Cakebread Cellars

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

Our 2011 Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc reflects all the positive attributes of a cool growing season. It’s wonderfully fresh and aromatic, with bright scents of pink grapefruit, gooseberry, melon and green apple. On the palate, the wine is medium-bodied with rich, vibrant citrus (grapefruit and kiwi), honeydew melon, spice and mineral flavors balanced by excellent acidity and a long, refreshing, mineral/chalky finish reminiscent of a fine White Bordeaux. A superb apèritif wine, our 2011 Sauvignon Blanc is also wonderfully versatile with food, especially salads and lighter seafood, poultry and pasta dishes. Enjoy it over the next 3-5 years.

A superb apèritif wine, our 2011 Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc is also wonderfully versatile with food, especially salads and lighter seafood, poultry and pasta dishes.
View recipes that complement this wine

Vineyards

Our Sauvignon Blanc grapes come from throughout Napa Valley, with a large concentration from our estate vineyards in the Rutherford, Calistoga, Carneros and southeastern Napa Valley regions. The superb fruit from these sites allows us to produce a full-bodied, crisp and complex Sauvignon Blanc boasting distinctive varietal character. (Our cool-climate Carneros and southern Napa Valley grapes, in particular, lend our Sauvignon Blanc a fresh, zesty tone not often found in Napa Valley renditions of the variety.) In 2011, as in past vintages, we blended in small amounts of Sèmillon (which enriches the mid-palate and softens acidity) and Sauvignon Musqué, an aromatic clone of Sauvignon Blanc that adds a bright, floral note to the bouquet.

Vintage

2011 was among the coldest, wettest and latest vintages in memory. Wet winter and spring weather extended into mid-June, delaying and disrupting budbreak, bloom and fruit set, which reduced our Sauvignon Blanc crop by 50% and set the stage for a cool summer growing season that culminated in a prolonged harvest. The cool summer fostered slow, even ripening and the development of optimal fruit flavors at lower-than-normal sugar levels. This helped us craft a beautifully balanced Sauvignon Blanc with vibrant varietal aromas and flavors, and fresh acidity.

Winemaking

We harvest our Sauvignon Blanc grapes at night, when the vines are at rest, to fully capture their fresh, concentrated varietal flavors, crisp acidity and ideal sugar-acid balance. Whole-cluster-pressing of the fruit immediately upon arrival at the winery maximizes varietal intensity while minimizing the extraction of astringent compounds from the skins. In 2011, we fermented 80% of the juice in stainless steel tanks, 18% in one-year-old to four-year-old French oak barrels, and 2% in stainless steel barrels. Subsequently, 90% of the wine spent five months aging in neutral French oak barrels, which enriched its texture while maximizing varietal expression.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

The startlingly fresh, vivid aromas of our 2012 Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc literally leap out of the glass, redolent of just-cut white grapefruit, bracing gooseberry, lime and kiwi, and ripe honeydew melon, with subordinate spice and vanilla scents. On the medium-bodied palate, the wine’s ripe grapefruit, guava, melon, green apple and mineral flavors are remarkably rich, intense, concentrated and vibrant, with a long, full finish packed with fresh fruit and mineral/chalky (a la White Bordeaux) tones. This is our 38th vintage of Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc, and it’s a doozy, unquestionably one of our best. Savor it over the next 3-5 years as an ideal apèritif wine and with your favorite salad, seafood, poultry and pasta dishes.

View recipes that complement this wine

Vineyards

We source Sauvignon Blanc grapes from throughout Napa Valley, with over a third of the total coming from our estate vineyards in Rutherford, Calistoga, Carneros and southeastern Napa. The wonderful fruit from these sites enables us to produce a full-bodied, crisp and complex Sauvignon Blanc boasting distinctive varietal character and a delectable zestiness. In 2012, a superb white wine vintage in Napa Valley, we blended 87% Sauvignon Blanc with 9% Sèmillon (to enrich the wine’s mid-palate and soften its acidity) and 4% Sauvignon Musqué, an aromatic clone of Sauvignon Blanc that adds a bright, floral note to the bouquet.

Vintage

The 2012 vintage was picture-perfect, with consistently mild summer weather free of rain and significant heat spikes. We were thus able to harvest our grapes at precisely the right moment, capturing an optimal balance of ripe, concentrated fruit flavors and lively acidity. Given these ideal conditions, 2012 yielded a trove of outstanding wines, including this superb Sauvignon Blanc.

Winemaking

We harvest our Sauvignon Blanc fruit during the cool nighttime hours to fully capture its fresh, concentrated flavors and crisp acidity. Whole-cluster-pressing of the grapes immediately upon their arrival at the winery maximizes varietal intensity while minimizing the extraction of astringent compounds from the skins. In 2012, we fermented 81% of the juice in stainless steel tanks, 18% in older French oak barrels, and 1% in stainless steel barrels, a mixed-vessel regimen that experience has taught us produces the freshest, liveliest expression of the vibrant Sauvignon Blanc variety. The wine aged for five months in neutral French oak to enrich its texture while maximizing varietal expression.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

Due to the coolness of the vintage, our 2010 Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc is especially fresh, crisp and vibrant, offering bright honeydew melon, pink grapefruit, gooseberry and vanilla aromas and rich, mouthwatering, citrus, nectarine and melon flavors. An ideal apèritif wine, it also beautifully accompanies a wide and diverse range of foods, from shellfish and lighter seafood dishes to roast chicken, Caesar Salad and pasta primavera. Enjoy it over the next 1-2 years.

