#KeepingAmericaonTop #ChampagneWishes 2019 Smith-Madrone Cabernet Sauvignon by Mover and Shaker Stu Smith Earns Whom You Know's Highest Recommendation
It's not who you know, it's WHOM YOU KNOW and we know Mover and Shaker Stu Smith. We interview some people online and never meet them, but when we first started many years ago, Stu actually came to New York from California and took Peachy out to dinner at a restaurant called My Peach in French! Recently they celebrated their 50th Anniversary, and for all serious oenophiles, you absolutely need to have this label in your collection.
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, which we showcase today, 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. We love brands like them that wanted to work with us way before social media and influencers even existed, and that continue to work with us to the present. Smith-Madrone is a leader in mountain vineyard farming/wine production in the Napa Valley, which includes pioneering dry farming practices on its steep mountain slopes and they make all of America proud.
In an age where new world wines are not always as highly regarded as old world wines from Europe, Smith-Madrone sets the standard for quality and attention to detail, yielding tremendous results which were unanimously approved by our panel.
We call on talents that are respectively the best in their fields from academia to culinary pursuits, and we found this 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon absolutely robust and perfection on a standalone basis. Peachy thinks it should be its own food group and of the wines by Smith-Madrone recently considered, this was her favorite. Though it is substantial, it was vastly approachable with notes of black fruit and some panelists felt it was even evocative of bell peppers and tobacco.
We suggest you properly decant this spectacular sensation prior to imbibing in your glasses!
It is not in nearly enough Manhattan restaurants and we know we have enough of them reading today to bring this shortcoming of theirs to attention: if you want more visits from Peachy, you ought to have this wine!
Sub-Appellation: Spring Mountain District
Farming: Non-till, estate-grown, sustainably farmed mountain vineyard
Varietal content : 83% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Merlot, 12% Cabernet Franc
The 2019 Smith-Madrone Cabernet Sauvignon Has Earned Our Highest Recommendation.
Time in oak: 18 months in 55% new French oak
pH: 3.56
Total acidity: 6.8 g/l
Alcohol: 14.3%
Cases produced: 1,523 cases
Winemakers &
Winegrowers:
Charles Smith & Stuart Smith
You cannot beat the simplicity of wine and cheese when it is at this level of quality in particular. The 2019 Smith-Madrone Cabernet Sauvignon has a memorable flavor on your palate. A world-class beautiful smooth red, this Cab makes every day a celebration. We paired it with cheeses and strip steak and to be honest we commend the versatility of this wine because even with lighter fare it is a perfect match. Though the days here on the East Coast are getting warmer up north, opening up a bottle of this when the sun sets is the ideal conclusion to a great day, making it even better. It would be absolutely sensational all winter long as well and bring you to Stu's Napa. When people tell you that a more expensive wine is better, sometimes it is not always true.
Smith – Madrone Cabernet Sauvignon is necessary to have in your wine cabinet!!
The aroma of the 2019 Smith-Madrone Cabernet Sauvignon immediately hits you with a
luxurious combination of blue/black fruit. Cassis, black cherry, marionberry and black plums
dominate. Dig in a little deeper and you will find subtle hints of black pepper, graphite, black
olives and a range of spices. An experienced taster should also be able to identify the signature
quality that 12% Cabernet Franc lends to this wine’s seductive nose.
Medium weight on the palate, this is an exceptionally lively and elegant wine, loaded with
delicious dark fruit. While not as tightly structured as the 2018, the 2019 Cab is more
forthcoming and forward. It is bright, creamy and plush at mid-palate, then slowly tapers off to
a long, lingering finish that is both succulent and zingy. It is a completely lovely wine that
qualifies as serious fun in a glass.
Their Spring Mountain pedigree insures deliciously integrated tannins and a long life-span. For
fifty years these elite wines have been sourced from the same vineyards, pruned, cultivated and
harvested in the same manner, creating artisanal wines which are distinctive and complex by the original founder with the overriding goal of producing wines which bring pleasure to all the senses. They have succeeded.
The 2019 Smith-Madrone Cabernet Sauvignon Has Earned Our Highest Recommendation.
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.
