Cabernet Sauvignon Reviews

Planet Grape, August 27, 2016, Fred Swan

93 points

2012 Cabernet Sauvignon

Elegant nose of mocha, dry leaves, black currant, boysenberry and mineral. Medium body with enough juiciness and fine, chalky texture for a decade or more of aging, though the wine is very drinkable now. Excellent, berry-focused length. Perhaps one of Napa’s best values in Cabernet. 


http://winereview.planetgrape.com/newworldwine_reviews/2012-smith-madrone-cabernet-sauvignon-spring-mountain-district-napa-valley/

GrapeExperiences, Cindy Rynning, August 24, 2016

Long rich finish

2012 Cabernet Sauvignon

From the Spring Mountain district in Napa Valley, Smith-Madrone has inspired me once again to appreciate and find well-priced wines from this iconic region. Estate grown and bottled, I found aromas of dark, rich blackberries, ripe plums, and cherries, all of which were jam-worthy, and a touch of vanilla. On the palate, notes of more dark berries, chocolate, black pepper, and herbs were woven with structured tannins, bright acidity, and a long, rich finish. Decant and fire up the grill…this find will be just what you need with that barbecue. 


http://www.grape-experiences.com/2016/08/elegant-wines-every-budget/

The Corkscrewer Report, September 2015

92 points

2011 Cabernet Sauvignon

A knockout value from an independent and under-the-radar winery even though they have been around since the early 1970s and have enjoyed widespread critical praise. Masculine but quietly so, with lengthy and lithe flavors of blackberry, blueberry, mocha and cigar box. This is an athlete dressed in a classy dark suit. A great way to experience the unique pleasures of a Napa mountain Cabernet without breaking the bank.    


http://corkscrewerreport.com/best-of-napa-sonoma-wines-2011-2013-vintages/

NapaFoodandVine, August 16, 2016

Delicious

2013 Cabernet Sauvignon

It has a nose of oak and summer berries. There are very soft tannins which are pleasant on the palate with a flavor of forest floor, cloves, and those summer berries. Delicious. I thought it was priced very reasonably for the quality and the character of the wine.


http://napafoodandvine.com/2016/08/16/smith-madrone-winery-and-vineyards-tasting-notes-post-100/

Tasting Panel Magazine, August 2016

93 points

2012 Cabernet Sauvignon

Grilled meat and dark chocolate soil are the richness that sweeps you into its coffee bean and chocolate licorice middle. Statured, with grainy tannins on tiptoes, as rhubarb, ash and blue fruit keep it polished and strong all the way.


http://digital.copcomm.com/i/711402-august-2016/69

Susan Spinello, LiveLeft, July 12, 2016

Terroir-driven, meaty Cabernet Sauvignon

2012 Cabernet Sauvignon

A hidden gem and the perfect wine for your barbecue.  Open up and decant while you wait for your medium rare ribeye or peppercorn crusted lamb to grill.  Rich red and black fruit with notes of savory clove and smoky cigar box.  Mocha, black pepper and green olives show on this terroir-driven, meaty Cabernet Sauvignon, yet like all the Smith-Madrone wines tasted, it is well balanced with a lingering finish.


http://www.liveleft.com/napa-and-sonoma/

Nancy & Peter Brazil, PullThatCork, July 18, 2016

Ample blackberry, long lasting finish

2012 Cabernet Sauvignon

Exhibits ample blackberry and plum flavors with interesting herbaceous backnotes and damp earth. The finish is juicy and very long lasting. I love this wine. I look forward to tasting this wine over time as it evolves in the bottle. 


