2024 Honorary Winery

In 2024, the vinNEBRASKA Foundation Board is honored to recognize and thank our long-time friend, auctioneer, and phenomenal wine maker

Stu Smith of Smith-Madrone. 

Stu has been involved with vinNEBRASKA since the very inception of our event, bringing his amazing wines and graciously leading our auction each year. 

Be sure you shake this man’s hand and thank him for his commitment to our organization and the amazing charities we work with each year!

Smith-Madrone is one of Napa Valley’s pioneer estates. It was founded in 1971 by Stuart [and Charles] Smith. In many ways, Smith-Madrone is a throwback to an era before wineries resembled Tuscan villas, before cult Cabernets cost $500-plus a bottle. Stu and his brother Charlie are proudly old school in their winemaking philosophy, the age-worthy, balanced wines they make, the reasonable prices they charge, and the homely way they welcome visitors. The winery is the tasting room. The guides are the Smith brothers, or Stu’s son Sam, who is now assistant winemaker. What makes Smith-Madrone so compelling is its authenticity in a glitzy place devoted to image maintenance. After nearly 50 years, this is still a small estate winery whose reds and whites reflect the beliefs of two men who don’t tone down their opinions, whether controversial or not. Though respected, the Chardonnay, Riesling, and two Cabernets rarely make trophy lists and have never grabbed as much attention as they should.

-Excerpted from article in Decanter magazine.

On May 14, 2021 Smith-Madrone launched a year of 50th anniversary celebrations. It was on May 14, 1971 that founder Stuart Smith signed the paperwork to close on the purchase of 200 forested acres on top of Spring Mountain in the Napa Valley.

“It was in the fall of 1970 that I first walked the dense forested property that would become Smith-Madrone,” Stu Smith explains. All that remained of the original vineyard planted in the 1880s were small redwood grape stakes and a towering allée of olive trees competing for sunlight with the 100-foot tall Douglas fir trees.