Riesling Reviews

Jameson Fink blog, December 14, 2014

A fine amount of richness with proud Riesling character

2013 Riesling

Riesling? From Napa Valley? Fascinating! This dry wine had a fine amount of richness along with proud Riesling character. It’s a bit of a survivor, too, showing well even after being open for a week in the harsh, barren clime of my bachelor fridge. (Between the Tapatio and Sriracha, truth be told. Actually, it would be a great wine for spicy food.) Stuart Pigott, author of “Best White Wine on Earth: The Riesling Story”), calls Smith-Madrone “the unsung heroes of American Riesling” and puts their bottling in his global Top 20 Dry Rieslings list. ATTENTION ALL WINE GEEKS. 

The Sacramento Bee, November 18, 2014

Riesling of character and balance

2012 Riesling

…a producer that can be relied upon year after year to turn out riesling of character and balance…it carries its .41 percent residual sugar with aplomb, coming off tasting dry thanks to its bracing acidity. Its flavors of tropical fruits, peaches and apples will be right at home with the rich range of the Thanksgiving meal.

http://www.sacbee.com/food-drink/wine/dunne-on-wine/article3998111.html

Jancis Robinson, October 2014

A sterling effort - they should be rewarded for persisting with Riesling in Napa Valley

2012 Riesling

An herbal, full bodied style of Riesling on the nose. A tad more phenolics than I think you’d find in a similar wine from Germany or Austria. But there is admirable acidity and it finishes dry – much drier than most American Rieslings. In fact it’s a bit young. A sterling effort and I feel they should be rewarded for persisting with Riesling in the Napa Valley. 

The Prince of Pinot, Rusty Gaffney, 2014

90 points

2012 Riesling

90 points: Pale yellow color and clear in the glass. Delicate aromas of lemon zest, green apple, peach and toast. Flavorful range of citrus fruits and peach with a note of iron-driven minerality and bright acidity. Has the goods to age for many years. 

http://www.princeofpinot.com/article/1512/

San Francisco Magazine, by Elaine Brown, October 2014

My ideal wine for fall

2012 Riesling

"Raise a glass to the region’s resurrection with these expert-recommended warm-weather wines....The 2012 vintage of Smith-Madrone Riesling is my ideal wine for fall. it offers beautiful aromatics of stone fruits, pressed flowers, and lemon pith, and on the palate it is focused and lively.—Kelli White, co–wine director at Press Restaurant, St. Helena. "

http://www.modernluxury.com/san-francisco/story/toast-unharmed-bottles

American Winery Guide, Martin Redmond, August 2014

The best American Riesling I've had

2012 Riesling

Very pale lemon-green color with appealing stone fruit, apple lime, wet stone, and a hint of lychee aromas. On the palate it approaches medium-bodied and is dry, clean, focused, and well-structured with tart apple, peach, lime, and mineral flavors and a long persistent finish. Made from 40 year old vines. The best American Riesling I’ve had! 

http://www.americanwineryguide.com/winery_reviews/smith-madrone-vineyards-and-winery/739/

California Grapevine, August 2014

First Place, Very Highly Recommended

2013 Riesling

Light yellow color; attractive, fragrant, slightly oily, citrus, apple, and white peach aroma with a hint of honeysuckle; medium body; crisp, citrus and white peach flavors that are nicely balanced with bright acidity and have a silky mouthfeel; lingering aftertaste. Shows distinctive varietal character and is relatively dry on the palate. 

Los Angeles Times, by Irene Virbila, June 7, 2014

An almost unknown masterpiece that proves Riesling can achieve greatness in Napa

2012 Riesling

One of five American Rieslings that wine author Stuart Pigott finds remarkable, with his description….

