Smith Devereux Wines

Smith Devereux. The story of this winery begins with co-founder Ian White. Early in his professional career he was a writer working for Lonely Planet, at one point covering 28 states in an RV – describing his experiences as “a million first dates but never getting a kiss”. Such is the life of the avid explorer and guidebook writer – always seeking experiences for content, but never able to fully immerse oneself for very long in a single destination. These folks are hard-wired to keep moving and a fear of missing out is certainly an integral part of their personality. We know this well; we are one of them.

Ian grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and recalls driving to Napa Valley with his family, accompanying them on trips specifically to pick up their wine club allotments at various winery release events. It was during these trips that he fell in love with what he refers to as the “pastoral environment”; even at a young age he pondered the idea of someday owning a vineyard.

One day while jogging with Todd Sotkiewicz, the President and General Manager of Lonely Planet at the time, Ian mentioned he was spending more time in Napa Valley. Todd encouraged him to start writing about his experiences in the region, focusing on wine related content. Ian found a new passion – becoming a storyteller and a wine writer – because when you write about wine, invariably the story becomes the accompanying intrigue. He pursued his writing, ultimately becoming Wine Country Director for Metropolitan Media, responsible for wine related content for their 7×7 Magazine and website. He has also written for a number of respected publications including Wine Enthusiast, Napa Sonoma Magazine and Napa Valley Life among others.

During an interview with musician Mat Kearney for an article he was writing for Wine Enthusiast magazine Mat astutely asked Ian if he ever would like to be on the other end of the ‘story’, rather than always telling other people’s stories. Perhaps this was a foreshadowing reference to Ian one day owning his own wine brand. Mat also offered one of his executive contacts at Whole Foods should Ian ever want to pursue winemaking.

Mat introduced Ian to his manager at the time Steve Smith who is well known in the music world for his talents managing artists and strategic partnerships. Both bonded over their shared love of music and wine; incidentally, Ian plays guitar in a band called High Noon – their album Miles & Miles is available on iTunes.

While sharing an office space with vintner John Anthony in downtown Napa and hearing John continuously negotiate grape growing contracts with buyers, one day Ian offered to buy all the grapes from the Davidson Ranch in St. Helena; this was one of the vineyards John was managing. Remembering Mat Kearney’s earlier offer, Ian called him, and Mat immediately put him in touch with the executive at Whole Foods.

Rather than Ian becoming another client, John suggested a partnership in which the three men create their own wine together. They decided to call their new label, J.W. Thomas Wines – taking the first initial in John’s name and the first initial in Ian’s last name. The name also paid homage to the downtown Napa restaurant in business at that time, ‘The Thomas’ where they met when they decided to create this label. And ultimately, they were able to secure a contract with Whole Foods.

Through Mat’s music connections, they created a number of other labels with various artists including Brett Dennen and one of Hawaii’s most popular artists, Amy Hānaialiʻi Gilliom. Ian recalls how Dennen wines were founded. He was at lunch with Steve attempting to converse with him, but Steve was on the phone the entire time. Then one of Ian’s favorite songs started playing by Dennen and Ian told Steve to put the phone down. Steve randomly informed him that he was on the phone with Dennen. Crazy coincidence? Yes.

Ultimately Ian met Brett and decided to create several wines together including the Vacationer California Rosé (tied in well with Brett’s Vacationeer titled tour in 2017) and the Charismatic Fool Sparkling Rosé. Originally the Dennen wines were bottled under their own name – today they are exclusively bottled under Smith Devereux.

And the first night that Ian met Amy Hānaiali’i (Hawai’i’s top selling female vocalist of all time), the conversation invariably turned to wine. Ian discovered that she enjoys Merlot – the conversation drifted towards the possibility of someday making a wine under her own name. Two days later Ian received a call from a prominent distributor ready to eventually sell Amy’s wine, despite the fact the grape source had not yet been identified and no wine had yet been produced. Today Hānaiali’i is distributed and sold primarily in Hawaii.

Eventually running into confusion when people saw the J.W. Thomas label, the partners began fielding questions such as, ‘who is JW and who is Thomas’, they decided to change the name to Smith Devereux, combining Steve’s last name (about an American a name as one can find) with a name of French heritage, Ian’s middle name is Devereux. All partners are actively involved; Ian handles the day-to-day business operations and hospitality, John oversees and secures their vineyard sources and Steve helps promote the wines through a variety of events.

And winemaker Brett Adams rounded out their efforts for several years but is no longer their winemaker. Adams was previously at Trinchero, Sequoia Grove Winery and Honig Winery.

When Ian and John were examining direct to consumer options for marketing their wines – they discussed the possibility of opening a tasting room. It was Ian who broached the idea of creating a tasting room that combined elements of both music and wine. Brought to fruition with input from all three partners, JAM Cellars opened in downtown Napa in May 2016.

