September 2003

Dear Friends,

Two things stand out as I've traveled the Country promoting Smith-Madrone wines this past year. The first is how many people come up to me and say what a wonderful time they had when visiting Smith-Madrone "but it was the other guy with the beard, yes, it was Charley that showed us around." The second is how many folks say what a wonderful website Smith-Madrone has - and no, I didn't have anything to do with that either - my wife Julie Ann and her childhood friend Julia Gittes Belshaw of J.RED DigitalArts did it all. If you haven't checked it out, please do: cruise over to www.smithmadrone.com: we are regularly adding our news and opinions! You can find me this December 7 at Yosemite's Vintners Holiday wine tasting at The Ahwahnee Hotel. It's lots of fun and you should plan on attending. There is more info on that at www.YosemitePark.com or 559/252-4848.

This past year we presented three of the best wines that any winery, from anywhere, could possible present to their customers. Not to be too dramatic but, if you combine all three of our wines (1999 Cabernet Sauvignon, 2000 Chardonnay, 2001 Riesling), we have won 10 gold medals. Not many, if any, other wineries can say that! And while the 1999 Cabernet Sauvignon isn't 'loaded' with gold, it very well may be the most successful wine we've ever produced. At a tasting held for wine industry professionals our 1999 Cabernet 'won' the tasting which included both Chateaux Margaux and Haut Brion. The majority guessed that the 'winner' was the Chateau Haut Brion, when in fact, it was the Smith-Madrone.

Not to put too fine a point on this medal business or become too emotional, but after 33 years in business we're finally getting the recognition I think we deserve. As you all know, we at Smith-Madrone believe that what's in the bottle is more important than the packaging or the marketing. So thank you very much for supporting our goal of making great wines by purchasing them! And, just to make sure you're current on other coverage of our wines--the August issue of The Wine Enthusiast has a section on Riesling, which includes this:

"Napa Valley still has a champion of the varietal in Smith-Madrone. Their 2001 vintage is crisp with concentrated flavors of apples, lime and minerals, encased in fine acidity, steely and sleek--it is off-dry, but the acids are so good, the wine feels dry in the mouth."

We have two new wines and one older wine to offer you:

2002 Riesling: This wine has already won its first gold medal - at the recent Orange County Fair. This represents the sixth vintage in a row that our Riesling has won a gold medal at a major wine judging in America. Similar to the 2001, this vintage is dry, but lighter and more delicate, with just a tad more acidity. The crop was down by a third, but the price stays the same. 747 cases, $17 per bottle.

2000 Cabernet Sauvignon: This is the first year that we have blended Merlot and Cabernet Franc with our Cabernet Sauvignon. As you know, we don' t purchase other people's grapes. Every wine we make is estate grown, so it' s taken some time from getting the permits, to planting the vineyard and then waiting for the new vineyards to mature. The Cabernet Franc vineyard was planted in 1996 and the Merlot vineyard was grafted in 1998. The 2000 Cabernet Sauvignon has a very deep dark red color, with a wonderful Cabernet cassis fruity aroma that lingers on the palate providing a kaleidoscope of powerful mountain Cabernet flavors. The wine needs some aging to soften the tannins and then will be just wonderful. For those who like big mountain red wines, don't miss this one. What can I say: gold medal with 94 points at the California State Fair! 1,400 cases, $35/bottle.

1997 Riesling: As many of you know, we love older Rieslings and believe that aged Rieslings are the equal of any equally aged Cabernet Sauvignons or Pinot Noirs. To that end we have held back some of our Rieslings in order to re-release and share them with you. This program will not be automatic with every vintage; we will select one of our Rieslings only when the wine is at least five or six years old and meets our standards for great quality. The wine has been stored in our underground cellar from the day it was bottled and has a residual sugar of 1.6%. It won a gold medal, Best of Class of Region at the 1998 California State Fair. It is truly a great glass of wine. Unfortunately, we must limit your purchases to only three bottles. $50 per bottle.

An addendum: This past winter we opened many of our older vintages of Riesling. Our 1977 Riesling at 25 years old was marvelous. Age the Rieslings and drink the Chardonnays!

Lastly, it appears that shipping wines to our out-of-state friends is becoming more and more permissible as the courts are ruling in favor of consumer rights to inter-state commerce.

Hooray and Salud!

Stuart and Charles Smith