Beautifully accompanies a wide and diverse range of foods, from shellfish and lighter seafood dishes to roast chicken, Caesar Salad and pasta primavera.
View recipes that complement this wine

Vineyards

Our Sauvignon Blanc grapes come from throughout Napa Valley, with a large concentration from our estate vineyards in Rutherford, Calistoga and Carneros. The superb fruit from these sites allows us to produce a full-bodied, crisp and complex Sauvignon Blanc boasting distinctive varietal character. In 2010, as in past vintages, we blended in small amounts of Sèmillon (which enriches the wine’s mid-palate, softens its acidity and contributes a pleasing citrus tone) and Sauvignon Musqué, an aromatic clone of Sauvignon Blanc that adds a bright, floral note to the wine’s bouquet.

Vintage

2010 was the latest in a string of cooler-than-normal growing seasons in Napa Valley. The season began with substantial rainfall, which pushed back bud break, flowering and grape set by several weeks. After an especially cool summer, heat spikes in late August kick-started full ripening. Cooler temperatures returned in early September, but classic Indian summer weather yielded grapes with mature, concentrated flavors at lower alcohol levels, resulting in a bevy of beautifully structured wines with fresh, elegant flavors.

Winemaking

We harvest our Sauvignon Blanc grapes at night, when the vines are in full repose, to fully capture their fresh, concentrated varietal flavors, crisp acidity and ideal sugar-acid balance. Whole-cluster-pressing of the fruit immediately upon arrival at the winery maximizes varietal intensity while minimizing the extraction of astringent compounds from the skins. In 2010, we tank-fermented 88% of the juice while fermenting 12% in neutral oak barrels. Subsequently, 87% of the wine spent five months aging in neutral French oak barrels, which enriched its texture while optimizing varietal expression.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

Our 2009 Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc displays bright, sun-kissed aromas of fresh guava, grapefruit, lime and mineral, with hints of honeydew melon and golden apple. On the sprightly palate, brisk white grapefruit, guava, melon and lemon-lime flavors display a mouthwatering verve, with hints of pineapple and kiwi fruit on the long, refreshing finish. While this classic Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc makes a wonderful apèritif wine, it also is delightful with a wide range of foods, including shellfish, pan-fried trout and snapper, Caesar Salad, roast chicken and turkey, and pasta primavera. Enjoy it now or age for 2-4 years.

Delightful with a wide range of foods, including shellfish, pan-fried trout and snapper, Caesar Salad, roast chicken and turkey, and pasta primavera.
View recipes that complement this wine

Vineyards

We source the grapes for our Sauvignon Blanc from throughout Napa Valley, with a large concentration coming from our estate vineyards in Rutherford, Calistoga and Carneros. The superb fruit from these sites allows us to produce a full-bodied, crisp and complex Sauvignon Blanc boasting distinctive varietal character. In 2009, as in past vintages, we blended in small amounts of Sèmillon (which enriches the wine’s mid-palate, softens its acidity and contributes a pleasing citrus tone) and Sauvignon Musqué, an aromatic clone of Sauvignon Blanc that adds a bright, floral note to the wine’s bouquet.

Vintage

The 2009 growing season was remarkably even and steady, featuring consistently cool-to-mild temperatures that produced stress-free vines, prolonged grape hang times, and fully ripened fruit with ideal sugar-to-acid ratios. The grapes for our 2009 Sauvignon Blanc were harvested between August 24th and September 7th.

Winemaking

The grapes were night-harvested at cool temperatures to preserve their fresh, vibrant flavors and ensure an ideal balance of sugar and acidity. After the fruit arrived at the winery, we immediately pressed the whole clusters to maximize varietal character while minimizing the extraction of astringent compounds from the skins. Eighty-two percent of the juice was tank-fermented, while 18% was fermented in neutral oak barrels. Subsequently, 95% of the wine aged five months in neutral barrels to enrich its texture while optimizing varietal intensity.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

Our 2008 Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc displays a beautifully fragrant nose of ripe pomelo, Golden Delicious apple, honeydew melon, lime and mineral, with little of the herbaceousness that sometimes characterizes the variety. On the fleshy, full-bodied palate, ripe melon, grapefruit, kiwi and lemon-lime flavors lead to a long, flavorful finish enlivened by bright mineral tones. “Golden” and “sun-kissed” are words that pop to mind when sipping this delicious Sauvignon Blanc, which makes both a wonderful apèritif and a delectable companion to simply prepared seafood, poultry and vegetarian entrees. Enjoy it over the next 1-2 years.

A delectable companion to simply prepared seafood, poultry and vegetarian entrees.
View recipes that complement this wine

Vineyards

We sourced the grapes for our 2008 Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc from throughout Napa Valley, especially several outstanding vineyards in the Oakville area and our estate vineyards in Rutherford. The superb fruit from these sites allows us to produce a full-bodied, crisp, complex Sauvignon Blanc of distinctive varietal character. In 2008, we enhanced the wine’s complexity by blending in 4% Sauvignon Musqué, an aromatic clone of Sauvignon Blanc, and 6% Sèmillon, which enriched the mid-palate, softened the wine’s acidity and contributed a pleasing citrus tone.

