94pts James Suckling

Preserved Sicilian lemons, sea spray, kerosene and lime blossoms. Such a delicious interpretation of new-world riesling, with some time in the bottle bringing complexity and nuance. The palate is textural and rounded, cut straight through with bright acidity. Long, flavorful finish. Drink or hold.

Tasting Notes

Aromatically, the wine opens with Meyer lemons, pomelo, orange flowers, and just a dab
of mandarin orange hiding shyly behind a rose bush. This is all backed up with a solid
dose of minerality. On the palate the wine is racy and beautifully balanced with a
backbone of juicy fruit acidity. Wonderfully stylish and delicious and built to last. Drink
now, or twenty years from now. Seriously.

Shimmering and vibrant, the 2021 Riesling is a textbook example of the traditional SmithMadrone style. That is to say, stylistically it often fits neatly between the lower alcohol, lighter weight German trockens and the slightly more powerful French rieslings of Alsace; in different years, of course, pushing a little more toward one side or the other, depending on the personality of the vintage.

About the Wine

This wine leans a bit more French than German, but perhaps it’s more accurate to say that there is a German style in riesling, a French style and a Smith-Madrone style. However one identifies the various styles, the one thing they all have in common is the unique character that shines through and defines all good Riesling. The wine is a very pale light straw color with a pronounced aroma of apricot, pear, green apple, crushed rocks and the je-ne-sais-quoi that can only be Riesling. Very crisp and lively on the palate, the wine has a deep core of minerality and a citrusy freshness that is simply mouthwatering. The wine is a fine summer thirst quencher, but in its youthful vigor, its real strength will be as a superb companion to that enormous range of international foods for which Riesling is so uniquely suited.

This wine is made from mountain grown grapes, honoring the international tradition of Riesling which thrives on steep hillsides. At Smith-Madrone our goal is to make artisanal wines which are distinctive and are an expression of both the vintage and us as vintners, but above all else, are wines which bring pleasure to the senses. Every year our wine is made from the same vineyards, pruned by the same people in the same way, cultivated in exactly the same manner and harvested at similar levels of maturity, yet Mother Nature stamps each vintage with a unique set of flavors, senses and character. Vintage dating is a celebration of that uniqueness and diversity. 

Winery Notes

A tribute to the Smith brothers and the predominant tree on the ranch. The Madrone is an evergreen with a red-brown trunk and branches. In spring the tree bears lily-of-the-valley-like flower clusters; in fall orange-red berries appear.

All wines made entirely from the winery's dry-farmed estate vineyards surrounding the winery on top of Spring Mountain in the Napa Valley. Stuart Smith chose specific slopes with different exposures for specific varietals when planting the vineyards: eastern exposure for Riesling, southern and western exposures across flat stretches for the Cabernet Sauvignon and the coolest north-facing slopes for the Chardonnay. There are numerous historical sights on the ranch, as well as the huge array of natural beauty and wildlife.