April 3, 2017

Lovely structure

2014 Riesling

This high elevation Riesling wine shows brisk acidity considering the heat of the vintage. Aromatically subdued at first when needing a one hour decant, this wine begins with a bouquet of white roses, honeysuckle, unripe pear and petrol. There are deep flavors of Gravenstein apple, unripe honeydew melon, lemon rind and a touch of green papaya. This has lovely astringency and structure, as this currently displays an almost unctuous mouthfeel. Drink 2017-2022.

http://www.washingtonwineblog.com/blog/2017/4/4/smith-madrone

Winethropology, Steve McIntosh, March 30, 2017

Zippy finish

2014 Riesling

High above the valley floor west of St Helena sits the Spring Mountain District, one of Napa Valley's sixteen AVAs.  With steep hillside vineyards reaching altitudes upwards of 1500 feet, this is prime cab country.  And at the very end of Spring Mountain Road is Smith-Madrone. Founded in 1971, Smith-Madrone winery was a pioneer in the practice of dry farming, still a very rare pursuit in California.  That they are able to crank out quality wines - not just cabernet, either - from this location and in this manner is impressive indeed.  Having been up there a couple of times before, a jaunt off the well-trodden route 29 is highly recommended.  Quiet and serene, Spring Mountain feels like the rest of Napa probably did in the seventies. The wines are all made with precision and clarity.  Honesty of place shines through in them all.  Lovely wines.

The Riesling is crystalline platinum blonde in the glass offering faint petrol and funk aromatics typical in some rieslings. This gives way to a light bodied and very clean palate.  Low viscosity, and quite dry, but not at all lacking in flavor or character.  The zippy finish has terrific acidic grip with citrus nuances and a nice mineral bump. All this while clocking in at under 13% ABV.  Very Alsatian in style.  Very enjoyable with or without food.

http://www.winethropology.com/2017/03/smith-madrone-current-releases.html

GrapeCollective, Chris Barnes, March 23, 2017

Explodes with flavors of fresh peaches, apricots and orange flowers

2013 Riesling

Whether ice cold or room temperature, the wine explodes with flavors of fresh peaches, apricots and orange flowers. It's a dry style of wine, but not bone dry and should age for at least 15 years.

https://grapecollective.com/articles/smith-madrone-a-napa-cabernet-thats-classy-and-ageable-in-english-or-latin

Intrepid Media, Cathy Huyghe, March 20, 2017

Way beyond sustenance

2014 Riesling

This wine arrived just in the nick of time. 

It was a Friday night, my husband and I were home alone, our twin boys having been invited to a sleepover elsewhere. It was a long and exhilarating week of work that we both love but lordy, by that point, exhaustion had won out.

We didn’t want to cook, we didn’t even want much to think. It was an order-in night for dinner — Thai food, in our case — and it was the sustenance kind of dinner that you expect to fuel you with calories and, honestly, not much else.

But then there was this wine. 

It had arrived earlier in the week, along with bottles that this particular Napa producer is frankly better known for, namely Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay. But my husband and I are both suckers for Riesling, and spicy Thai food was on the way. We pulled the cork, casually poured a few measures of the wine into our glasses, and took our seats.

To be honest, I didn’t even smell it first. I know I should have; it’s something “wine people” do, but this producer is familiar and I respect their wines and their process. They want to make wines that express their place on the earth, they say, and they also want to make wines that express themselves as people and as winemakers.

That, I get. As winemakers in Napa for more than 40 years, certainly Stu and Charles Smith are keyed into what the market wants and what their land is best suited to produce. By and large, for them on Spring Mountain, that means Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay.

But then there is this Riesling.

This Riesling says that they have their independent streak. It says that they listen hard enough to their land (and its steep hillsides) that they know it is suited, too, to produce the grapes for this wine. It says that they know this wine will be good.

This Riesling IS good, and refreshing, though in a way-beyond-sustenance kind of way. You get oranges and white flowers and fresh acidity. You get the desire to take another sip and then another.

It’s the kind of Riesling that reminds you to be grateful that wine, and this wine, is part of our life. It’s the kind of wine that makes you grateful that your kids have a friendly and active social life, and that you have this time alone with the person who loves you most in the all the world.

