For the last decade (or more) Smith-Madrone's Spring Mountain Estate Cab has been one of the very best deals in all of Napa. A total sleeper wine, beloved by many in the wine industry. While many of their neighbors took their pricing up and up, Smith-Madrone kept on quietly releasing wines of exceptional quality and authenticity. They never chased a flashy style of wine, with high alcohols, celebrity winemakers, and all the other tricks...they just kept plugging away making traditional, old-school, Spring Mountain Cabernet, knowing exactly what their land gave them and what the true expression of their magical terroir looked like. In fact, out of curiosity I looked back at our historical sales of Smith-Madrone - We've carried just about every vintage of this wine since the 1980 bottling. Back in 2000 we had a run on the 1995 vintage and sold over 1000 bottles of the Estate Cab...and the retail price, 25 years ago, $49.99. So today, when we're offering their 2021 release, with nothing short of two 97-point scores, for an extremely modest $59.95, it gives me great pleasure that not all great Napa wines are over priced and inflated. This wine offers one of the truest expressions of the the varietal you'll find from anywhere. Smith-Madrone's parcellated estate is draped over the mountainside at over 2000 ft elevation. Many blocks are perilously steep and terraced. Many vines date back to the original 1970s plantings. The estate has faced several close calls when wild fire engulfed the hillside most recently in 2020. But the vines still stand resilient and vibrant. The winery itself is as old-school as you might imagine for such a remote mountain property; a visit here is like stepping back in time before all the polished pomp and circumstance that so often accompanies a tasting in the valley these days. The proof as they say is in the pudding, or the bottle in this instance, and that is the real deal. Soaring aromas of lavender, bay leaf, blue and black fruit, mulberry, hints of blackcurrant, briar patch, cigar box tones, mountain chapparal, and spice box. Fine but notable tannins are perfectly wrapped in muscular fruit with wonderful focus and purity. It's a stunning wine, one of the very best I've had from Smith-Madrone, and one that proves if you stay the course, and do what's true to you and your place on the earth, recognition, respect, accolades, and admiration will come. A tiny part of me worries that with the huge scores and notoriety they bring, things will change at Smith-Madrone...but the vast majority of me doubts it very much, and that keeps a smile on my face.

Coming from the tippy top of Spring Mountain, this Cabernet impresses right out the gate. There's something about wines that are incredibly well-structured, while I figure it's all in my head, I feel like I can actually smell that structure sometimes and this one was a wine that from first scent I knew I was in for something special. Plum-skin , black cherry, and green peppercorns fill the nose until they're all accompanied by berry compote and a little bit of fresh leather. The palate is intense and rich, just an explosion of fruit as the berry compote from the nose mixes with freshly crushed pie cherries with a handful of dried herbs and a single rose petal tossed in. The finish is long with touches of cocoa and little wisps of coffee working with the herbs but ultimately ending with oak spice. This wasn't just a wine, it was an experience and it's one to be had and shared with people you love and care about, or just by yourself if you're feeling truly hedonistic. Have this with that rich cut of steak and fat potato that you've been thinking about, it'll be worth the ride.