Vintage

The 2008 growing season was a wild one. The year began with torrential rains in January, transitioned into drought conditions in early spring – leading to an early budbreak – then erupted into the worst frost season in over 35 years in late March and throughout April. Combined with disadvantageous weather during the blooming of the vines in May, this significantly reduced the size of the crop throughout Northern California. Beginning in June, however, an extended period of clear, consistently mild weather took hold, enabling us to harvest our pristine, fully ripened Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc between August 12th and September 15th. Despite the season’s trials and tribulations, 2008 has yielded a trove of vibrant, varietally expressive wines boasting rich, concentrated fruit flavors balanced by crisp acidity.

Winemaking

We night-harvest our Sauvignon Blanc grapes at cool temperatures to preserve their fresh, vibrant flavors and achieve an ideal balance of sugar and acidity. After the grapes arrive at the winery, we immediately press the whole clusters to maximize varietal character while minimizing the extraction of astringent compounds from the skins. In 2008, 67% of the juice was tank-fermented and aged in neutral French oak barrels; 18% was fermented and aged in barrel; and 15% was tank-fermented with no oak aging. This regimen allowed us to optimize the wine’s varietal intensity while enriching its texture through short-term exposure to oak.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

Because of the stability of our grape sources and constancy of our winemaking regimen, our sauvignon blanc displays a consistent style from year to year. The 2013 vintage boasts characteristically fresh, pure and complex white grapefruit, guava, green apple, honeydew melon and mineral aromas. It’s concentrated; guava, gooseberry and melon flavors persist into a long, lively finish boasting bright citrus, light spice and mouthwatering mineral tones. Enjoy this beauty over the next 3-5 years with your favorite salad, seafood, poultry and veggie dishes.

View recipes that complement this wine

Vineyards

Our 2013 Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc is a blend of 90% sauvignon blanc, 6% semillon and 4% sauvignon musqué (an especially aromatic clone of sauvignon blanc), all from top vineyards throughout Napa Valley, including our estate ranches in Carneros, southeastern Napa, Rutherford and Calistoga. The superb fruit from these sites enables us to produce a rich, full-bodied and complex sauvignon blanc that is simultaneously fresh, crisp and zesty.

Vintage

In 2013, a warm, dry spring initiated early budbreak, ensured trouble-free vine flowering and grape set, and led to a consistently mild summer fostering steady, even ripening and grapes with wonderful flavor concentration. The fruit for our 2013 Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc was harvested between August 15th and September 20th with an ideal balance of sugars and acidity.

Winemaking

We harvest our sauvignon blanc grapes during the cool nighttime hours to fully capture their fresh, pure flavors and bright acidity. Whole-cluster-pressing of the fruit maximizes varietal intensity while minimizing the extraction of astringent compounds from the skins. In 2013, we fermented 82% of the juice in stainless steel tanks and 18% in older French oak barrels, a regimen producing a concentrated, vibrant expression of sauvignon blanc. The wine aged five months in neutral French oak barrels to enrich its texture and maximize varietal character.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

True to the style of sauvignon blanc we’ve honed over the past 40 years, our 2014 rendition boasts beautifully fresh, fragrant aromas of honeydew melon, grapefruit and guava, with a slight floral note. Full-bodied and concentrated on the palate, with a silky texture, its vibrant melon, citrus and gooseberry flavors are perfectly balanced, leading to a long, succulent finish boasting bright citrus and mineral tones. Enjoy this classic sauvignon blanc over the next 3-5 years with your favorite salad, seafood, poultry and vegetarian dishes.

View recipes that complement this wine

Vineyards

Our 2014 Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc is a blend of 87% sauvignon blanc, 7% sèmillon and 6% sauvignon musqué (an especially aromatic clone of sauvignon blanc) grown in the same vineyards we’ve used for years, including our estate ranches in Carneros, southeastern Napa, Rutherford and Calistoga. The superb fruit from these sites enables us to produce a rich, full-bodied and complex sauvignon blanc that is simultaneously fresh, crisp and zesty.

Vintage

2014 was another in a series of excellent vintages in northern California. The season began with a warm, dry spring, which led to early budbreak and trouble-free vine flowering and grape set. Summer was consistently mild with few heat spikes, which allowed our sauvignon blanc grapes to ripen uniformly and develop impressively concentrated flavors. Drought conditions reduced cluster counts and crop and berry size, which further intensified varietal character. Given the early start to the season, our sauvignon blanc harvest began two weeks earlier than normal, with the grapes picked between August 1st and September 13th.