JaM Cellars tasting room stays open late some nights and becomes less like a tasting room but more like a lounge and a neat place to hang out with friends after other tasting rooms and wineries have long since closed. Local architect Richard Vonsaal was hired to create the interior design with some basic words of advice from John, “make it cool”. Richard has certainly done this from the disco ball in the ceiling to the Rolling Stones “cover wall” to even a separate room which doubles as a recording studio. Plenty of seating is inside including at the bar, lounge style couches and tables.

While the wines of Smith-Devereux used to be poured at JAM Cellars, their wines are no longer available at this tasting room. Vineyard visits are now hosted exclusively by Ian at a vineyard located just north of the city of Napa.

Select Wines
The Smith Devereoux wines are from diverse vineyard locations from within Napa Valley and other parts of California, are remarkably priced (including their Napa Valley wines) and stylistically are crafted to be very approachable in their youth but have simultaneous age-worthy characteristics. They are wines always with personality, are balanced and

Whites
The 2023 Smith Devereux Sauvignon Blanc, The Magic SB Blend. In case your wondering about the SB in the name, that refers to the initials of Ian’s two boys, Sonny & Benjamin. This wine is medium straw in color; playful and highly aromatic the bouquet offers a lightly tropical aromas of pineapple, guava, passion fruit, honeysuckle and a note of tarragon and fennel. It is not green or grassy nor is it overtly tropical. At a refreshing 13.4% alcohol, this wine is a fully ripe expression of the variety. On the palate there are flavors of pineapple, nectarines, peaches, ripe honeydew melon, Oro Blanco grapefruit (this flavor is fresh in our mind as we harvested and enjoyed several of these recently from our own tree) and white pomelo. The mouth feel offers a rounded and silken texture which glides over the palate as softly as resting one’s head on a velvet pillow. The acidity is bright but balanced. This refreshing bottling is dangerously drinkable by itself and doesn’t necessarily need the company of food. A gathering of good friends around a pool on a warm summer late afternoon, though, that would be our idea of a pairing with this easy-drinking wine.

The 2016 Smith Devereux Napa Valley Chardonnay is the color of dried straw; the bouquet smells inviting – like standing underneath an orange tree in bloom with enticing aromas of lemon meringue pie, honeysuckle, and hazelnut complementing the citrus nuances. Rounded on the palate, its texture is somewhat oily with flavors of popcorn, melting butter and nuances of mineralities and toasted hazelnut on the finish. Drinks very well by itself. 700 cases of this wine were produced.

Reds
The 2022 Smith Devereux No. 3 California Red Blend is deep ruby and nearly opaque; it is a blend of three varieties. The bouquet is not shy in the least in terms of both its dark fruits and its influences from its barrel aging. These scents include ripe blackberry, boysenberry, dark cherry, Satsuma plum and blueberries. The initial hit of toasted oak and old cedar box dissipates somewhat as the wine opens and evolves in the glass and becomes more chocolate like with additional scents of Graham cracker, dark cocoa powder, and coffee grinds. Like the bouquet there is plenty of fruit on the palate with both red and dark fruited flavors of plum, cherry, blackberry, boysenberry and currant. A thread of bright acidity runs the length of the palate. It finishes savory with notes of dried tobacco leaf, assorted dried herbs including smoked sage, bay leaf, thyme and a persistent note of smoked cedar plank. Finishes juicy. the light textured tannins are well integrated. This is an everyday red wine that will pair well with a diversity of everyday foods including pizza, pasta, steak and hamburgers.

The 2021 Smith Devereux IBEX Single Vineyard Merlot is from the Oak Knoll District. This wine is deep ruby and opaque; highly aromatic the powerful bouquet sings with a vibrant tone filled with fruit including scents of ripe Santa Rosa plum, blackberry, boysenberry and dark raspberry with light notes of mocha and toasted cedar. Generous on the palate, its character is built on the back of intense flavor, lively acidity and tons of texture. If there ever was a Napa Valley 100% varietal Merlot for Cabernet Sauvignon enthusiasts – this is a great candidate. Its noteworthy heft is certainly a result of the vineyard, but also partially a result of this exceptional vintage. On the palate there are dark fruited flavors of blackberry, dark cherry, boysenberry, dried sage, dust and a persistent note of dried tobacco leaf. Surprisingly fresh. The grainy and gritty tannins fully coat all parts of the palate and linger in tandem with the fruit, with neither giving way for quite some time. This highly age worthy bottling is well worth seeking out.