It’s the kind of wine that I’m hungry to drink, with Thai food for dinner or many other things too. It was just the right thing at just the nick of time, to pull us back from the far edge of everyday life.

http://intrepid.media/2014-smith-madrone-riesling/

Terroirist, Isaac Baker, March 18, 2017

One of the most consistently inspiring Rieslings from California

2014 Riesling

Light gold color. Complex aromas of white peach, lime and banana, along with white tea, floral perfume, notes of saline and crushed rocks. Plum fruit (nectarine, peach, lime) but it’s pure and zesty with a dry profile and focused acidity. Lovely mix of chalk, mountain stream, minerals, nettle, cut flower stems. Super clean and refreshing but lots of staying power for the cellar. One of the most consistently inspiring Rieslings from California, Smith-Madrone has been putting out high quality Spring Mountain Riesling since the early ’80s. I’d love to see how this beautiful wine ages for a decade. (91 points IJB)

http://www.terroirist.com/2017/03/wine-reviews-smith-madrone/#more-24617

International Wine Report, August 2016

Well balanced with a wonderful mix of fruit and acidity

2014 Riesling

This fantastic Spring Mountain Riesling opens with pretty aromas of white peach, lychee and lime followed by crushed stones and hints of white floral, which all take shape beautifully in the glass. On the palate this fresh and inviting Riesling is well balanced with a wonderful mix of fruit and acidity. Overall, this is a dry style of Riesling, but there is a lovely hint of residual sugar, making this impossible to resist. 

http://www.internationalwinereport.com/latest-reports/reports-usa/217-california/spring-mountain-district/6422-2014-smith-madrone-riesling-napa-valley

The Somm Journal, Fred Swan, December 2016-January 2017

Terroir is truly unique

2014 Riesling

Lemon, honeysuckle, green apple and a hint of petrol show in the dry 2014 Riesling. It's very long and juicy on the palate.

http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/759645-dec-2016-jan-2017/26

Fred Swan, FredSwan.com, November 23, 2016

True pioneer of Spring Mountain wines and still going strong

2014 Riesling

 Smith-Madrone is a true pioneer of Spring Mountain wines and is still going strong. The 2014 Smith-Madrone Riesling Spring Mountain District is a fresh, dry, medium-bodied wine with alive with lemon-lime and under-ripe apricot.

http://www.fredswan.wine/2016/11/23/spring-mountain-wines-you-need-to-try/

San Francisco Chronicle, Esther Mobley, September 28, 2016

One of the most impressive California Rieslings I've tasted

2014 Riesling

From the Smith brothers’ high-elevation, dry-farmed vineyard in Napa’s western mountains, these Riesling vines date back to 1972. Petrol flavors and aromas shine through in this savory wine, which tastes of juniper berry, orange blossom and white flower. It opens with a kick of fizziness, dissipating after a second. One of the most impressive California Rieslings I’ve tasted.

 

http://www.sfchronicle.com/wine/article/Tasting-Notes-California-Riesling-9383332.php

Food & Spirits Magazine, Mark Gudgel, summer 2016

Best Riesling I've had from California, period

2014 Riesling

 Think Alsace. This is the kind of Riesling you can pair with steak, lay down to age for a few decades, or both. I’ve had dozens of Rieslings from California, and this one is the best I’ve tried, period. 

http://fsmomaha.com/wp-content/uploads/FSM24_LR.pdf

NapaFoodandVine, August 16, 2016

Superb example of the grape at its best

2014 Riesling

 This is a WOW! Pear, grapefruit, and melon on the tongue; a perfect sip, not too dry, not too sweet. The quality of this wine for the price is outstanding.  Riesling is a very versatile grape that can be used to make dry white wines with complex flavour profiles. Smith-Madrone’s Riesling is a superb example of the grape at its best.

http://napafoodandvine.com/2016/08/16/smith-madrone-winery-and-vineyards-tasting-notes-post-100/