http://pullthatcork.com/2016/smith-madrone/

BiggerThanYourHead, June 30, 2016, Fred Koeppel

Charles and Stuart deserve a Nobel Prize for consistency and integrity

2012 Cabernet Sauvignon

Brothers Charles and Stuart Smith deserve a Nobel Prize for consistency and integrity. Making their Smith-Madrone wines using the same methods every year and allowing the vintage to speak through the grapes, they produce chardonnay, riesling and cabernet sauvignon wines on Spring Mountain that embody ideals of realism, individuality and location. The color is dark ruby from stem to stern; notes of dried sage and rosemary, briers and brambles, cedar and tobacco leaf are etched on intense elements of ripe and dried black currants, raspberries and blueberries, all balanced on a well-oiled vehicle of graphite and granitic minerality. On the palate, the wine is — no surprise — lithe and sinewy, bolstered by dusty, slightly velvety tannins and vibrant acidity. The finish is long and lean and laden with chiseled flint-like minerality. Excellent. 


http://biggerthanyourhead.net/2016/06/30/whither-napa-valley-cabernet-xi-a-twelve-pack-miscellany/

Food and Wine Magazine blog, by Carson Demmond, June 21, 2016

A great example of how Napa expresses terroir

2012 Cabernet Sauvignon

Here, you have unmistakably Californian fruit, but the winemaking style is so restrained that it's a great example of how Napa expresses terroir. They’re located in Spring Mountain, so it’s a structured, tannic wine, but if you throw it into a decanter before throwing some sort of steak or rich meat on the grill, it opens up so nicely. It’s savory and a little smoky, and it strikes that balance of red and black fruits, with just a hint of rusticity. It’s such a good wine.


http://www.foodandwine.com/blogs/best-wines-stock-your-bicultural-home

Wine Enthusiast Magazine, July 2016

93 points

2012 Cabernet Sauvignon

Grown on the producer’s 1,800-foot-high, dry-farmed property west of St. Helena from 40-yearold vines, this is a great wine, structured and elegantly designed to highlight cassis, clove and cigar. Thick, heady tannins soften in the glass, allowing room for enviable structure and a black pepper-dotted finish. 


http://www.winemag.com/buying-guide/smith-madrone-2012-cabernet-sauvignon-spring-mountain

Gargantuan Wine, by Jonathan Lipsmeyer, May 24, 2016

A wine that wears its 14.3 ABV nobly and beckons you to keep drinking

2011 Cabernet Sauvignon

A wine that wears its 14.3% ABV nobly, and beckons you to keep drinking until there’s none left. The 2011 Smith-Madrone Cabernet Sauvignon had an inviting, pungent bell pepper aroma on the nose, and a proper texture — a bit young and spiky, clearly able to age, and not so suave that it feels like the vinous equivalent of some guy in a tacky suit with gelled hair (and loud cologne). The youthful grip leads to a sweet plum midpalate that later finishes with flecks of white peach and licorice. A very nice wine; and I really wish I could have aged it much longer. The nose really reminds me of a 2000 Figeac tasted 5 years ago, but without the suave texture that followed on the palate, which naturally accompanied that wine’s longer time aging in the cellar.e areas that can support it, particularly along the Oakville Rutherford Bench. In the mountains up here at Stony Hill, we have redwoods, Douglas fir and huge oak trees, which is an indication that we have a soil that can support dry farmed grapes.... if you’re typically a drinker of Old World wines who won’t touch Napa Valley with a ten foot pole — or someone who pines for old California Cabernet — the dry farmed wines of Spring Mountain will dazzle you.


http://gargantuanwine.com/2016/05/escape-to-spring-mountain/?subscribe=opted_out#blog_subscription-2

Creators Syndicate, Robert Whitley, March 8, 2016

95 points, a gorgeous wine

2012 Cabernet Sauvignon

95 points: Even at this price, Smith-Madrone cabernet remains one of the Napa Valley's greatest values. The 2012 is a gorgeous wine that shows ripe aromas of cassis and blackberry, with firm tannins and exceptional depth and length. Drink now or in 20 years — or anytime in between.