Brothers Stuart Smith (vineyard manager) and Charles Smith (winemaker) have been making stunning dry Riesling on Spring Mountain in Napa Valley for more than 30 years. Their wine has intense aromas of melon, lime and dried flowers. The bright and "light" style is deceptive, though, for this is a wine that can age for more than a decade if properly cellared. This is an almost unknown masterpiece that proves Riesling can achieve greatness in Napa. 

http://www.latimes.com/food/la-fo-virbilaside-20140607-story.html

Wine & Spirits Magazine, June 2014

92 points

2012 Riesling

Reserved in its fruit, this wine’s robust mineral intensity draws a clean line through to the end. The fragrance of the grape captures scents of dried brush, sage and the floral notes of fresh cream. Pale and rich, this is a dry Riesling to serve with Dungeness crab.

Sacramento Bee, April 7, 2014

Its elegance would put it among the First Growths of California riesling, if there were such a classification

2012 Riesling

It was one of the more complex rieslings tasted, alternating with suggestions of tropical fruits, peaches and apples. Its elegance would put it among the First Growths of California riesling, if there were such a classification.

http://www.sacbee.com/2014/04/07/6303973/dunne-on-wine-spring-wines.html

Enofylz blog by Martin Redmond, March 26, 2014

My favorite American Riesling

2012 Riesling

91 Points: Very pale slightly green tinged straw color with appealing stone fruit, apple lime, wet stone, and a hint of lychee aromas. On the palate it approaches medium-bodied and is dry, clean, focused, and well-structured with tart apple, peach, lime, and mineral flavors. Long persistent finish. 12.5% alcohol. 798 cases produced. Made from 40-year-old vines. My favorite American Riesling.  It's drinking well now, but Riesling can be aged for decades, and you can keep yourself from drinking it, you'll be rewarded!

All the wines were simply outstanding.  Highly recommended.  And I heartily recommend a visit too.  The property is amazing (with breathtaking views on clear days), the Smiths are gracious, and knowledgeable hosts.  A good time will be had!

http://enofylzwineblog.com/2014/03/26/smith-madrone/

Robert Neralich blog, spring 2014

Remarkable Riesling

2012 Riesling

Easily one of the most interesting white wines that I have tasted this year. Its enticing peach, apple, citrus, and melon aromas lead to luscious tart apple, lime, melon, apricot, and peach flavors that close in an impressively vibrant finish. The exuberant fruit of this wine is perfectly balanced by ample acidity, making it completely delicious for casual sipping, though it would also nicely complement most seafood and poultry dishes. In fact, if you are planning to reprise a turkey-based Thanksgiving feast on Christmas or New Year’s Day and wish to pour something sure to delight your dinner guests, I wholeheartedly recommend this remarkable Riesling.

http://www.robertneralich.com/2013/12/17/its-in-the-name-three-wines-from-smith-madrone/

The Daily Meal, March 12, 2013, by Gabe Sasso

Delicious and a rare bird of sorts

2012 Riesling

The Smith-Madrone 2012 Riesling was produced from estate fruit. The riesling vines on their Spring Mountain property had 40 years of age on them at the time of harvest. This offering is 100 percent varietal. They bottled 798 cases of this wine and it has a suggested retail price of $27. White peach and flower aromas emerge from the lovely nose of this 2012 riesling. Lychee fruit and apricot flavors are in abundance on the palate which is studded with appealing fruit flavors and accompanying spice notes. Flinty mineral driven notes lead the impressive finish along with granny smith apple, lemon zest, and a hint of grapefruit. This is easily my favorite riesling to come out of Napa Valley each year. There isn’t much riesling worth speaking about in Napa Valley and quite frankly, this is one of just a couple examples that I’d recommend spending your money on so in addition to being delicious, it’s also a rare bird of sorts.

http://www.thedailymeal.com/smith-madrone-vineyards-and-winery/31214

UpstateDowntownNY blog, Chris Matthews, March 10, 2014

...one of California's best, world-class in its own right...