Winemaking

We hand harvest our sauvignon blanc grapes during the cool nighttime hours to fully capture their fresh, pure flavors and bright acidity. Whole-cluster-pressing of the fruit maximizes varietal intensity while minimizing the extraction of astringent compounds from the skins. In 2014, we fermented 88% of the juice in stainless steel tanks and 12% in older French oak barrels, which produced a rich, vibrant sauvignon blanc with great depth of flavor. Seventy percent of the wine aged for five months in neutral French oak barrels to enhance texture and varietal character, while the remaining 30% aged in stainless steel tanks.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

Vibrant, wonderfully fresh aromas of pink grapefruit, melon and white peach introduce zesty flavors of Meyer lemon, lime, guava, gooseberry and juicy melon. Lively acidity accentuates the wine’s flavor intensity and animates its long, harmonious finish, which features succulent citrus and mineral tones. Delicious now, this classic Napa Valley sauvignon blanc will age gracefully for the next 3-5 years, and beautifully accompany seafood, poultry, vegetable and salad dishes.

View recipes that complement this wine

Vineyards

The grapes for our sauvignon blanc come from premier vineyards throughout Napa Valley, including our estate ranches in Carneros, southeastern Napa, Rutherford and Calistoga. This diversity of fruit enables us to craft a rich, complex sauvignon blanc that is simultaneously fresh, crisp and zesty. Our 2016 vintage is a blend of 97% sauvignon blanc and 3% semillon.

Vintage

The 2016 vintage in Napa Valley got off to an excellent start with much-needed winter and early spring rainfall that replenished soils and the water table. Moderate-to-warm springtime temperatures generated early flavor development in the grapes, while a generally cool growing season ensured their slow and uniform ripening. These conditions yielded sauvignon blanc grapes with tremendous flavor concentration coupled with perfectly balanced acidity

Winemaking

We harvest our sauvignon blanc grapes during the cool nighttime hours to fully capture their fresh, pure flavors and vibrant acidity. Whole-cluster-pressing the fruit under anaerobic conditions maximizes varietal intensity while minimizing the extraction of astringent compounds from the skins. In 2016, we fermented 81% of the juice in stainless steel tanks and 19% in neutral French oak barrels, a unique regimen that yields bright, concentrated, varietal aromas and flavors. The wine was then aged for five months in neutral French oak barrels before bottling in February, 2017.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

Our 2011 Napa Valley Chardonnay opens with fresh, creamy aromas of ripe pear, apple and citrus, with light butter, yeast and spicy oak tones adding complexity. The wine’s rich, focused, green apple, melon and guava flavors are nicely balanced by fresh acidity and a piquant mineral tone. Both mouthfilling and elegant, this quintessential Napa Valley Chardonnay is delectable now, but it will develop even greater complexity with another 5-8 years’ bottle age.

Delicious with chicken, seafood and grilled salads.
View recipes that complement this wine

Vineyards

Napa Valley offers a spectrum of microclimates and soil types ideal for cultivating Chardonnay. We source fruit for our Napa Valley Chardonnay primarily from vineyards in the valley’s cool-climate southern districts, ranging from the fog-chilled Carneros appellation to warmer sites just north of the town of Napa. This diversity of terroir allows us to craft a rich, elegantly structured Chardonnay that drinks beautifully on release, but ages well in bottle. To enhance the wine’s freshness and protect our vineyard workers from harvest-time heat, we pick the majority of our fruit at night, ensuring it arrives at the winery in pristine condition.

Vintage

2011 was among the coldest, wettest and latest vintages in memory. Wet winter and spring weather extended into mid-June, delaying and disrupting budbreak, bloom and fruit set and setting the stage for a cool summer growing season that culminated in a prolonged harvest. The cool summer weather fostered slow, even ripening and the development of optimal fruit flavors at lower-than-normal sugar levels. This helped us craft a beautifully balanced Chardonnay with fresh acidity and classic varietal aromas and flavors.

Winemaking

Our winemaking regimen with Chardonnay is predicated on night harvesting, which ensures the grapes are picked cold and retain their fruit purity and bright natural acidity. After a short drive to the winery, the fruit is whole-cluster-pressed – further preserving freshness and purity – and the juice is transferred to a combination of French oak barrels and stainless steel tanks for fermentation. In 2011, 90% of our Chardonnay juice fermented in barrel, while 10% became wine in tank, with 9% of the individual lots selected to undergo malolactic fermentation. All but a small percentage of the component wines aged in barrel for eight months sur lie to enhance texture and richness, with the frequency of lees stirring based on the characteristics of each lot.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

Our 2008 Napa Valley Chardonnay seduces right off the bat with brilliantly fresh, complex aromas of lemon-lime, scented pear, ripe yellow apple, honeydew melon and mineral. On the sleek, vibrant palate, rich, concentrated, ripe apple and pear flavors dominate, with refreshing citrus and mineral tones emerging in the wine’s wonderfully long, crisp, finish. Deliciously fresh and delectable now, this youthful Napa Valley Chardonnay will blossom and gain further richness and complexity with another 6-8 months in the bottle and will drink beautifully for 3 to 5 years.

Delicious with chicken, seafood and grilled salads.
View recipes that complement this wine

Vineyards

The grapes for our Napa Valley Chardonnay come primarily from the cooler southern precincts of the valley, which stretch from the fog-chilled Carneros district to the slightly warmer Oak Knoll region just north of the town of Napa. Blending fruit from diverse microclimates and soils allows us to craft a rich, ripe, elegantly structured Chardonnay that’s delicious on release, but also ages well in bottle. To enhance the wine’s freshness and protect our vineyard workers from the high temperatures prevalent during harvest, we pick most of our fruit at night, ensuring it arrives at the winery in pristine condition.

