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The 2006 vintage was another interesting and challenging vintage. With the exception of a ten-day heat spell in July the weather was cool and the harvest was long. Spring temperatures were perfect for flowering and the crop rebounded to a more normal level from the miserly production of 2005. We are very pleased with the 2006 Chardonnay.   The color is a very light vibrant yellow, with a wonderful aroma of freshly sliced apples.  The acid level is simply perfect, with a soft middle and fruity crispness at the finish.  The wine is lively on the palate and brings joy to the drinker.  And that, after all, is the first obligation of wine - bringing pleasure to the person that drinks the wine.  Whereas the 2005 vintage was a very large wine, with powerful flavors that dominated, the 2006 Chardonnay is a wine characterized by exceptional balance and elegance on the palate. 

Smith-Madrone’s Chardonnay is grown at the top of Spring Mountain (1,900-foot elevation), west of St. Helena in the Napa Valley.  The vines are planted on very steep slopes (up to 35% slope) in red volcanic soil.  The vines receive only the rain that Mother Nature lets fall from the sky, forcing the vines to send their roots deep into the mountain soil in search of moisture.  This centuries old method of farming wine grapes, known today as dry farming, creates a grape with intense flavor, structure, and finesse. 

At Smith-Madrone our goal is to make artisanal wines which are distinctive and are an expression of both the vintage and us, as vintners, but above all else, are wines which bring pleasure to the senses.