SF Chronicle Wine Competition

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	2 GOLDS AT SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE WINE COMPETITION FOR SMITH-MADRONE'S MOUNTAIN-GROWN WINES St. Helena, Spring Mountain, Napa Valley, California, February 2002---Smith-Madrone Vineyards & Winery was awarded a gold medal each for its 2000 Riesling and 1999 Chardonnay at the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition in February, 2002. "Congratulations to Smith-Madrone for its gold medals! The San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition is one of the top ten wine competitions in the country for the number of entries. We salute Smith-Madrone for their excellence in winemaking," said Bob Fraser, the Competition's Executive Director. The Riesling has a national suggested retail price of $17.00 and only 692 cases were made. The Chardonnay has a national suggested retail price of $25.00; only 942 cases were made. Also currently available from Smith-Madrone is the 1999 Cabernet Sauvignon ($35.00), with 1,675 cases made. Smith-Madrone's wines are available to the winery's mailing list customers [call 707/963-2283] or at selected retail outlets. The winery's website will be up in March with extensive background: www.smithmadrone.com. These wines---and all the other award winners---can be tasted at the San Francisco Chronicle's Wine Competition Tasting on March 16, 2002 from 2-6:00 p.m. at Herbst Pavilion at Fort Mason Center in San Francisco. More information is available from 415/441-3687 or www.winejudging.com or www.chroniclecalendar.com. Tickets are $35.00 in advance from all Ticketmaster locations or online at www.ticketmaster.com. Tickets at the door---if available---will be $50.00. 1999 CHARDONNAY The wine's appellation is Napa Valley and the sub-appellation is the Spring Mountain District. The vines are 27 years old and are entirely dry-farmed mountain vineyards. The wine is 100% Chardonnay, 100% barrel-fermented and spent 18 months in new French Marchive oak barrels. The alcohol is 13.4%. Smith-Madrone's Chardonnay vines are planted on their own roots, in red volcanic soil, on slopes up to 35% on top of Spring Mountain. The wine has a complex floral perfumed aroma, blended with just a hint of toast and lemon. The wine is full, smooth, soft and round on the palate. 2000 RIESLING The wine's appellation is Napa Valley and the sub-appellation is the Spring Mountain District. The vines are 29 years old and are entirely dry-farmed mountain vineyards. The wine is 100% Riesling. The alcohol is 12.2%; the total acidity is 0.82 grams/100ml; the pH is 3.09 and the residual sugar is 0.9%. Smith-Madrone's Riesling is grown at the very top of Spring Mountain (1,800 foot elevation), just west of St. Helena in the Napa Valley. As with the Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon, Smith-Madrone's Riesling vines are planted on very steep slopes (up to 35%) in red volcanic soil. Very pale in color with green highlights around the edge, this vintage of Smith-Madrone Riesling has intense and powerful aromas unique to Riesling, including undertones of freshly picked apricots and peaches. The wine is soft and smooth on the palate, with an intense fruitiness and a long dry finish. 1997 CABERNET SAUVIGNON The wine's appellation is Napa Valley and the sub-appellation is the Spring Mountain District. The vines are 26 years old and are entirely dry-farmed mountain vineyards. The wine is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon. The alcohol is 13.4%. The wine was aged for 26 months in new small American oak barrels; it was neither fined nor filtered. A dark red ruby color, the aroma is complex, full of black cherries, crushed violets, nutmeg and a hint of mint. This is a Cabernet anchored by a firm structure yet with few of the astringent tannins often associated with robust mountain wine. Packed in the center with deep Cabernet fruit, the wine finishes with a long flourish of fruit and oak seamlessly combined. THE WINERY Smith-Madrone is a family-owned estate winery dedicated to producing fine wines exclusively from its own vineyards, founded in 1971 with the purchase of 200 acres on top of Spring Mountain west of St. Helena in the northern Napa Valley. The winery enjoys dramatic views of the floor of the Napa Valley and the Sierra Nevada Mountains in the distance, as well as of its own steep dry-farmed vineyards. At elevations between 1,300 and 1,800 feet, the vines flourish in red, rocky volcanic soil [Aiken loam], which is well-drained and friable. In exploring the property before purchasing it, Stuart Smith discovered old grape stakes interspersed with the forest's tall trees, evidence of a vineyard planted in the 1880s and abandoned with the onset of Prohibition. The name for the winery came as a tribute to the Smiths who pursued their dream and to the madrone trees which distinguish the property.
	© 2010 Smith-Madrone Vineyards & Winery

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