#KeepingAmericaonTop #ChampagneWishes Mover and Shaker Stu Smith Crafts a Stellar 2018 Estate Grown Chardonnay For You to Sail into the Weekend with Joy!
We've been saying spring is here in New York, but today it is summer that has arrived and you can sail into Friday afternoon in style when you know who is among the best in wines: Smith-Madrone by Mover and Shaker Stu Smith! This crisp winner is laudable and celebratory: complimentary notes of pears ravished our palate while definitely hints of oak and an earthy flavor also made a striking appearance. We are fans of minerality and this was spot on!
The first thing you notice about the 2018 Chardonnay is its lovely green/gold color which should be especially winning to all our friends from Notre Dame. The aroma is a little toasty, a little lemony, and evocative of stone fruit, namely a peach which is obviously best of all.
It is firm, crisp and full simultaneously without being the least bit ponderous. In spite of its power, it maintains a graceful, elegant stance in perfect harmony with a succulent mid-palate. It's the California that New York was waiting for! The second half of the wine transitions seamlessly to a long, clean, crisp and altogether successful finish. The overall impression is one of bright flavors, youthful vigor & superb structure. Their soils are mostly deep-red Aiken Stoney Clay loam: part of the Aiken, Kidd, Forward complex of soils which are volcanic-based, well-drained and deep.
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The underlying geology is the very old (250,000,000 years) Franciscan Series Assemblage, unique to California coastal ranges, which includes altered mafic volcanic rocks, deep-sea radiolarian cherts, sandstones, limestones, serpentines, shales and high-pressure metamorphic rocks, all of them faulted and mixed in a seemingly chaotic manner as a result of the Pacific Tectonic Plate subducting under the Continental Plate and shears both off into an aggregate mix.
Overlying this formation is the much younger weathered Sonoma Volcanic soil that forms their soils of today. All of their wines are made entirely from their dry-farmed estate vineyards surrounding the winery on top of Spring Mountain in the Napa Valley. Their overriding 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.
They were recently featured for their Cabernet and their 50th Anniversary!
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Our imbibing experts found this 2018 Chardonnay to be another tremendous wine which some paired perfectly with the bread, mozzarella and a leaf of basil drizzled with a glaze. The combination was so delicious but it was this specific Chardonnay that elevated the whole experience. It was clean, crisp and altogether fantastic. Our overall impression is it is now one of new favorite wines emblazoned with bright flavors, and a superb taste.
Appellation: Napa Valley Sub-Appellation: Spring Mountain District Varietal content: 100% Chardonnay Fermentation: barrel fermented Time in oak: 9 months Oak: 55% new French oak pH: 3.29 Total acidity: .79 g/100 ml Alcohol: 14.5% Cases produced: 945 cases Winemakers & Winegrowers: Charles Smith & Stuart Smith
Smith-Madrone 2018 Estate Grown Chardonnay is Highly Recommended by Whom You Know!
Founded in 1971, Smith-Madrone is a pioneer of mountain farming and dry farming in the mountains. The winery is known for its dry Riesling although it also makes Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon and a prestige cuvee, Cook’s Flat Reserve. The winery property is dramatically situated on steep slopes, with dramatic views to the north, east and south. We are absolutely thrilled to resume our coverage of this elite American brand straight from Napa and we have known of their commitment to excellence for over a decade. The winery is a leader in mountain vineyard farming/wine production in the Napa Valley, which includes pioneering dry farming practices on its steep mountain slopes.
Founder, General Partner, Smith-Madrone
Brothers Stuart and Charles Smith are the vineyard managers and winemakers of Smith-Madrone Winery. Also in the family attic is the Fetherolf family, German farmers from the Palatinate region, who came to America on the Good Ship Thistle in 1730. The name for the winery came as a tribute to the Smith brothers who pursued their dream and to the Madrone trees which distinguish the property.
In May 1971, with a partnership of family and friends, Stuart Smith bought the 'terroir' which today is Smith-Madrone Vineyards & winery. He was 22 years old and had just received his B.A. in Economics from UC Berkeley and was taking classes towards his Master's in Viticulture at UC Davis. In trying to find land to plant vineyard in the Napa Valley, through a family friend he explored a forest on the remotest and highest part of Spring Mountain and discovered that the land had been a vineyard in the 1880s and in fact had been part of the wagon trail route between Napa and Santa Rosa. Today he is respected for his expertise and leadership as a mountain vineyardist.
Stuart was born and raised in Santa Monica. While pursuing his master's at UC Davis, Stuart was the first teaching assistant for wine industry pioneers Maynard Amerine and Vernon Singleton in 1970-1971. He taught enology at Santa Rosa Junior College and Napa Valley College; he has chaired the 1986 and 2006 Napa Valley Wine Auctions. He is an active member of the G.O.N.A.D.S. (the Gastronomical Order for Nonsensical and Dissipatory Society), a group of Napa Valley vintners who started getting together for monthly lunches in the 1980s. He served on Napa County's Watershed Task Force for several years, appointed by the Board of Supervisors; in 2006 he was appointed again by the Board of Supervisors to sit on Napa County General Plan Steering Committee, responsible for updating Napa's General Plan, a three year project. Stu also serves as auctioneer for an Omaha (NB) charity auction every year.
Stuart served as Scout Master for St. Helena's (Boy Scout) Troop One for many years and continues as the Troop's Chair today. He is an avid canoeist, having canoed through the Quetico Wilderness in Canada many times and often canoes the Klamath and Trinity Rivers in California. He has five children and four grandchildren.
