Stu SmithGeneral Partner, Enologist, Smith-Madrone
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| Stu (right, with brother, Charles and Sam |
Brothers Stuart and Charles Smith are the vineyard
managers and winemakers of Smith-Madrone Winery. Also in the family attic is
the Fetherolf family, German farmers from the Palatinate region, who came to
America on the Good Ship Thistle in 1730. The name for the winery came as a
tribute to the Smith brothers who pursued their dream and to the Madrone trees
which distinguish the property.
In May 1971, with a partnership of family and friends,
Stuart Smith bought the 'terroir' which today is Smith-Madrone Vineyards &
winery. He was 22 years old and had just received his B.A. in Economics from UC
Berkeley and was taking classes towards his Master's in Viticulture at UC
Davis. In trying to find land to plant vineyard in the Napa Valley, through a
family friend he explored a forest on the remotest and highest part of Spring
Mountain and discovered that the land had been a vineyard in the 1880s and in
fact had been part of the wagon trail route between Napa and Santa Rosa. Today
he is respected for his expertise and leadership as a mountain vineyardist.
Stuart was born and raised in Santa Monica. While
pursuing his master's at UC Davis, Stuart was the first teaching assistant for
wine industry pioneers Maynard Amerine and Vernon Singleton in 1970-1971. He
taught enology at Santa Rosa Junior College and Napa Valley College; he has
chaired the 1986 and 2006 Napa Valley Wine Auctions. He is an active member of
the G.O.N.A.D.S. (the Gastronomical Order for Nonsensical and Dissipatory
Society), a group of Napa Valley vintners who started getting together for
monthly lunches in the 1980s. He served on Napa County's Watershed Task Force
for several years, appointed by the Board of Supervisors; in 2006 he was
appointed again by the Board of Supervisors to sit on Napa County General Plan
Steering Committee, responsible for updating Napa's General Plan, a three year
project. Stu also serves as auctioneer for an Omaha (NB) charity auction every
year.
Stuart served as Scout Master for St. Helena's (Boy
Scout) Troop One for many years. He is an avid canoeist, having canoed through
the Quetico Wilderness in Canada many times and often canoes the Klamath and
Trinity Rivers in California. He has five children and two grandchildren; the
family includes a photographer, beekeeper/artist, management information
specialist, up-and-coming winemaker, wine distributor salesman and high school
sophomore.
Smith Madrone Riesling
Beginning with their 1983 Riesling vintage, Smith-Madrone
boldly went where no other American winery would go for the next 17 years – changing
their label from Johannisberg Riesling to the true and correct name – Riesling.
This is just one example of the winery’s commitment to this wonderful and
somewhat overlooked varietal. At Smith-Madrone their goal is to make artisanal
wines which are distinctive and are an expression of both the vintage and the
vintners, but above all else, are wines which bring pleasure to the senses.
Every year Smith-Madrone wine is made from the same
vineyards, pruned by the same people in the same way, cultivated in exactly the
same manner and harvested at similar levels of maturity, yet Mother Nature
stamps each vintage with a unique set of flavors, senses and character. Vintage
dating is a celebration of that uniqueness and diversity.
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