Although the Spring Mountain region above St. Helena has been a good site to grow grapes dating to the 19th century, Prohibition in the first half of the 20th century took its toll on the area’s vineyards. When brothers Charles and Stuart Smith decided to buy 200 acres there in 1971, only a few growers remained on the Mountain.

First there was Fred McCrea, who planted grapes on Spring Mountain in 1943 and started his winery, Stony Hill, 10 years later. That same year, School House Vineyard planted Pinot Noir on top of the mountain, where it straddles the Napa and Sonoma County line. Pete Minor had been growing grapes here since ‘66 eventually opening his Ritchie Creek Winery. Two years after that, Fritz Maytag, the scion of the Maytag washing machine company and the same family that produces Maytag blue cheese, planted a vineyard and started York Creek Vineyard. And finally, Yverdon (now Terra Valentine) began operations in ’70, and Jerry Draper was farming a vineyard from which Beaulieu sourced some of his Cabernet for its Georges de Latour Reserve.
 
So, there are but a few who know Spring Mountain’s terroir exigencies as do the Smith brothers and their Smith-Madrone Winery. There aren’t many in the Napa Valley either, who plant their Cabernet grapes next to their Riesling. In fact, there aren’t many that plant Riesling at all. Riesling was once the preferred white grape in the Napa Valley, but there aren’t many plantings remaining. Much of what’s left is on Spring Mountain.

Charles Smith admits that he was influenced by the white wines from Stony Hill, which became his neighbor, and by Draper and his Cabernet that went to BV. So, in ’71 he and his brother borrowed $72,000 to pay for 200 acres and seven years later, Smith-Madrone was born.

The Smiths have 45 acres in Cabernet, Cab Franc, Merlot, Chardonnay and Riesling and they’ll be planting an acre more of Cab Franc and 2½ acres of Merlot, which will be blended into their Cabernet-based wine; and they will also be putting in another 2 acres of Riesling, which will bring the total of that variety to eight. In all, Smith-Madrone produces 4,000-5,000 cases per year.

I wanted to know more about the Spring Mountain appellation; and I was also curious about why Charles Smith and his brother think that Riesling is a viable variety on the mountain, and if he thinks Riesling will make a comeback.