Exterior shot Cakebread Cellars
When most people think of the Napa Valley today, they may think of a wine-oriented “Tomorrowland” of sorts, filled with high-tech wineries that took millions of dollars to build.
Cakebread Cellars is humble in comparison to these corporate owned showcase wineries.
Established in 1973, Cakebread is one of the few family-owned and operated wineries that continue to thrive in the Napa Valley.
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Producing limited cases of wine a year, they retain something of a “boutique winery” status. Yet the name is well-known enough to coveted by the top restaurants in London and other international cities.
Recently, Bruce Cakebread came to New York City to showcase new and classic vintages of his family’s many wines, and tell some fascinating stories of how it all came to be.
California Oak Trees Dot the Landscape in this Black and White Scene Outside of Napa, California
1972: Jack and Dolores Cakebread
Founder Jack Cakebread is a noted photographer. One day, while shooting photographs for Nathan Chroman’s "Treasury of American Wines," Jack and his wife Dolores Cakebread stopped by to visit their friends the Sturdivants at their expansive ranch in Rutherford, now classified as an American Viticultural Area (AVA) in the Napa Valley.
Napa Valley winery direction sign
After the visit, the Cakebreads learned the ranch was for sale. Though they had never really thought about transitioning their lives, the Cakebreads were very impressed with the ranch and its potential to grow wine grapes.
So the Cakebreads made an offer to buy the ranch. Once the offer was accepted, they planted the grapevines.
The rest is Cakebread family and Napa Valley history.
Vineyard and Cabernet Sauvignon grape cluster
Cakebread Cellars Today
The two sons of Jack and Dolores Cakebread, Bruce and Dennis, are at the helm of the family business today.
Bruce is Co-owner and Board Member. It was in 1979 when he first joined the family business as winemaker, upon graduation from UC Davis.
Today Stephanie Jacobs has that position, the fourth winemaker in the family’s 40+ year history. Lise Asimont is Director of Vineyard Operations. Quite a challenging position as she must oversee the detailed viticulture plans for the 580 acres encompassing fifteen estate vineyards. This is in addition to managing contract grower relations.
Though Cakebread is known for the excellence of their “estate fruit” (fruit grown on vineyards they personally own), because of market demand some fruit they use for their wine needs to be purchased by “contract growers.”
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A contract grower is a person, family, or other entity who owns their own vineyard, but does not have an intention of making wine from that fruit. Their objective is to sell the grapes. And in this scenario, Cakebread’s Lise Asimont must ensure that the fruit from these contract growers is top quality.
It is for this reason that managing contract growers is so important. As a general rule, a person overseeing this important duty for a winery must visit contract growers often and diplomatically ensure the best quality is delivered.
Brown bear (Ursus arctos) standing on his hind legs in the spring forest
Cakebread’s Dancing Bear Ranch
One of the top vineyard properties Cakebread owns is curiously named “Dancing Bear Ranch” in the Howell Mountain AVA in northwestern Napa Valley.
Howell Mountain is extremely rural and remote. To visit a winery in this AVA, drivers must be prepared to endure many twists and turns on narrow, mostly dirt roads.
Wild branches of trees may smack on windshields and scrape at car doors.
Yet Howell Mountain produces some of the best Cabernet Sauvignon based wines in the Cakebread portfolio.
Vineyards on the Dancing Bear Ranch are planted in dry, rocky volcanic soils between 1400 and 1800 feet in elevation, with 360 degree exposure at the top of Howell Mountain.
Close up of glasses of wine on a table during a wine tasting
How Dancing Bear Ranch Got Its Name
Almost every vineyard around the world has its own unique pests, insects, and animals that can compromise the harvest.
In South Africa, for example, it’s baboons.
On Howell Mountain, bears are the problem.
They are attracted to sweet, ripe fruit.
Vineyards and foggy mornings highlight this view of California's Napa Valley wine country.
Solutions to the Bears
After the bears first started to eat the grapes just about to be harvested, the Cakebread family tried to figure out ways to stop them.
Having heard that loud music could be a deterrent to animals, they installed speakers in the vineyard and cranked up the Salsa music.
The Cakebreads came out one night to see how their deterrent was working out.
They were surprised to see the bears “dancing” to the music …
… it was far from the deterrent they expected.
Realizing that nothing would deter the bears from snacking on delicious Howell Mountain grape berries, the Cakebreads decided to simply start the harvest as soon as the bears began to eat the grapes.
Bokal of red wine on background of male sommelier appreciating color, quality, flavor and sediments ... [+]
Three Classic Dancing Bear Ranch Vintages
During the dinner Bruce Cakebread offered a taste of three classic Dancing Bear vintages.
The newly released 2016 Dancing Bear Ranch was delicious, a great example of small-lot, handcrafted winemaking. Winemaker Stephanie Jacobs captured the intense mountain character of the fruit, while using her arts to give the wine velvet tannin.
In contrast, the 2012 Dancing Bear Ranch had the stamp of its classic, spectacular growing season on it. The wine was characterized by a pleasant dense texture and aromas of bright black cherry.
Now the 2006 Dancing Bear Ranch was truly spectacular, retaining vivid freshness after thirteen years of age. It was an elegant wine that retains its firm structure and shows the potential of all these Dancing Bear Ranch vintages to improve with more than a decade of age.
Sommelier male pouring red wine from bottle having label into glass on angle, alcoholic beverage ... [+]
Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon
Other Cakebread Cellars wines at the dinner showcased different varieties of wine.
The 2017 Two Creeks Pinot Noir was delicious, characterized by black cherry fruit, silky tannins and fresh acidity.
Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2016 had rich blackberry and black cherry fruit, and very velvet tannins.
The 2018 Chardonnay was full bodied and delicious, with a very discreet amount of oak that rounded out the wine and gave it only a hint of vanilla.
Zesty and perfumed, the 2018 Sauvignon Blanc had enticing aromas of fresh nectarine and white grapefruit – very crisp and refreshing.
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The Most Memorable Moment
When asked about a moment that first made him feel real pride about what he and his family accomplished, Bruce Cakebread thought for a moment.
“I was on vacation, and a woman near me heard that my name was Cakebread,” he said. “She came up and said that her husband proposed to her over a bottle of Cakebread wine. I looked at her and the children that were with her – a result of that proposal and bottle of Cakebread - and really felt pride in our hard work over the years.”
