2012 Smith-Madrone Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Spring Mountain 750 ml

2012: 94pt Smith-Madrone … When the Critics Came to Spring Mountain

Smith-Madrone is perched on backbreaking slopes between 1,300 and 2,000 feet in elevation. In the early 1970s, Stu Smith studied the Spring Mountain landscape for a year before deciding to plant a small patch of Riesling on an east-facing slope, Chardonnay on the cool-facing northern hillside, and 13 acres of Cabernet Sauvignon on flatter stretches facing south and west. Determined to mimic the dry farming protocol of Bordeaux’s Left Bank, Smith nursed his mountain Cabernet vines to maturity without a drop of irrigation.

At first the plants struggled during the hot Napa Valley summer. But as the roots spidered deeper and deeper into the volcanic substrata seeking out precious water reserves, the plants began to flourish. Yields were small, barely two tons per acre. Berries were tiny with great concentration at comparatively low sugar levels. High skin-to-juice ratio made for Cabernet Sauvignons of deep color, suave texture, and Pauillac-like age-worthiness.

For nearly three decades, Smith-Madrone has remained one of Napa’s best-kept secrets, with most of the 1,500-2,000 cases of estate Cabernet Sauvignon sold to local collectors and a handful of top restaurants in N.Y.C. (like Daniel Boulud’s group) and San Francisco. And while it’s easier to find the entrance to Smith-Madrone today than it was when we first visited the Smiths in 1982, Stu and Charlie seem more than content to hunker down on the mountaintop, as far away as possible from the critics and the flashy scene on the valley below.

But as word spread of what we believe to be one of the most extraordinary 2012 mountain Cabernet Sauvignons at ANY price, Stu and Charlie Smith didn’t have to seek out the experts. Instead, the critics came to the top of Spring Mountain.

The 2012 Smith-Madrone Cabernet Sauvignon Spring Mountain is opaque purple in color. Exquisite and precise aromas of crushed black and red fruits, violets, tobacco, and Pauillac graphite. Rich, weighty, intensely concentrated yet still perfectly poised and — for the moment — somewhat restrained, packed with blackberry and black raspberry, braced by ripe, sturdy mountain tannins. This is a stunning effort from Stu and Charlie Smith, the rare Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon that would feel perfectly at home in a lineup of 2012 Classified Growth Pauillacs.

94 points from Antonio Galloni, making the 2012 Smith-Madrone Estate the highest-rated under-$50 Cabernet Sauvignon of this monumental vintage. Go figure. $48/bottle. The last 16 cases are up for grabs.