2019 Smith-Madrone Chardonnay Spring Mountain District Napa Valley 750 ml

Perched high up on Spring Mountain, Smith-Madrone practically defines “classic Napa.”

The conditions on their high-altitude property are one of a kind. The vines, which were first planted in the early 1970s and are completely dry-farmed—a real rarity in Napa Valley—sink deep into the red volcanic soils, where they struggle in search of water and nutrients and yield small, concentrated grapes. The result is a remarkably powerful and intense Chardonnay. 

Smith-Madrone Chardonnay is barrel-fermented and aged in 55% new French oak—made basically the same way every year since the estate’s founding—and the 2019 displays the broad richness and seductive fruit that characterize Napa’s very best Chardonnays. 

Smith-Madrone sits on backbreaking slopes between 1,300 and 2,000 feet in elevation. In the early 1970s, Smith studied his Spring Mountain landscape for a year before deciding to plant a small patch of Riesling on an east-facing slope, Cabernet Sauvignon on flatter stretches facing south and west, and this Chardonnay on the coolest, north-facing hillside.  

The red volcanic soils are rocky and rugged, a stressful environment for vines to live in, and that’s exactly how Stu Smith wants it. He’s famous for providing no irrigation whatsoever, a practice that yields intense flavor-bomb grapes.

In most cases, this kind of pedigree would and could merit double the price, but that’s not the Smith-Madrone way. As Decanter wrote in a piece celebrating the winery’s 50-year history, “The Smiths are proudly old school in their winemaking philosophy, the age-worthy, balanced wines they make, the reasonable prices they charge, and the homely way they welcome visitors.” 

This is a true Napa classic that every white-wine lover should have in their cellar.