The first clue was this gorgeous and mysterious cave entrance I drove by just before I got to the winery. Charlie Smith, who welcomed me to the winery and showed me around, says it's an old pre-Prohibition relic. They were making wine on Spring Mountain over a hundred years ago, he reports; further evidence of activity up on the hill way back when can be seen in these ancient olive trees that reside in the midst of their 200 acre property. They, too, are more than 100 years old.

Here's a closer look at the beauties. Takes a long time for olive trees to get that big!

One of Napa's better known mountain appellations, Spring Mountain AVA comprises 8,600 acres of territory - of which just about 2,000 are planted to vines - situated between 400-2,600 feet above sea level on the western side of the Napa Valley above the town of St. Helena. Views from many of the vineyards on the east-facing slopes of the Mayacamas Mountains are spectacular - as this pic, taken at Smith Madrone of the floor of Napa Valley below - attests.

The most popular vinous offerings from celebrated Spring Mountain wineries including well known names like Cain and Pride are Cabernet Sauvignon-based. But, surprisingly, the real story at Smith Madrone had to do with the white wines I tasted. Specifically, the 2004 Chardonnay and the 2005, 2001 and 1995 Rieslings were all amAzing. More about them later.

Here's a picture of Charlie Smith, who makes the wine at Smith-Madrone. Charlie is fantastically entertaining and highly quotable; I found myself jotting down funny things he said throughout my time there. A sampling: on why wine undergoes a funky period often referred to as "bottle shock" just after bottling: "wine is like a nice lazy dog - it just likes to lay around [in the barrel]." And, about the freaky looking tools hung up on the wall next to the tasting table, "those are for our S&M room downstairs."

And, I was tickled to discover later when I looked at the Smith Madrone website that Charlie is a world-class croquet player. From the site: "Charles Smith... currently holds the World Croquet Federation record for the longest single game: at the World Championships in Newport, Rhode Island in 1992, he played a 7 1/2 hour match against the Japanese champion, which, thankfully, he won."

Funny, that never came up during my visit.

What DID come up, however, was a lot about winemaking, old Napa, and life in general. Charlie's something of a philosopher, a fact evidenced in this charming sign he has hanging up next to barrels in the winery. "We are all mortal until the first kiss and the second glass of wine. - Eduardo Galeano." I mean, COME ON. How great is that?!

Now, back to the wines. The 2004 Smith Madrone Chardonnay, aged for 10 months in 100% new French Oak and made from 100% estate grown fruit, was my favorite wine of the entire Napa trip. It. was. simply. fabulous. Charlie reports that they've gone back to a "big" style and are using malolactic fermentation and lees stirring - the whole nine yards - in making the stuff.

I certainly tasted lotsa caramel and hazelnut you'd expect from good French oak, but I also got lovely apricot, kiwi, peach, pear, banana and honey flavors that could only come from the fruit. There was a lovely burst of acidity on the mid-palate that made all the other big-ness of the wine totally okay - delicously in balance, in fact. They made about 1,000 cases of the stuff, which clocks in at 13.7% alcohol and retails for around $27.00. TRY IT!

Now, the '05 Riesling, also from estate fruit. WOW. Here are my tasting notes, verbatim: "nose: grapefruit, flowers! like a buncha lilies. Also that green quality, like sugared grapefruit and honeysuckle; mandarin orange. Candied lemon zest, honey, apricot." When I read Charlie the notes he was thrilled, because apparently they use a German yeast that makes the stuff smell like grapefruit. 12.9% alcohol, .9-1% RS.

Observing my enthusiasm, Charlie reached for something still more special next: a bottle of the 2001 Smith Madrone Napa Valley Riesling, which won Food & Wine Magazine's 2003 award for best Riesling under $20. More golden in color than the '05 thanks to bottle age, the stuff was fabulous, just fabulous. The nose was redolent with layer upon layer of all sorts of different stuff, from candied citrus and marzipan to petrol, orange zest, clover, melon and baked apricot.

The palate was unexpectedly restrained, however, with very zippy acidity given the stuff's age. Green apple and lemon squirt dominated the mix, and I certainly agree this stuff will continue to improve with age - up to 10 years, even. Charlie reports they're going to re-release some of it exclusively to their wine club in about 18 months - something I certainly think worth joining for.

We went on to taste the '95, which was showing cantaloupe, the same sugared lime and grapefruit qualities, as well as tropical fruits like banana and kiwi. YUM. Did I mention that Riesling is my favorite variety? Basically, I was in heaven.

Here's a final pic of Charlie, who, if you look very carefully, is sillhouetted in the giant doorway of his winery, chatting to someone outside. Inside, I was savoring one of his amazing Rieslings and thinking that, if this is the kind of kindness, hilarity and genuine sincerity you could expect from every winemaker in Napa I'd be here even more. What a treat.

Some additional pics: the very orange-bright volcanic soil prevalent at Smith Madrone, old-ish Merlot vines - look at those rocks!, the tasting table.

www.smithmadrone.com
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