2021 Smith-Madrone Spring Mountain District Riesling

Year in, year out, this is one of Napa’s most fascinating whites — a Riesling from a true Napa icon, and a genuine rarity in the Valley. Sourced from the winery’s high-elevation, dry-farmed vines atop Spring Mountain, it opens with lovely acacia honey and acacia-wood tones, nuanced by white florals, dried ginger and a faint flicker of that flinty petrol note we all know and love in Riesling. The light-to medium-bodied palate is rife with the fresh, juicy squeeze of lemon, grapefruit and tangerine, framed by the grippy texture of biting into citrus pith and underscored by plenty of zesty acidity. It finishes on a wet-stone mineral snap that keeps the wine vivid and refreshing. (JC)