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| Cakebread Cellars has vineyard properties located throughout Napa Valley and recently added a location in the Anderson Valley . The winery ranches surrounding the production facility in Rutherford are where it all began. The first 22 acre parcel was purchased in 1972. Over the years, the family has continued to acquire additional vineyard parcels throughout Napa Valley and the North Coast. Today, the winery owns 13 sites totaling 420 acres, 340 of which are currently planted. This judicious acquisition and development of vineyard land enables us to more completely control the quality of the fruit we grow and the wines we make. | Rutherford, CA
Phone: 800-588-0298
Website: http://www.cakebread.com
Appellation: Napa Valley
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Sauvignon Blanc
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2006 Sauvignon Blanc
Napa Valley
We harvest 100% of our Sauvignon Blanc grapes at night to ensure they arrive at the winery in the best possible condition. Night-harvesting at cool temperatures preserves the vibra ... morent flavors of our grapes and fosters an ideal balance of sugars and acids. After the grapes arrive at the winery, we immediately press the whole clusters to maximize varietal flavors while minimizing the extraction of astringent compounds from the skins. Dry ice is used in the receiving tank to prevent oxidation of the delicate juice, and cold-settling further optimizes varietal aromas and flavors. In 2006, 17% of the juice was barrel-fermented in neutral French oak barrels – to avoid the extraction of new oak character – while the balance was tank-fermented. After fermentation completed, 82% of the wine aged in one, two and three-year-old French oak barrels for an average of four months, to provide roundness to the final blend, while 18% of the lots, selected for their particularly expressive aromas and bright citrus fruit flavors, were fermented and aged exclusively in tank to contribute an intensely fruity character to the blend.
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Chardonnay
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2005 Chardonnay
Napa Valley
Our Chardonnay fruit was 100% whole-cluster-pressed to minimize astringency from the skins. Two-thirds of the juice was fermented in French oak barrels, 32% new, at cool temperatur ... morees to foster a perfect balance of ripe fruit, natural acidity and toasty oak. The remainder was fermented in stainless steel tanks to enhance the final blend’s fresh fruit character, with those lots transferred to French barrels after fermentation completed. Roughly 16% of the wine – primarily the higher-acid lots – underwent malolactic fermentation, with 100% aging in barrels for seven months with frequent hand-stirring of the yeast lees.
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Chardonnay
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2005 Chardonnay
Anderson Valley
After the grapes were hand-harvested at night to maximize their freshness, they were whole-cluster-pressed, and the juice settled and transferred to French oak barrels, 29% new, fo ... morer fermentation. While 88% of the juice was inoculated with a cultured yeast, 12% was allowed to ferment with native yeasts, which promote enhanced complexity and expression of terroir (the singular personality of a site). After fermentation completed, 22% of the lots underwent malolactic fermentation to enhance texture and richness, while 100% aged for nine months sur lie (on the yeast lees) in barrel, with monthly stirring for additional richness. After blending, the wine was bottled in July, 2006.
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Chardonnay
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2004 Chardonnay Reserve
Carneros Napa Valley
The grapes were night-harvested by hand and 100% whole-cluster pressed to yield fresh, pure juice. After cold-settling in tank for 36 hours, 88% of the juice was inoculated with se ... moreveral cultured yeast strains that enhance the fruitiness and rich texture of Chardonnay, while 12% was fermented with native yeast strains, which foster greater complexity and a pleasing mineral tone. All the juice fermented in French oak barrels, 54% new, with 36% undergoing a secondary, malolactic fermentation to enrich the wine’s texture and develop a pleasingly creamy, buttery tone. Aging on the primary yeast lees for 15 months in barrel, with periodic stirring, added a silky texture and subtle yeasty richness to the wine’s intense varietal fruit flavors. After racking off the lees, the wine was bottled in December, 2005.
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Pinot Noir
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2004 Pinot Noir
Carneros Napa Valley
Our regimen for producing world-class Pinot Noir includes gentle handling of the fruit, moderate fermentation temperatures, and minimal manipulation of the wine during barrel aging ... more. In 2004, our Carneros fruit was cold soaked for 72 hours prior to fermentation to extract more color from the must (unfermented juice and skins). We then inoculated the must with a cultured yeast strain, controlling tank temperatures to ensure a slow, active fermentation. In traditional Burgundian fashion, a number of the lots fermented in small, open-top tanks with gentle punch-downs to thoroughly macerate the juice and skins. After fermentation completed, the wines continued macerating on the skins for several more weeks, checked daily for color and tannin levels. They were then drained from tank, inoculated for malolactic fermentation and put into French oak barrels, 48% new, where they aged undisturbed for 14 months before blending and bottling.