2012 Riesling

At a Wine Media Guild tasting in New York in March...the standout wine for me at the tasting was a white: Smith-Madrone’s 2012 Riesling. Napa is not known for Riesling — the climate is generally considered too warm for the noble grape to shine — but Smith-Madrone obviously has the right (mountain) location, as well as the knack. With classic, tangy stone fruit notes on the nose and palate, this is a wine of energy and zest, finishing long and bone dry. It’s certainly one of California’s best, and world-class in its own right.

http://upstatedowntownny.com/2014/03/10/cali-mountain-wines/

The Wine Enthusiast, April 2014, by Steve Heimoff

A well put-together Riesling

2012 Riesling

There should be more interest from consumers for well-put-together Rieslings like this. It's dryish, low in alcohol, acidic and minerally, with effusive citrus, peach, white-flower and honey flavors that require some thought to fully appreciate. With only 12.8% alcohol by volume, it has a complex delicacy.

JamesTheWineGuy, James Melendez, February 2014

Absolutely a gorgeous wine

2012 Riesling

Absolutely a gorgeous wine....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQcAwVboHmY

Terroirist blog by Isaac James Baker, February 15, 2014

90 points: ...awesome lime juice and rock quarry aspect

2012 Riesling

90 points: A very light yellow color. Aromas of grapefruit, white flowers, some apricot and a distinct crushed limestone note. The acid tingles the palate as the apricot, creamy peach and green melon roll in. There’s an awesome lime juice and rock quarry aspect that reminds me of the Mosel, which I’m not sure I’ve ever said about a Napa Riesling. Very crisp and lively, this likely has some fun evolution ahead of it. 

http://www.terroirist.com/2014/02/wine-reviews-california-abc-whites/

WineReviewOnline by Rich Cook, January 21, 2014

93 points: great dry Riesling

2012 Riesling

93 points: With very little Riesling remaining in Napa Valley, we can be thankful that this mostly dry farmed vineyard still exists.  And, we can be doubly thankful that it is in the hands of Smith-Madrone, who year after year turn out great dry Riesling.  Stony mineral, vibrant lime, green apple, stonefruit, flowers all come through in both aroma and flavor, with lip smacking acidity that says “more, please!”  It will make a great solo aperitif, or serve it with light appetizers -- you’ll want a couple of bottles if more than three or four people are gathered.

http://www.winereviewonline.com/wine_reviews.cfm

Isaac James Baker's blog, January 2014

Intense minerality...very crisp and lively

2012 Riesling

5 California Wineries That Wowed Me in 2013

2013 was a great year, wasn’t it? Over the course of the year I tasted a lot of amazing wines and toured many a beautiful California vineyard. As a writer for the daily wine blog Terroirist, I blind-tasted my way through a lot of samples in 2013, most of which hailed from CA. I found myself gravitating toward several producers who put out consistently awesome wines, regardless of vintage or grape variety.

Founded in 1971, Smith-Madrone’s winery is located on Spring Mountain, west of St. Helena. The operation is run by brothers Stuart Smith, managing partner and vineyard manager, and Charles Smith III, winemaker. They dry farm their estate vineyards, which line steep slopes between 1,300 and 2,000 feet in elevation. Their mountain wines are dynamic, lively and they show a refreshing sense of purity and minerality.

90 points: One of my favorite discoveries this year was Smith-Madrone’s 2012 Spring Mountain District Riesling. I’m rarely excited by Rieslings from Napa, but this one stoked my palate with refreshing dryness, intense minerality, high acid and loads of stone fruit and minerals. A very light yellow color. Aromas of grapefruit, white flowers, some apricot and a distinct crushed limestone note. The acid tingles the palate as the apricot, creamy peach and green melon roll in. There’s an awesome lime juice and rock quarry aspect that reminds me of the Mosel, which I’m not sure I’ve ever said about a Napa Riesling. Very crisp and lively, this likely has some fun evolution ahead of it. 

http://isaacjamesbaker.blogspot.com/2014/01/5-california-wineries-that-wowed-me-in.html?spref=tw

Purely Domestic Wine Report by Doug Wilder, December 2013

Bright acidity

2012 Riesling

Bright fresh aromas of Granny Smith apples, conifer, lemon zest, mineral and blossom. The palate is bright and bracing acidity, citrus, petrol and graphite. Solid wine, tasted at room temperature. Drink 2014 – 2016.