https://www.creators.com/read/wine-talk/03/16/a-family-affair

HomeBarLifestyle, February 2, 2016

Hedonistic and captivating

2012 Cabernet Sauvignon

Hedonistic and captivating, the flavors of this wine stay long and strong on the palate with its silky and fruity tones. Notes of cocoa and blackberry niggle their way onto your tongue and aromas reminding you of a cedar cigar box hover around your nose. Finishing with a slight touch of acidity, the tannins add wonderful texture and body to it. The finishing flavor is replete with mocha and dark berry. This showy Cab is intense and resonant leaving you with a sense of quiet power.


http://homebarlifestyle.com/home-bars/best-cabernet-sauvignon-under-50/

The Armchair Sommelier, Kirsten Georgyi, February 15, 2016

92 points: Smith-Madrone makes precise wines with a keen integrity of place.

2012 Cabernet Sauvignon

The nose is cranberry, currant and grandma’s cedar chest (which happens to be one of the best smells on the planet, btw).  There’s a black-fruit freshness up front, followed by flavors of mint, cigar, and pine. Great structure and balance (absolutely nothing pulling my focus). Balance can be a slightly esoteric concept in wine evaluation.  It’s one of those you-know-it-when-you-taste-it kind of things, and I’m tasting it. This is exactly the uniqueness and diversity of vintage Stu talks about.  


http://armchairsommelier.com/2016/02/15/napa-valley-spring-mountain-district-day-with-smith-madrone/

Vinography, Alder Yarrow, February 1, 2016

Elegant mouthful

2012 Cabernet Sauvignon

I enjoyed the much leaner style of the Smith-Madrone Cabernet, whose more savory qualities make for a restrained and elegant mouthful….Dark garnet in color, this wine smells of black cherry, green herbs, and pipe tobacco. In the mouth, black cherry, crushed green herbs, black pepper, and carob flavors turn decidedly earthy as leathery tannins enclose the fruit. Very good acidity keeps the fruit lifted and juicy through the long, earthy finish


http://www.vinography.com/archives/2016/02/vinography_unboxed_week_of_jan_7.html

Rockin Red blog, Michelle Williams, February 3, 2016

A beautifully crafted Napa Valley Cabernet

2012 Cabernet Sauvignon

Deep ruby with inky violet hues in the glass; aromatics meet the nose with savory herbal notes, eucalyptus, and a touch of dusty earth, followed by rich red and black berries and plums, spice notes, toasted cedar and a touch of cassis; rich and round in a restrained old world style on the palate, well balanced acidity with dusty tannins pleasingly coat the mouth; full body; wonderful long, dry finish; aged 18 months in French oak barrels; 1790 cases produced; an absolute steal at $48 SRP! This wine paired elegantly with pepper coated rib lamb chops with sweet potato puree and roasted chopped Brussels sprouts. Wow! A beautifully crafted NV Cabernet; one of my favorites! 


http://rockinredblog.com/2016/02/03/smith-madrone-bottling-that-peaceful-easy-feeling/

The Daily Meal, January 26, 2016

One of the very best Cabernets in Napa Valley at any price

2013 Cabernet Sauvignon

Year after year this is one of the very best cabernet sauvignons in Napa Valley at any price. Hints of cigar box, red cherry, and black pepper notes show up on the engaging nose. The palate is rich and layered with proportionate fruit flavors. Cherry and bits of cassis are of note. Earth, savory herbs, and a host of spice join continued red fruits on the long, persistent finish. You could pour this wine for any special occasion; it’s so good everyone will think you splurged. But for the incredibly reasonable price, why wait? Drink it on a Monday night with leftovers and treat yourself to this outstanding wine.


http://www.thedailymeal.com/drink/what-drink-every-week-year-52-wines-2016-slideshow/slide-51

Wine & Spirits Magazine, December 2015

91 points, one of year's best U.S. Cabernets

2012 Cabernet Sauvignon

Minty and tense, this is a narrow vintage of cabernet from the heights of Spring Mountain. There’s black-fruited flesh to it, along with pine forest scents that make it both rich and skinny (can a wine ever be too skinny and too rich?). A potent, youthful cabernet, this is built for the cellar. 



