THE WINERY & THE WINEMAKING
The
winery was built by hand from stones and lumber from the property.
A cellar and the main floor house French and American barrels. The
roof of the building, with stunning 360-degree views, is used for entertaining.
Smith-Madrone believes in the premise that great wine can only be made
from grapes of superb quality. Grapes of this quality are the result
of the right site, soil and weather, along with proper management.
The
winemaking is artisanal, meaning that each wine is treated with a minimal
amount of handling and only small lots of each of the three varietals---cabernet
sauvignon, riesling and chardonnay---are made. Since the first vintage
in 1977, winemaking practices have been a blend of the traditional methods
of France and Germany coupled with new techniques developed in California.
Such winemaking processes as barrel fermentation, sur lie aging and open
top fermentations require substantial amounts of hand labor but are essential
to the production of wines of great quality. Less than 5,000 cases of
wine are released each year, similar to Europe's small estate wineries.