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Other Red
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2005 Rubaiyat
Napa County
Rubáiyat is a blend both of grapes varieties and of numerous small lots of wine made from grapes harvested at different times from multiple vineyard sites. Many of these small, han ... moredcrafted lots are fermented in small, open-top fermenters with manual punchdown of the cap (skins and seeds) that forms at the top of the tanks during fermentation. This method provides for a gentle, but thorough maceration of skins and juice to extract maximum color and flavor. The various lots for our 2005 Rubáiyat were blended in September 2006, and put back into barrels (30% new and 70% one- and two-year-old French oak) for further aging before bottling in December, 2006. Total oak aging time was 14 months.
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Merlot
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2004 Merlot
Napa Valley
After de-stemming and crushing, we cold-soaked the must (unfermented juice and skins) prior to fermentation to enhance color and flavor extraction. Once fermentation began, we used ... more a technique called rack-and-return, in which fermenting juice from one tank is drained and transferred to a second tank, leaving the ‘cap’ of skins to fall to the bottom. The juice is then pumped back into the original tank, re-macerating the skins and maximizing color and flavor extraction while softening tannins. Once fermentation completed, the separate vineyard lots were pressed off the skins and transferred to French oak barrels, 43% new, where they aged six months before blending. The finished wine spent an additional 12 months in barrel prior to bottling in March 2006.
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Cabernet Sauvignon
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2004 Cabernet Sauvignon
Napa Valley
After crushing and cold-soaking the fruit for 24-36 hours to enhance extraction, the juice from each vineyard lot was fermented separately in temperature-controlled stainless steel ... more tanks, at warm temperatures, to fully extract color and flavor. Fermentation completed in approximately seven days, but the wines macerated on the skins for an additional three weeks to maximize color and flavor extraction and enhance tannins. The free run juice from each lot was then drained and transferred to French oak barrels, 57% new, for aging. During this period, we frequently taste each lot to monitor its aroma and flavor development, texture, and oak character. In spring, 2006, the lots chosen for our Napa Valley bottling were blended, and subsequently aged an additional 14 months in barrel before bottling in July, 2006.
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Cabernet Sauvignon
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2003 Vine Hill Cabernet Sauvignon
Oakville Napa Valley
We utilize traditional fermentation techniques with the Vine Hill fruit to ensure complete extraction of its deep color, intense flavors and smooth, ripe tannins. After crushing, t ... morehe juice is cold soaked for 48 hours before fermentation is initiated. Once fermentation begins, the juice is drained from one tank to another, allowing the skins in the first tank to fall to the bottom, only to be thoroughly re-macerated once the juice is splashed back into the tank, a technique known as rack-and-return. In addition to extracting more color and flavor, the aeration this technique affords converts short-chain (harsh) tannins to long-chain (suppler) tannins. After an extended maceration, the wine is gently drained from the skins and the free run juice transferred to French oak barrels. The skins are then pressed, and the resulting ‘press fraction’ kept separate. The 2003 Vine Hill aged 22 months in 37% new French barrels before being bottled in August 2005.
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Other Red
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2003 Dancing Bear Ranch
Howell Mountain Napa Valley
Our Howell Mountain grapes have a higher acidity and typically more tannins and deeper color than most other vineyards. Consequently, it’s important that we capture the special, in ... moretense qualities of this mountain fruit without extracting harsh, aggressive tannins. We do this by carefully monitoring fermentation temperatures and the ‘cap’ of skins at the top of the fermenting tank, whose contact with the juice determines tannin and flavor extraction. Winemaker Julianne Laks carefully manages these processes, including the number of ‘pumpover’ (sprinkling juice over the cap) and ‘rack and-return’ procedures (draining and refilling a tank to thoroughly macerate juice and skins and soften tannins). During fermentation and maceration, she tastes the wine daily to assess tannin levels and ‘mouth-feel’. When she feels it has achieved an optimal balance of fruit intensity and ripe tannins, the free run juice is drained from the skins and transferred to French oak barrels for aging. (The juice subsequently pressed from the skins is not used in the blend.) The 2003 Dancing Bear Ranch was aged 22 months in French barrels before bottling in August 2005.
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Updated on August 16, 2007
CrazyAboutWine recommends contacting Cakebread Cellars at http://www.cakebread.com or calling 800-588-0298 to verify the winery's location.
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