I opened a 2012 this evening. Really quite delicious with a lot of complexity.
Initially (30-45 min decant) I thought it had a red fruit profile. After 1-1.5 hrs, that developed to chocolate and black fruit. Now stone is becoming more prominent. Very smooth with super fine grained tannins. An absolute steal of a deal from LB. What a treat!
I could see this smoothing out more in 3-5 years. Yet, I wouldn’t wait to drink it. Enjoy!
I have had two bottles of the 2012. I think it should be consumed NOW. I do not see any benefit to aging it more, unless your palate likes tertiary wines with muted tannins and little fruit. It is at a right stage in the present moment IMO. Interestingly to me, it tasted like it had hints of spice - like it would be a great holiday wine. I don’t know if anyone else picked that up or it’s just me.
I opened a 375ml of the 2007 last week. Double decanted off the sediment and poured into a large Bordeaux glass to let it breathe for an hour. Sipped it over about an hour after that, then poured a second glass, which I left on the counter for 8 hours.
So, 10 hours after the initial opening and double decant, I thought the 2007 was showing significantly better than after the first hour or two of air. The fruit emerged a bit from behind the prominent savory, earthy, forest floor notes to offer a more interesting and pleasing wine to my palate. There’s plenty of structure still, although the tannins aren’t formidable at this point.
I have a magnum of the 2007 too and, based on the 375ml, don’t plan to open it for at least a few more years. When I do, I’ll decant it for at least 8-10 hours if not longer.
Opened a 2004. It’s ready to drink right offf the bat and delicious. Would not pay full price for it, but an absolute steal at $64.
I had the 2013 in a big lineup of wines with a bunch of friends this weekend. Decanted about two hours before serving.
I have only had the 2007 Elivette so far, so nothing to compare it to, but the 2013 was very good. No detailed notes (or any notes, really) but the fruit was there along with a lot of structure. Tasted expensive.
Going to get better? No idea.
A $100+ wine? Not to me.
Enjoyable to drink for $29? Absolutely. All my non-geek friends loved it.
I have two more of these, and won’t try to buy anymore, but if your bottle is sound, it’s a slam dunk at the closeout pricing.
My LB shipment arrived yesterday. Shipped right through the first polar vortex of the season. Can’t make that up. Luckily, most bottles look fine but a few seem to have the cork sitting slightly less deep than others. No real bulging, but still a bit concerned.
Most noticeable on the one 3L bottle but maybe they are like that? Anyone here have a 3L to compare:
I got a 2002 mag that had a slightly elevated cork and some trivial evidence of seepage, so not surprised. Consider yourself lucky if no seepage. But maybe the large formats ended up with cork bulge for one reason or another.
Had a 2005 the other night and it’s wide open for business after 1hr decant. Really balanced and lovely. A steal at the blowout prices.
I have two 3L and both appear to have fine corks with no noticeable raising or depression.
I’m no expert here, so maybe someone else with lots of large format or industry experience can comment, but I believe large format bottles use a larger cork resulting in more compression during closure and some amount of expansion happens no matter what, so on large format bottles, it’s more likely to see a couple mm of cork elevation than it is on small format bottling. Thinking if there’s no seepage, not a ton of elevation, it’s likely not an issue at all.
Had a 2006 Elivette out of a 375 bottle. Very depressed cork that crumbled into a trillion pieces. Strained into a decanter but sediment was rampant. Tasted very oxidized. Oh well. Still have 16 other 750 bottles to try.
Had both the 2011 and 2013 out of 750 recently. The 2011 was a good wine,but the 2013 was clearly a step up. Both brought by party guests; I forget which was which, but 1 was bought at original cost, 1 at a sale price this Autumn.
My 3L corks.
I’d say one is perfect and the other is a hair depressed (but I’d same within standard error of the corking process).
Brought a 2014 on the plane with me to PHX last weekend. Was my 2nd botle of this vintage tasted. Enjoyed by some non-wine drinkers and my wife and I.
Everyone praised this bottle more than the other (all cab sav) bottles we had. I took that as a good sign. The 2014 is definitely more open than some of the other vintages.
Does anyone know what the elevation is at which the grapes are grown for this wine? Is it a high elevation mountain wine for Napa?
Their vineyards range from 400-1600ft per WS article above. At this point the winery is 4 properties combined.
So some would be above the fog line.
I think Smith Madrone sits highest on Spring Mtn at ~2200ft. (Peak is ~2600ft)
Having driven up that mountain many times if memory serves me correct Spring Mountain vineyard is that a lower elevation for the mountain just above the town of Saint Helena. Vineyards like Pride, Paloma and Barnett are at the higher elevations
Consistent with what you said, the entrance to the winery is not very far up spring mountain, but the property is extensive, like over 800 acres or something like that, and they stretch up to much higher elevation. I don’t think they get as high smith madrone, Paloma, or pride for that matter. Long drive up to get to those ones ones and much farther up the hill from the entrance to spring mountain. I don’t know if there is a threshold for something to be considered hillside versus mountain, but I would expect lower vineyards would be considered at a hillside altitude and upper one’s mountain.
800 of land ~200 planted at elevations I listed a post above. It’s not an easy small(ish) plot vineyard like Paloma ~15 acres. It seems to have much more variety in terroir on the mountain from the base (400ft) to above fog line. I would think that’s because of its long history and more modern day acquisitions.
I’ve been to Paloma and Pride but it would be interesting to visit SMV to see the whole range and history.
It sounds like the fires really hit them hard destroying over a dozen structures and access to areas.
Also interesting that the current ownership group quote was that they would listen to offers, but for now they are trying to bring the property back. (Seemingly to increase value?)
That puts some of the thinning in context. Yet I still think selling their stocks seems foolish long term.
I’ll repost the article that was posted above for some history.
Right. Meant property not vineyards!
