Cakebread Cellars: Winery in Napa Valley

Cakebread Cellars in Napa Valley offers tastings by appointment with a fee that varies depending on which tasting your partake in. We booked our appointment prior to visiting and it wasn’t an issue.

Cakebread is best known for their Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc. They also host a variety of events at their vineyard, so check out their website so you don’t miss out if you’re a fan.

Cakebread Cellars is named after the owners – Jack and Dolores Cakebread. Yes, that is indeed their last name.

You can roam around the property to look at their grapes growing in the vines. It’s a pretty sight.

Wine Tasting

As we checked in for our tasting, we tried the 2017 Sauvignon Blanc. It has sweet fruity notes and would pair well with veggies, chicken or seafood.

Into the Barrel Room

Next, we went into the room where they barrel their wines for aging and to soak in the flavours from the wood and improve its aroma and taste.

Our guide told us a little bit of the history surrounding the vineyard as we got introduced to each wine.

We tried the following wines for the Current Release Tasting for $25 per person:

2016 Chardonnay
2015 Chardonnary Reserve
2016 Pinot Noir
2014 Merlot
2014 Cabernet Sauvignon

We moved around as we went through the list to better appreciate the wine. We moved closer to the barrels to smell the wood inside the barrels as well as see how it’s aged.

Afterwards, our tasting took us out to the vineyard.

We tried a few more wines and tasted the wine grapes off the vines to see how they transform.

Our last stop was their garden and processing area.

The tour lasted about 40 minutes for us as the other half of the group was in a rush. Usually it’s 50 – 60 minutes in length. It definitely quickened the pace but we felt like we were rushed in the end because of them.

Nonetheless, we enjoyed the Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon from the tasting.

The 2016 Chardonnay has aromas of melons, peaches and apples with a hint of spice. It’s good out but if you want to build some complexity to the taste, you can age for another 5 – 7 years.

The 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon has aromas of dark berries and plums with a hint of spice. You can age this in your cellar for another 7 – 10 year to get it a bit more mature in taste.

Final Thoughts

For a $25 wine tasting, it’s good that the tour takes us to different areas of the vineyard to taste the wine as well as understand where it comes from.