2022 Smith-Marone Cabernet Sauvignon – Keep Your Eye on This One!
Photo ©Michael Kelly
Background
Opened this bottle last evening to enjoy a delightful meal. Was expecting a top-notch wine as I had previously tasted their 2021 vintage. What transpired was a wine that exceeded my already high expectations. 2022 Smith-Madrone Cabernet Sauvignon was fragrant, fruit forward and soft going into the palate, yet once there, burst forth with intense dark fruit flavors and brute strength with perfectly enjoyable tannins – a joyous surprise.
The Winery
Photo from vineyards looking east with Napa Valley below and Howell Mtn across the valley. Photo ©Michael Kelly
Smith-Madrone Vineyards is located on 200 acres on top of Spring Mountain west of St. Helena with 38 acres planted in vineyards. The vineyard elevation ranges from 1,300 to 2,000 feet.
Stuart on the left and Charles on the right Photo ©Michael Kelly
The founder, managing partner and enologist is Stuart Smith, Charles Smith is the winemaker, and the associate winemaker is François Bugué. Truly a family affair! All the wines are estate and dry-farmed on top of the mountain. Currently their production is approximately 6,000 cases a year. They produce Chardonnay, Riesling, Cabernet Sauvignon and their iconic Cooks Flat (blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc).
Photo ©Michael Kelly
For detailed information on the winery and unique trellis system, you can read the story from a previous visit at:
https://californiawinesandwineries.com/2024/08/14/smith-madrone-vineyards-paradise-found/
The Wine – “Wine is bottled poetry” – Robert Louis Stevenson
Photo ©Michael Kelly
This wine is their second Cabernet Sauvignon vintage since the Glass Fire in 2020 during which they produced no Cabernet Sauvignon. A story truly reminiscent of The Phoenix!
Photo ©Michael Kelly
On the eyes a deep penetrating purple and crimson coloring. In the glass, medium heavy viscosity. Then on the nose fresh red cherries burst in the olfactory senses with a violet scent. Once on the palate, luscious and impactful red and black berries filled the mouth with a bold and brawny yet caressing flavor with a secondary note of blueberries and light vanilla pipe tobacco. At the finish a strong bold tannin showed the pedigree of this vineyard with their angularness and robustness. The minerality was also noted. This is why I believe this youthful wine will appreciate and improve with aging over the next 12-15 years. The complexity of this wine is astonishing with flavor and character.
The wine consists of 81.5% Cabernet Sauvignon and 18.5% of their award-winning Cabernet Franc. The wine is grown on their hillside estate being non-tilled and sustainably farmed. The wine was aged for 18 months in 50% new French oak. The wine came in at 14.2% alcohol with only 1518 cases being produced and priced at $70/bottle, a remarkable bargain for this quality.
This wine just made my annual list Best Wines Tasted for 2026. Only 2-3% of the 1800 wines tasted during the year make the list which comes out in December each year. My suggestion is to garner 4 or more bottles and have one now and every 2-3 years open another, if you can wait that long!
Photo ©Michael Kelly
The Food and Wine Pairing – “Food without wine is a corpse; wine without food is a ghost. United and well matched, they are as body and soul: living partners” – Andre Simon
Photo ©Michael Kelly
Paired this evening with a specially ordered, over a pound filet mignon steak, that was split with my wife. It was BBQ’ed and then seared at 1500 degrees and served medium rare. Served with a French Blu Cheese, butter and chive compote. Accompanied by a Yukon Gold potato and large artichoke. A delicious meal and the wine could have easily gone with a marbled ribeye steak also.
Here is where the Smith-Madrone shined with its fruit forwardness making it a wonderful flavor to the BBQ steak with strength and boldness enough with tannins to “cut through” the meat to making it a delightful meal.
Sláinte,
Michael Kelly