WINEMAKER'S NOTES:
This wine leans a bit more French than German, but perhaps it’s more accurate to say that there is a German style in Riesling, a French style and a Smith-Madrone style. However one identifies the various styles, the one thing they all have in common is the unique character that shines through and defines all good Riesling. The wine is a very pale light straw color with a pronounced aroma of apricot, pear, green apple, crushed rocks and the je-ne-sais-quoi that can only be Riesling. Very crisp and lively on the palate, the wine has a deep core of minerality and a citrusy freshness that is simply mouthwatering. The wine is a fine summer thirst quencher, but in its youthful vigor, its real strength will be as a superb companion to that enormous range of international foods for which Riesling is so uniquely suited.
TASTING NOTES:
Year in, year out, this is one of Napa’s most fascinating whites — a Riesling from a true Napa icon, and a genuine rarity in the Valley. Sourced from the winery’s high-elevation, dry-farmed vines atop Spring Mountain, it opens with lovely acacia honey and acacia-wood tones, nuanced by white florals, dried ginger and a faint flicker of that flinty petrol note we all know and love in Riesling. The light-to medium-bodied palate is rife with the fresh, juicy squeeze of lemon, grapefruit and tangerine, framed by the grippy texture of biting into citrus pith and underscored by plenty of zesty acidity. It finishes on a wet-stone mineral snap that keeps the wine vivid and refreshing.
- Decanter, 94 pts.
Preserved Sicilian lemons, sea spray, kerosene and lime blossoms. Such a delicious interpretation of new-world riesling, with some time in the bottle bringing complexity and nuance. The palate is textural and rounded, cut straight through with bright acidity. Long, flavorful finish. Drink or hold.
- James Suckling, 94 pts.