Vintage

The 2008 growing season was a study in extremes. The year began with torrential January rains, segued into drought conditions in early spring (prompting early budbreak), then erupted into the worst frost season in over 35 years in late March and throughout April. Combined with disadvantageous weather during bloom in May, these conditions significantly reduced the size of the Chardonnay crop throughout Northern California. Beginning in June, however, an extended period of clear, mild summer weather set in, enabling us to harvest our Napa Valley Chardonnay grapes with an excellent balance of sugar and acidity between September 4th and October 1st. Despite the season’s trials and tribulations, 2008 yielded a trove of vibrant, varietally expressive wines boasting rich, concentrated fruit flavors balanced by crisp acidity.

Winemaking

After night-harvesting and whole-cluster-pressing our Napa Valley Chardonnay grapes, we fermented 92% of the juice in French oak barrels, with 8% fermenting in stainless steel tanks. Because the 2008 vintage produced fruit with tremendous varietal intensity and exceptionally well-balanced flavors, the only winemaking intervention required was to select the right barrels to highlight the wine’s lovely natural attributes. Our 2008 Napa Valley Chardonnay spent eight months aging in French oaks barrels, 36% new, with periodic stirring of the yeast lees to further enrich texture and flavor.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

Our 2009 Napa Valley Chardonnay boasts lovely, perfumed aromas of fresh melon, yellow apple, lime and white peach, with complementary mineral and toasty-spicy oak scents. On the full-bodied, yet sleek palate, the wine offers concentrated, beautifully focused peach, apple and citrus zest flavors, with mineral and spice tones enlivening the long, refreshing finish. Delightful now, this purely delicious Napa Valley Chardonnay will blossom further with another six months in bottle and, with proper cellaring, will drink beautifully for another 3 to 5 years.

Delicious with chicken, seafood and grilled salads.
View recipes that complement this wine

Vineyards

The grapes for our Napa Valley Chardonnay come primarily from the valley’s cooler southern regions, which stretch from the fog-chilled Carneros district to relatively warmer sites just north of the town of Napa. Blending fruit from diverse microclimates and soils allows us to craft a rich, ripe, elegantly structured Chardonnay that’s delicious on release, but also ages well in bottle. To enhance the wine’s freshness and protect our vineyard workers from the high temperatures prevalent during harvest, we pick all of our fruit at night, ensuring it arrives at the winery in pristine condition.

Vintage

The 2009 growing season was “cool” in all respects. Spring rains replenished the water table in Napa Valley, deferring the need for irrigation. Summer brought consistently below-average temperatures, resulting in the slow, even and parallel development of grape sugars and flavors. This allowed the fruit to reach peak maturity at lower sugar levels, a highly desirable outcome. As a result, we harvested our Napa Valley Chardonnay grapes between September 2nd and October 2nd with an ideal balance of ripe flavors and crisp balancing acidity.

Winemaking

We harvest at night by hand to protect our vineyard workers from summer’s heat and to ensure our Chardonnay grapes are picked at cool temperatures, which preserves their fruit purity and bright natural acidity. We then whole-cluster-press the fruit – which similarly preserves freshness and purity – and transfer the juice to a combination of French oak barrels and stainless steel tanks for fermentation. In 2009, 86% of the juice fermented in barrel, while 14% became wine in tank, with 7% undergoing a secondary, malolactic fermentation. The component wines age in barrel on their yeast lees, with periodic stirring, the frequency of which is determined by sensory analysis of each lot. This enhances texture and richness while preserving varietal expressiveness. Finally, the lots are blended and the finished wine is bottled during the spring following the harvest.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

Our 2010 Napa Valley Chardonnay boasts an attractive light golden-straw color and fresh, lightly buttery, ripe golden apple, pear and citrus aromas, complemented by seductive vanilla and cinnamon/nutmeg scents from oak aging and subtle yeast tones from lees contact. Lush, concentrated and creamy on the palate, its ripe apple, melon, bright citrus and baking spice flavors culminate in a long, beautifully structured finish boasting crisp acidity and zesty mineral and spice tones. Sumptuous, yet refreshing, our 2010 Napa Valley Chardonnay is delicious now, but will handsomely reward another 3-5 years’ bottle aging.

Delicious with chicken, seafood and grilled salads.
View recipes that complement this wine

Vineyards

Napa Valley offers a spectrum of microclimates and soil types ideal for cultivating Chardonnay. We source fruit for our Napa Valley Chardonnay primarily from vineyards in the valley’s cool-climate southern districts, ranging from the fog-chilled Carneros appellation to slightly warmer sites just north of the town of Napa. This diversity of terroir allows us to craft a rich, elegantly structured Chardonnay that drinks beautifully on release, but ages well in bottle. To enhance the wine’s freshness and protect our vineyard workers from harvest-time heat, we pick our fruit at night or early morning, ensuring it arrives at the winery in pristine condition.