The 2021 Smith Devereux Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, Nancy’s Single Vineyard (Oak Knoll District) is 100% varietal. It was aged for 26 months in French oak barrels. This wine is deep ruby and nearly opaque; the bouquet is an attractive union of both primary fruit aromatics and secondary barrel influences. But the fruit dominates. These scents include red and black cherry, dark raspberry, blackberry jam, Persian mulberry and cassis tagged with layers of dark chocolate, tobacco, cocoa powder, mocha and vanilla. Expressive, bright and balanced, the palate is a union of red and darker fruits. Its flavors include red cherry, currant, plenty of plum, blueberry and dark raspberry. Juicy and mouthwatering, the finish lingers red-fruited, with a slight tart character, pink peppercorn along with grainy and lightly pixelated tannins. We want a well-marbled cut of Wagyu steak and a BBQ, please.

The 2014 Smith Devereux Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is a lighter style Cabernet Sauvignon which is surprising considering its hillside fruit sources are both Howell and Diamond Mountain). But its style is influenced by the winemaking. During fermentation it sees less time on the skins and a short maceration. Aged in neutral oak, the focus of this wine is all about the fruit on both the bouquet and palate rather than additional oak influences. As Ian says, “it is a wine that won’t punch you with the oak”. It is highly aromatic with aromas of blackberry, raspberry, rhubarb and a hint of baking spice and chocolate. Shows a pleasing softness on the palate with plenty of flavor including red cherry and raspberry and a hint of mocha on the finish. Offers a liveliness of fruit with very well integrated tannins; this textural feel on the finish is perhaps more like a wine that has been aged for some time. But it is also a product of the vintage in Napa Valley; the 2014 bottlings in general were highly approachable in their youth.

Philanthropy Wines
In addition to the Smith Devereaux wines, production also encompasses limited philanthropy bottlings including wines produced with artists and celebrities. Part of the proceeds from sales of these wines are used to support charities and foundations including cancer research. Often creative blends are bottled including the crowd pleaser, but very unorthodox non-vintage red blend called Mischief dominated by Pinot Noir; just don’t expect to identify this as a Pinot Noir in a blind tasting.

Uncommon is a wine associated with drummer Kenny Aronoff and is crafted by the team at Smith Devereaux. 10% of profits from this wine are donated to Alaina’s Voice Foundation. Alaina Housley was shot and killed in 2018 at the Borderline Bar in Thousand Oaks California while she was a freshman attending Pepperdine College. Her foundation fights sensationalism of media reporting on mass shootings and supports several mental health awareness organizations. Alaina was raised in Napa Valley.

The 2021 Uncommon Meritage is deep ruby/purple and nearly opaque in the glass; color is not a problem with this particular bottling. It is a blend of 50% Cabernet Sauvignon and 50% Merlot. It was fermented for 21 days on the skins and then aged for 14 months in 50% new French oak barrels. The bouquet is ripe, dark fruited and floral featuring scents of violets, lilacs, lavender, dark plum, blackberry, blueberry and boysenberry. Other layers include dust, a light note of white pepper, tobacco, old cedar box and dried herbs including sage. As it opens, it evolves further, it opens to note of mocha. This wine in particular at this age shows particularly well after its had time to fully open. As layered on the palate as on the bouquet, its flavors include dark plum, plenty of bramble notes including blackberry and boysenberry and dark cherry. The wine finishes savory with lasting notes of crushed pink peppercorn, dried sage, a dusty character that is almost chalklike. The texture features lightly grainy and gravely tannins fulling coating the mouth. The alcohol is a listed nearly 15% but this wine doesn’t show as ‘hot’; its bright acidity provides a refreshing lift from the entry through to the back of the palate. We would love to pair this with beef brisket or BBQ short ribs covered in a dry rub with an assortment of spices.

Looking to add something fun and introduce a healthy competition to their wine making, Ian and Steve created the Smith vs. Devereux Project – a single barrel of wine that each craft and bottle individually, available only to wine club members. Sold at the same price point, you be the judge of who wins this competition. And for every vintage, Ian and Steve choose to pair their respective wines with a particular song and a specific food.

A beautiful 9-year-old brandy called Gran Paradiso, aged in a Smith Devereux IBEX Single Vineyard Merlot barrel (some of the wine color is seen in the brandy). Only 300 bottles of this liquid velvet were produced, and are primarily sold to wine club members.

In 2024 Napa vintner and owner of Napa Valley Distillery, Arthur Hartunian in conjunction with Napa Valley vintner, Ian White and TV personality (Dancing with the Stars) and Ukrainian activist Maks Chmerkovskiy, created Tetya, a handmade premium vodka. Ian is also in the wo-person band called Rhodes Devereux with Jefferson Lee Rhodes. This band focuses on alternative rock, country and americana music. Their debut single was called FOUND.

In terms of a wineries’ carbon footprint, the greatest impact is with glass bottles. Smith Devereux is very careful about the size of their glass bottles, choosing a lighter weight Grade A bottle for their wines and etching labels rather than adhering paper labels. Total production is around 4,000 cases a year. For more information, to purchase wine, to arrange a vineyard tour, or to join the mailing list or one of their wine clubs (membership grants access to wine club only limited production wines), visit: www.smithdevereux.com