Grape-Experiences, Cindy Rynning, August 11, 2016

As elegant as delectable

2013 Riesling

Smith Madrone Winery, located in St. Helena, is a pioneer in dry farming.  All wines are in the Spring Mountain appellation of Napa Valley and are not only estate-grown, but estate-bottled. The Smith Madrone Riesling 2013 is just as elegant as it is delectable. The aromas of stone fruit, white peaches, dried apricot, and hint of lime wafted from the glass. I couldn’t wait to take a bite of the crab and a sip of this dry Riesling. On the palate, I found refreshing notes of melon, yellow flowers, and touch of spice, flavors that truly complemented the salinity of the crab, the spice of the curry, and other ingredients. With lip smacking acidity and a long finish, it wasn’t difficult to pour more than one glass of this wine, one that showed more complexity that I could have ever imagined. 

http://www.grape-experiences.com/2016/08/wine-dine-smith-madrone-riesling-2013-hampton-roads-crab-imperial/

Susan Spinello, LiveLeft, July 12, 2016

Orange blossom, jasmine and honeysuckle with lemon zest and crisp minerality

2014 Riesling

A dry Riesling that has been grown and produced from the same vineyard, pruned by the same people in the same style and left to Mother Nature to impart annually distinct flavors, scents and character.  The Smith brothers have been growing and producing Riesling since 1983 (about 17 years before the rest of California attempted to jump on the bandwagon).  It has been hailed as one of the 50 best wines in the world according to Stuart Pigott, author of “The Best White Wine on Earth:  The Riesling Story.”  Orange blossom, jasmine and honeysuckle with lemon zest and crisp minerality, followed by white peach and pear with a creamy, lingering finish.  Perhaps this is the best Riesling on Earth and why Charlie saved the best for last.

http://www.liveleft.com/napa-and-sonoma/

Nancy & Peter Brazil, PullThatCork, July 18

Mineral driven, very fresh

2014 Riesling

Weightless in the mouth, mineral driven and very fresh. Charles described it as edgier, racier and more austere (than the 2013).

http://pullthatcork.com/2016/smith-madrone/

Mark Gudgel, ITheeWine, July 15, 2016

95 points

2014 Riesling

The 2014 Riesling is an impressive example of what dedicated, knowledgeable winemakers can do with good fruit. The Smiths craft the varietal in a manner far more reminiscent of Alsace than of the ways that many Californian producers are inclined to bastardize the varietal, as if somewhere it is written that it should sit on the bottom shelf and compete with the White Zinfandel. The 2014 Smith-Madrone Riesling is bone dry and very smooth, with that familiar nose of petrol and the crispness of a dry English cider. With high acidity, subtle notes of white fruits, and a clean finish, this is a beautiful wine.  In my estimation, it could compete amongst the best Rieslings in the world

HTTPS://ITHEEWINE.COM/2016/07/15/SMITH-MADRONE-RIESLING-2014-95-PTS/

Wine & Spirits Magazine, August 2016

92 points, refreshing and discreetly elegant, Year's Best U.S. Riesling

2014 Riesling

From Stu and Charles Smith’s 42-year-old riesling vines high up Spring Mountain, this captures the sage-like scent of the hills in a refreshing and discreetly elegant white. Hints of orange blossom and lemon zest fill out the mineral-inflected acidity, then the wine juices up again in the finish, clean and refreshing. 

The Tasting Panel Magazine, June 2016

A wine of pure individuality

2013 Riesling

It’s just fun to play with wines of pure individuality. Riesling finds a fun manifestation in Smith-Madrone’s Spring Mountain example---jasmine, honeysuckle, white peach and nectarine and just 12.6% alcohol.

http://digital.copcomm.com/i/687399-june-2016/108

Gayot.com, April 2016

Top 10 Mother's Day wine

2013 Riesling

Top Ten Mother's Day Wines: Originating from terroir that winemaker Stuart Smith purchased in 1971, the Smith-Madrone vineyards produce grapes perfect for crafting French- and German-style wines. The Smith-Madrone 2013 Riesling boasts aromas of stone fruit, white flower and honeysuckle. Flavors of citrus and stone fruit are rounded out by a creamy finish.

http://www.gayot.com/wine/top10mothers-day-wines/smith-madrone-2013-riesling.html

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