Vintage

2010 was the latest in a string of cooler-than-normal growing seasons in Napa Valley. The year began with substantial rainfall, which pushed back bud break, flowering and grape set by several weeks. After an especially cool summer, heat spikes in late August kick-started full ripening. Cooler temperatures returned in early September, but classic Indian summer weather yielded grapes with mature, concentrated flavors at lower-than-normal sugar levels. This resulted in a bevy of lower-alcohol, beautifully structured wines with rich, elegant flavors.

Winemaking

Our winemaking regimen with Chardonnay is predicated on night harvesting, which ensures the grapes are picked cold and retain their fruit purity and bright natural acidity. After a short drive to the winery, the fruit is whole-cluster-pressed – further preserving freshness and purity – and the juice is transferred to a combination of French oak barrels and stainless steel tanks for fermentation. In 2010, 88% of our Chardonnay juice fermented in barrel, while 12% became wine in tank, with 11% undergoing a secondary, malolactic fermentation. All but a small percentage of the component wines aged in barrel for eight months on the yeast lees, with periodic stirring, to enhance texture and richness while preserving full varietal expression.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

Our 2012 Napa Valley Chardonnay offers delightfully fragrant, slightly yeasty aromas of ripe pear, apple and guava fruit complemented by hints of honeysuckle, mineral and toasted oak. It likewise hits the mark on the palate, delivering sensationally concentrated pear, spiced apple and melon flavors that culminate in a long finish lifted by zesty spice and mineral tones. Bold and beautifully balanced, with great depth and breadth of flavor, our 2012 Chardonnay is a delicious expression of a picture-perfect vintage. It will continue to please over the next 3-5 years.

Delicious with chicken, seafood and grilled salads.
View recipes that complement this wine

Vineyards

Our Napa Valley Chardonnay is a blend of grapes from top vineyards throughout the southern end of the valley, with the preponderance of the fruit coming from the cool Carneros region. Deeply influenced by fog and cool breezes emanating from nearby San Pablo Bay, Carneros enjoys a long growing season that ripens its fruit fully while retaining the bright acidity that gives our Chardonnay its freshness and vitality. We complement our Carneros grapes with fruit from warmer up-valley sites that produce even riper, fuller Chardonnays. This allows us to craft a rich, elegantly structured wine that drinks beautifully on release, but ages well in bottle. To enhance its freshness and protect our vineyard workers from harvest-time heat, we night-harvest our Chardonnay grapes by hand, ensuring they reach the winery in pristine condition.

Vintage

The 2012 vintage was one of the finest in recent memory. Consistently mild summer weather free of rain and significant heat spikes produced a healthy crop of intensely flavorful fruit. These ideal conditions allowed us to harvest our Napa Valley Chardonnay grapes at precisely the right moment, capturing a perfect balance of ripe, concentrated fruit flavors and lively acidity. As a result, our 2012 Napa Valley Chardonnay ranks among Cakebread Cellars’ best.

Winemaking

Our strategy for producing world-class Chardonnay begins with night harvesting, which ensures that our grapes are picked cold and retain their fruit purity and bright natural acidity. Immediately upon arriving at the winery, the fruit is whole-cluster-pressed – further preserving freshness and purity – and the juice is transferred to a mix of French oak barrels and stainless steel tanks for fermentation. In 2012, 88% of the juice was fermented in barrel, while 12% became wine in tank. After primary fermentation completed, 16% of the wine was put through a secondary, malolactic fermentation to enhance richness and mouthfeel. One hundred percent of the wine aged sur lie (on the yeast lees) in French oak barrels, 20% new, for eight months to foster greater roundness and complexity, with periodic stirring of the lees adding an appealing creamy, yeasty tone to the wine’s lavish fruit.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

Our 2013 Napa Valley Chardonnay boasts fresh, fragrant, apple, melon and pear aromas with a hint of oak spice. Rich and mouthfilling on the palate, its smooth, beautifully balanced, yellow apple, nectarine and honeydew melon flavors segue into a long, succulent finish enhanced by refreshing mineral and spicy oak tones. Released soon after bottling, our Napa Valley Chardonnay hits its stride after 6-8 months in the bottle and rewards 5-7 years of aging.

View recipes that complement this wine

Vineyards

Our Napa Valley Chardonnay blends grapes from top vineyards throughout the valley, with the preponderance coming from the cool-climate Carneros region at its southern tip. Subject to fog and cool breezes from nearby San Pablo Bay, Carneros enjoys a long growing season that ripens its fruit fully while retaining the bright acidity that gives our chardonnay its freshness and vitality. We complement this fruit with grapes from warmer vineyards north of Carneros that yield riper, fuller chardonnays. This allows us to craft a complex, elegantly structured wine that drinks beautifully on release, but ages well in bottle.

Vintage

In 2013, a warm, dry spring initiated early budbreak, ensured trouble-free vine flowering and grape set, and led to a consistently mild summer fostering steady, even ripening and grapes with wonderful flavor concentration. The fruit for our 2013 Napa Valley Chardonnay was harvested between August 20th and September 20th with an ideal balance of sugars and acidity.