Wine & Spirits Magazine, December 2015

93 points, one of year's best U.S. Cabernets

2011 Cabernet Sauvignon

Stu and Charles Smith planted 20 acres of vines in 1972. Given the remoteness of their site, on steep slopes rising to 2,000 feet, they decided to plant without rootstock. Nearly two acres of the original cabernet vines still survive, now part of a 34-acre, dry-farmed vineyard producing riesling, chardonnay and cabernet sauvignon. This wine, ripened above the fog line, feels untroubled by the cool, late 2011 harvest. In fact, it feels saturated with brisk Pacific air, with deep flavors of black currants and the spicy scent of the redwood forest that surrounds these vines. The texture is gentle, without an overt sense of tannic extract, the wine’s intensity built on cool-ripened fruit.



BiggerThanYourHead, by Fredric Koeppel, January 9, 2016

Excellent

2011 Cabernet Sauvignon

Chosen as one of Fredric Koeppel's 50 Great Wines of 2016.


http://biggerthanyourhead.net/2016/01/09/50-great-wines-of-2015/

Decanter Magazine, February 2016 issue, by Adam Lechmere

94 points

2010 Cabernet Sauvignon

Vibrant blue fruit on the nose then a fresh and savoury palate with ripe, perfumed damson, finely structured tannins and refreshing acidity. 



Hawk Waka Waka Wine Reviews, January 3, 2016

One of the treasures of Napa Valley

2012 Cabernet Sauvignon

Beautiful aromatics of cedar and herbs carry into a palate of iron and spice with mixed dark fruit. The Smith-Madrone 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon carries a surprising composure – ample flavor on a moderate body with a supple-while-snappy backbone of tannin. Mouthwatering acidity balances through a long finish. This is a young, taut wine today that would benefit from a few years in cellar.

Alternatively, it opens significantly on the second and third day with the fruit that sits behind the herbal elements on the first day stepping decidedly to the fore. For those familiar with Smith-Madrone’s green and lean 2011 Cabernet, the 2012 is a completely different animal. The brothers tout the by-vintage character of their winemaking and the Cabernet serves as a perfect illustration of that truth.


http://wakawakawinereviews.com/2016/01/04/why-i-love-smith-madrone/

California Grapevine, January 2016

Highly recommended

2012 Cabernet Sauvignon

Medium-dark ruby; fragrant, herbal, cassis, black cherry, and blackberry fruit aroma with hints of green olive and bell pepper; full body; herbal, cedary, red and black fruit flavors that are nicely balanced; full tannin; lingering aftertaste. Approachable now and worthy of further bottle aging. Highly recommended. 



Eater.com by Daryna Tobey, December 21, 2015

Lots of personality, holds its own next to wines twice its price

2012 Cabernet Sauvignon

Eater decided to taste through Napa's top 2012 Cabernet Sauvignons available today, and below, the best bottles—from big and modern to classically styled—at a variety of price points. Smith-Madrone’s 2012 Cabernet is made from dry-farmed grapes grown at an elevation of 1,800 feet, at the top of Spring Mountain. This medium-bodied wine has lots of personality: Bright blueberry and blackberry notes on the nose are edged in tea and fresh herbs. In the mouth, bright berry and plum notes are framed in the flavors of pencil lead, tobacco, and black olive. Ripe and textured on the mid-palate, this wine closes with hints of toast and thyme. It holds its own next to wines twice its price.


http://www.eater.com/drinks/2015/12/21/10631634/napa-valley-best-cabernet-sauvignon

Napa Valley Then & Now by Kelli A. White

One of the very best 2011s

2011 Cabernet Sauvignon

One of the very best 2011s, the Smith-Madrone is utterly gorgeous, with a complex nose of red apple skin, crushed flowers, dried herbs, freshly ground nutmeg and a stately pine. The palate is surprisingly ripe and rich, but with an extra touch of lift and focus. The long, spicy finish is elegant and racy. Superb.


http://www.napavalleythenandnow.com/
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