Smith Madrone Estate Chardonnay 2019

100% Estate Grown am Spring Mountain District; 14,6 % vol; keine Bewässerung; vergoren in Barriques, 9 Monate Ausbau in Französischer Eiche (55% neu); 1153 Kisten produziert.
Empfehlungen: Burgunderglas, beispielsweise von Zalto; unbedingt Dekantieren; nicht zu kalt servieren; hält sich geöffnet, im Kühlschrank gelagert, bis zu einer Woche ohne Probleme.
- Notizen des Weinguts: Bright notes of citrus, orange blossoms, stone fruit and minerality combined with just a touch of yeasty/toasty to make for a fine lead into a lively, zingy palate filled with succulent acidity. This wine is wonderfully refreshing on its own but would be a great food wine for anyone who is a fan of the crisper, drier more balanced style of Chardonnay. Our 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. 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 our soils of today. All our wines are made entirely from our dry-farmed estate vineyards surrounding the winery on top of Spring Mountain in the Napa Valley. 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.“

- 96 Punkte Wine Review Online, Rich Cook: „Wow! A unanimous “wine of the night” with my tasting group (an extremely rare feat). THIS STUFF IS FABULOUS. Apple, mixed citrus, nectarine, and soft vanilla dance beautifully together through a long, zesty finish with big push – it literally has a two-minute post taste presence. The vintage allowed for Champagne-like acid numbers combined with optimal ripeness, and the Smith brothers are more than happy, as always, to let the vintage be what it is. Don’t hesitate to buy this by the case!“

- Decanter - Bericht über Chardonnays (05/2024): „While Napa is Cabernet country, the historic Chardonnays of Stony Hill, Kongsgaard, Smith-Madrone and a few others are undeniably some of the valley’s top wines.“

- 95 Punkte DECANTER Clive Pursehouse: „The Smith-Madrone Chardonnay over-delivers again with the 2019 bottling. This is one of the finest Napa wines in existence for $45. Rich, showy aromas of honeyed pear, candied ginger and a rich lemon cream eschew oak for purity of fruit. The palate is mouthwatering in its depth of flavour and flashes complexity and refinement. Rich lemon curd, beeswax and lanolin are accented against notes of nutmeg, cardamom pod and petrichor. It is gorgeous in its depth yet with ample elegance and finesse. A joyous wine that promises to develop further complexity with bottle age. Drinking Window: 2023-2033“

- 95 Punkte  James Melendez, Youtube (07/2023): „family owned and operated, handsome place to grow grapes. Mild gold color; apple, quince, nutmeg on nose; on palate, character of Granny Smith, mineral and more.“

- 94 Punkte, Jeff Kralik, The Drunken Cyclist (01/2024): „Responsible bottle. Under cork. Sample tasted in Houston. Certainly yellow and on its way to golden in the glass with boatloads of lemon curd and a bit of an herbal note (sweet basil) curiously on the nose. The palate is rich and luxurious (but short of being the dreaded cougar juice) with plenty of lemon creme pie balanced with an incredibly zingy tartness and more than a hint of oak. Sure, this is a bit of a throwback to the “classic California” Chardonnay style, but boy, is it delicious. Weighty but also lithe, big but also deft, tart but also round. What else could one want? Outstanding.“

- TASTING PANEL MAGAZINE, Michael Franz (01/2023): "Only 1,153 cases of this high-end wine were made, but it will prove worth any needed searching for lovers of intensely flavorful Chardonnays. Aged in 55% new French oak, it is very spicy and toasty, but the fruit’s concentration and energizing acidity are up to the task of producing a beautifully balanced wine. It is thoroughly enjoyable now, but this will be even more complex and finely integrated if you can summon another four years of patience. Beautifully balanced wine.”

- Stephen McConnell, Wine1percent (02/2024): „A CLASSIC California Chardonnay, seamless and packed with goodness from start to finish. A bit golden, a nose churning with tropical and earthy fruit nuances and showing definite signs of age here at merely 4. I’m not going to go down the *premox* road here, but the polish this wine shows hints at a *settling down* into almond-paste and–albeit gritty–decadence surprises this reviewer–considering the source. Oh don’t get me wrong: there’s a shock of acid and even tannin belieing any assumptions of short-lividness, but some of the essences seem a bit progressed. On the palate, the acid hits acrid points throughout, squashing any thoughts of dilapidation and age-worthiness. Green-bitter melds with buttery richness in a yin-yang seesaw exposing outliers at each range. Chalky and dry, the beauty of pure chard berry transferring through at each point of consideration. It’s not an easy wine to criticize, but it’s a painless wine to love. I guess what I’m trying to say is: blind, I would put this bottle at a few more years than the label decrees. The finish though. The finish glorifies the perfection in Chardonnay and why we love this variety–despite its wide range of styles across several continents. It’s not Chablis… I mean, we’ve been through this before. It’s straight-up California Chardonnay: there’s no denying the elegance and extravagance concentrated within. Spring Mountain strikes again.“

- Joe Campbell, The Wine Bulletin: „Light gold in color with flavors of lemon, pear and a touch of toast. Crisp, refreshing with bright acidity.“

- BiggerThanYourHead, Fredric Koeppel (01/2024): „Remarkable intensity and resonance, while remaining light, bright and appealing. Slightly brassy medium-gold hue; lemon oil and spiced pear, a notion of lightly baked pineapple and grapefruit, and a hint of crème brûlée; a few moments in the glass unfurl touches of jasmine and honeysuckle and insinuating notes of quince and crystallized ginger; the primary driver of the wine is the momentum toward exquisite, even risky balance among all elements; lip-smacking acidity poised with an ethereal texture, lovely citrus and stone fruit; the almost subliminal oak influence seamlessly coexisting with chiseled limestone and flint minerality; in all, a profoundly beautiful chardonnay that embodies and reflects all the advantages and exigencies of its mountain-side vines. Now through 2029 to ‘31. Exceptional. About $45, representing, for the quality and price, a Great Value.“

- Michael Chelus, Nittany Epicurean 12/2023): „This wine is 100% estate grown chardonnay from Napa's Spring Mountain District. It was both fermented and aged for nine months in French oak barrels (55% new). The wine comes in at 14.6% ABV. The wine showed a yellow color. Apple, candied orange zest, cedar, lemon and oak all arrived on the rich nose. Granny Smith apple, candied orange zest and dried apricot carried the theme of luxury to the palate supported by notes of lemon, honey and oak. The wine exhibited great acidity and minerality. It was light-bodied and demonstrated great length. This wine would do well as an aperitif or paired alongside roast Cornish game hens.“

- 94 Punkte International Wine Review: „Medium yellow-platinum straw. This mountain vineyard Chardonnay expresses ripe fruit in a restrained style. The nose offers subtle orchard fruit and hazelnut aromas. The mouthfeel is crisp and fresh, offering nicely focused line of rich, integrated orchard and stone fruit and integrated oak along with bright, lemony acidity. 14.6% alc.“