Winemaking

Our strategy for making world-class chardonnay begins with night harvesting, which ensures our grapes are picked cold and retain their fruit purity and bright natural acidity. Once at the winery, the fruit is whole-cluster-pressed, further preserving freshness and purity, and the juice is transferred to a mix of French oak barrels and stainless steel tanks for fermentation. In 2013, 90% of the juice was fermented in barrel, while 10% became wine in tank. After primary fermentation completed, 18% of the wine was put through a secondary, malolactic fermentation to enhance richness and mouthfeel. The barrel-fermented portion of the wine aged sur lie (on the yeast lees) in 20% new French oak barrels for eight months, with periodic stirring of the lees, to add an appealingly creamy, yeasty tone to the wine’s crisp, vibrant fruit.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

One of the richer, weightier chardonnays we’ve made in recent years, our 2014 vintage is redolent of creamy golden apple, Asian pear and honeydew melon with complementary coconut and sweet oak scents. Fresh and lively on the palate, with rich citrus, apple, melon and tropical fruit flavors, it culminates in a long finish featuring pleasing mineral and spice tones.

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Vineyards

Our Napa Valley Chardonnay comes primarily (91% in 2014) from grapes grown in the cool-climate Carneros district at the southern tip of the valley. Subject to fog and cooling breezes from nearby San Pablo Bay, Carneros enjoys a long growing season that ripens its fruit fully while retaining the bright acidity that gives Cakebread Cellars Chardonnay its freshness and vitality. We complement our Carneros fruit with grapes from warmer sites in the valley that yield riper, fuller chardonnays. This allows us to craft a rich, yet elegant and complex chardonnay that drinks beautifully on release, but ages gracefully in the bottle.

Vintage

The latest in a series of excellent vintages in California, 2014 featured a warm, dry spring that initiated early budbreak, ensured trouble-free flowering and grape set, and led to a consistently mild summer, with few heat spikes. These conditions fostered steady, even ripening of our chardonnay grapes, which were harvested with concentrated flavors balanced by vibrant acidity between August 25th and September 15th.

Winemaking

100% of the fruit was hand-harvested at night to ensure the grapes retained their purity of flavor and bright natural acidity. The fruit was then whole-cluster-pressed to further preserve freshness and varietal intensity, with the free-run juice transferred to a mix of French oak barrels (96%) and stainless steel tanks (4%) for fermentation. After primary fermentation completed, 31% of the wine was put through a secondary, malolactic fermentation to enrich its flavors and texture. The barrel-fermented portion of the wine aged sur lie (on the yeast lees) in 28% new French oak barrels for eight months, with bi-weekly stirring of the lees to layer the wine’s crisp, vibrant fruit with an appealingly creamy, slightly yeasty tone.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

Fresh and fragrant ripe apple, pear, melon and mineral aromas introduce our 2012 Cuttings Wharf Chardonnay, which offers lightly creamy, richly textured and deeply concentrated golden apple, citrus and ripe melon flavors. Capped off by a long, elegant finish featuring alluring apple, melon and mineral tones, this superbly balanced Chardonnay will drink beautifully over the next 3 to 5 years.

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Vineyards

This is our second single-vineyard Chardonnay from Cuttings Wharf Ranch, one of our four estate vineyards in southern Napa Valley’s cool-climate Carneros region. At Cuttings Wharf, we cultivate six different, high-quality clones of Chardonnay, all planted in shallow Haire Loam soils. In 2012, we used three of these clones – Wente (20%), 124 (40%) and 96 (40%) – to craft a complex Chardonnay boasting bright, fragrant aromas and deeply concentrated flavors.

Vintage

The 2012 vintage was outstanding, beginning with ideal spring weather during budbreak and flowering, which resulted in a perfectly even fruit set. Consistently mild, dry summer weather, with warm days, cool nights and few heat spikes, ripened our fruit slowly and evenly, yielding a healthy crop of grapes with an ideal balance of ripe, concentrated fruit flavors and lively acidity.

Winemaking

We hand-picked and night-harvested our Cuttings Wharf Chardonnay grapes to ensure they were picked cold and retained their fruit purity and bright natural acidity. At the winery, the fruit was whole-cluster-pressed in an anaerobic environment to further preserve freshness and purity. The free-run juice was transferred to 100% French oak barrels, 26% new, where 62% of the wine underwent a secondary, malolactic fermentation to soften and enrich its texture. It then aged for 15 months in barrel sur lie (on its primary yeast lees), with periodic stirring of the lees to further enhance texture and richness.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

Bright, fresh and creamy aromas of pear, apple and peach introduce vibrant citrus and melon flavors accented by yeasty/creamy tones and a refreshing minerality that enlivens the wine’s long, fruit-rich finish. Firmly structured in its youth, Cuttings Wharf Chardonnay will develop beautifully in bottle over the next 3-5 years.

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Vineyards

Planted in 2007 in the cool-climate Carneros district of southern Napa Valley, our Cuttings Wharf Vineyard is coming of age, as evidenced by this bright, stylish chardonnay. We cultivate six high-quality clones of chardonnay at Cuttings Wharf, all planted in the shallow clay loam soils common to the rolling, eastern plains of Carneros. In 2013, we blended four of these clones – 124 (50%) and 96 (40%) from France and the homegrown Wente (15%) and Robert Young (15%) selections. This clonal diversity makes our Cuttings Wharf Chardonnay especially aromatic and complex.

