95pts Tasting Panel

Any surprise that ultra-prime land in Napa is still planted to Riesling will blow off like morning fog for anyone who tastes this wine. Truly dry but still generous in aroma and fleshy fruit recalling the best peach you've ever eaten, it belongs among the world's most esteemed examples of this great variety.

94pts Wine Enthusiast

Brightening aromatics carry into abundant flavors of salted lemon, lime zest and grapefruit pith. A pleasingly textural palate makes this sophisticated Riesling a perfect accompaniment for a range of foods. It is delicious now and will develop beautifully in the bottle. A firm and enticing wine.

93pts James Suckling

Riesling is quite unusual in Napa Valley, but the Smith brothers make an outstanding version. Preserved lemons, kerosine and orange sherbet on the nose. The palate is focused and minerally, with notes of orange zest and candied kaffir limes carried by a textured, medium body. Very vibrant and fresh.

91pts Wilfred Wong of Wine

91pts Jeb Dunnuck

Medium gold-hued, with a bright, juicy, off-dry style, the 2019 Riesling offers terrific aromatics of honeyed citrus, mint, and lychee nut. Nicely balanced and medium-bodied, with bright acidity and a great finish, it's a rich, concentrated, yet racy, vibrant Riesling.

90pts Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

Marked by scents of honey and Golden Delicious apples, the 2019 Riesling appears to be aging a bit rapidly, but it still retains plenty of current-drinking appeal. Medium-bodied and crisp, it finishes long.

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.

About the Wine

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.