2016 Smith-Madrone Cabernet Sauvignon Spring Mountain District Napa Valley 750 ml

Hard to believe, but it’s been five years.

Five years since our members snapped up the only allocation of Smith-Madrone’s Spring Mountain Cabernet we’ve ever been able to secure—a fast sellout that preceded a flurry of emails from members who’d missed the tiny window. Eventually, those members stopped venting… and started emailing about when Smith-Madrone would be back. 

They never stopped, and from early 2016 until now, the answer has pained us as much as it has our members: We simply couldn’t get another shot at Smith-Madrone. The only thing we knew was that we’d never give up.

Today’s the day we can finally blow the top off, because we’ve inked a massive Cabernet coup: Straight from the winery’s cellar, we’ve got an allocation of Smith-Madrone’s 2016 Spring Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon—estate-raised in Napa Valley's 98-point 2016 season and carefully stored at the winery ever since.

This is not just a back-vintage Cabernet from one of the finest producers in Napa Valley and one of the region’s best seasons ever—it’s one of the quintessential Cabernets grown on unique, sought-after Spring Mountain soil. If you already love Smith-Madrone, then you know. If you’ve never had the pleasure of tasting Smith-Madrone but you love Pride Mountain and Keenan, then this is an absolute must for your cellar.

Thanks to our anticipation, the bar was set high—but this Cabernet didn’t even graze it. The wine vaulted way over it with intoxicating aromas of fragrant black cherry and plum, accented with subtle hints of licorice and cassis. Generous and majestic on the palate with red and black fruit, cocoa, and layers of graphite, the Cab has put five years in the cellar to good use. The mountain tannins are softening a bit, and carrying a ton of complexity as they make their way to a lengthy finish.

Just last winter, Decanter held a retrospective tasting at Smith-Madrone, which the magazine believes “have never grabbed as much attention as they should.” Such a tasting is an unmistakable nod of respect, basically a lifetime achievement award, and in the writeup that followed this one, the publication summed up why they and California Cabernet lovers are so enamored with Smith-Madrone. 

“In many ways, Smith-Madrone is a throwback to an era before wineries resembled Tuscan villas, before cult Cabernets cost $500-plus a bottle, and before Ferraris lined streets in St. Helena far below.”

We don’t mind ogling the occasional villa or Ferrari—but that second point hit the bullseye for us. Throwback prices. Just take a look at the Decanter Cabernets that scored at or above Smith-Madrone in the 2016 vintage. If you find one bearing a two-digit price tag, you’re lucky. If you find one whose price is closer to $50 than to $100… well, then you’re probably looking at Smith-Madrone.

That value is why Smith-Madrone has remained a favorite of smart buyers, with most of their relatively small production of estate Cabernet Sauvignon going to local collectors and a handful of top restaurants in NYC and San Francisco. It’s certainly easier to find a bottle today than it used to be, but founders Stu and Charlie Smith still seem more than content to hunker down on the mountaintop, as far away as possible from the critics and the flashy scene in the valley below. But the critics have found them. So have savvy collectors.