The Tasting Panel Magazine, January 2014

Bold minerality

2012 Riesling

91 points: A modest mild entry of peach, tart apples and white grapes are a treat to the palate. The Riesling from 40-year-old vines, which are mostly dry-farmed, stainless steel-fermented and –aged, gets rounder as you keep sipping. It continues to stay restrained and coquettish and its flash of cleavage peeks out in its bold minerality flanked by a generous apricot finish.

BiggerThanYourHead blog by Frederic Koeppel, January 7, 2014

One of Top 50 Great Wines of 2013

2012 Riesling

“50 Great Wines of [The Year]” is a post I look forward to, even though its production is fraught with anxiety. “Fraught with anxiety!” you exclaim. “FK, you get to taste and write about terrific wines all year long! This task should be easy!” Look, my apostrophe-addicted friend, I started with a list of 76 potentially great wines and had to eliminate 26 of them. It was painful; it hurt my brain and my spirit. Even now, going back over this post just before I click the PUBLISH button, I am wracked by indecision and regret. On the other hand, life is about choices, n’est-ce pas, and we all have to knuckle down and make those choices, difficult as the job may be.

I reviewed 624 wines in 2013. How did I choose... By reading again every review I wrote over the past year, by weighing the description and the language, by revisiting my memory of the wine, by looking for wines that possessed that indescribable quality of charisma, that combination of personality and character that distinguish a great wine.

http://biggerthanyourhead.net/2014/01/07/50-great-wines-of-2013/

Bacchus & Beery blog by Roger Beery, January 2014

Consistently excellent

2012 Riesling

This 40 year old Spring Mountain Riesling vineyard is one of the few left in Napa Valley, producing a consistently excellent dry wine year after year. Enjoy its excellent food pairing qualities or on its own. A robust nose with aromas of white peach, pineapple and wet stone. A round mouth-feel balanced with juicy acidity and just a kiss of sweetness. Integrated flavors of ripe pineapple, honeycomb, apricot, red apple, minerality and pear. 

http://wine-blog.bacchusandbeery.com/wine-blog/winereview/white-wine/smith-madrone-vineyard-winery-riesling-2012/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=smith-madrone-vineyard-winery-riesling-2012

Creators.com, December 5, 2013, by Robert Whitley

Uncompromising integrity

Smith-Madrone Riesling

Smith-Madrone Vineyards is owned and operated by Stuart and Charlie Smith, who founded the winery 42 years ago on Spring Mountain, overlooking the Napa Valley village of St. Helena. They make three wines: cabernet sauvignon, chardonnay and riesling. The brothers have uncompromising integrity in the vineyards and the cellar, and they believe even great wine should be affordable. Hence, the Smith-Madrone wines are priced well below the market for estate-grown Napa Valley wines with so much history behind them.

http://www.creators.com/lifestylefeatures/wine/wine-talk/fab-five-holiday-values.html

NowAndZin blog by Randy Fuller

2012 Riesling

…the 2012 Riesling is a testament to fruit.  With ever so slightly less alcohol than last year’s Riesling, and a tad drier, the 2012 hits 12.5% abv with just over 0.4 residual sugar. Very pale in the glass, the nose simply bursts forth with juicy fruit.  Apples, citrus, pear and melon aromas all seem to be trying to elbow each other out of the way.  The promise of the fruity nose is delivered upon with a lovely palate, dry and tangy with brilliant acidity, but also adorned with the taste of red apples and lime peel.  It’s a food-friendly and refreshing white wine.

http://www.nowandzin.com/2013/12/big-fruity-napa-valley-riesling-from.html

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