Vintage

In 2013, a warm, dry spring initiated early budbreak, ensured trouble-free vine flowering and grape set, and led to a consistently mild summer fostering steady, even ripening and grapes with fine flavor concentration. The fruit for our 2013 Cuttings Wharf Chardonnay was harvested between August 20th and August 30th with an ideal balance of ripe fruit and bright acidity.

Winemaking

We night-harvest and cold-cluster-press our Cuttings Wharf Chardonnay grapes to ensure the freshest, purest juice possible, then ferment the juice entirely in French oak barrels. In 2013, an early-ripening, high acid vintage, we also initiated a 100% secondary, malolactic fermentation, which converts tangy malic acid to creamier lactic acid. Post-fermentation, the wine aged in barrel for 16 months sur lie (on the yeast lees) with periodic stirring of the lees to enhance its texture, richness and complexity.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

This fragrant Chardonnay is redolent of ripe golden apple, melon and citrus fruit, with secondary coconut and vanilla bean scents. The palate offers rich, ripe, green apple, melon and guava flavors bolstered by a pleasing mineral tone in the long, crisp finish. Still a youngster, this beautifully balanced Napa Valley Chardonnay will profit from additional bottle aging and should drink beautifully over the next 3 to 5 years.

Delicious with chicken, seafood and grilled salads.
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Vineyards

This is our first single-vineyard Chardonnay from Cuttings Wharf Vineyard, one of four vineyards we own in southern Napa Valley’s cool-climate Carneros region. At Cuttings Wharf, six different, high-quality clones of Chardonnay are planted in shallow Haire Loam soils. The fruit from these special vines produces a wine with bright aromas, rich flavors, crisp acidity and a refreshing minerality. Our 2011 Cuttings Wharf Chardonnay is a felicitous blend of the Robert Young Clone and Clone 76, a French Dijon selection.

Vintage

2011 was a memorably cold, wet and late vintage. Wet winter and spring weather extended into mid-June, delaying and disrupting budbreak, bloom and fruit set and setting the stage for a cool summer growing season that culminated in a prolonged harvest. The good news is that the cool weather fostered slow, even ripening and the development of fully mature fruit flavors. This helped us craft a beautifully structured Cuttings Wharf Chardonnay boasting classic varietal aromas and flavors balanced by bright acidity.

Winemaking

We night-harvested our Cuttings Wharf Chardonnay grapes to ensure they were picked cold and retained their fruit purity and bright natural acidity. Once at the winery, the fruit was whole-cluster-pressed in an anaerobic environment to further preserve freshness and purity. The freshly pressed juice was transferred to 100% French oak barrels, 30% new, and inoculated for primary fermentation. Subsequently, 40% of the wine underwent a secondary, malolactic fermentation to soften and enrich its texture. The Cuttings Wharf Chardonnay aged for a total of eight months in barrel sur lie (on its yeast lees), with periodic stirring, to further enhance texture and richness. It was bottled on July 6, 2012.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

Creamy sweet apple, citrus and stone fruit aromas, augmented by subtle oak, yeast and mineral tones, introduce this wine’s brilliant, full-bodied flavors of ripe golden apple, white peach, melon and citrus. Rich, concentrated and beautifully structured on the palate, with a deep core of pure, expressive fruit, this classic single-vineyard, cool-climate Napa Valley chardonnay culminates in a long, vibrant finish featuring bright acidity, a touch of oak spice and a refreshing minerality. Delicious now, it will develop beautifully in bottle for another 3-5 years.

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Vineyards

Our Cuttings Wharf vineyard in the Carneros district of southern Napa Valley boasts six high-quality French Dijon clones of chardonnay, all planted in the shallow clay loam soils common to Carneros’s rolling eastern plains. Subject to foggy mornings and cool afternoon breezes from nearby San Pablo Bay, Carneros is Napa Valley’s coolest growing region and thus ideal for the cultivation of chardonnay. In 2015, we blended five of our clones (75, 95, 96, 124 and 158) from special blocks in the vineyard to craft this beautifully fresh, flavorful and textured wine.

Vintage

The 2015 vintage produced a notably light crop. A warm, dry winter fostered early bud-break, and consistently mild summer weather, with a few late-season heat spikes, led to the earliest harvest in Cakebread Cellars’ 43-year history. The light crop yielded small chardonnay clusters and berries boasting remarkably intense, concentrated flavors. We harvested the fruit between August 14th and 19th with an ideal balance of sugars and acidity.

Winemaking

Night-harvesting and whole-cluster-pressing of our Cuttings Wharf Chardonnay fruit extracted the freshest, purest juice possible. We fermented 92% of the juice in French oak barrels with the balance fermented in concrete ‘eggs’ long popular in Europe. The concrete fermenters accentuate the wine’s weight, texture and purity of flavor. In 2015, the Cuttings Wharf Chardonnay also underwent a 100% malolactic fermentation, which converts tangy malic acid to creamier lactic acid. Post-fermentation, the wine aged in French oak barrels, 33% new, for 15 months sur lie (on the yeast lees) with periodic stirring of the lees to enhance texture, richness and complexity.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

Our 2010 Chardonnay Reserve introduces itself with creamy, yeasty, butterscotch-y aromas that quickly reveal lovely ripe peach and yellow apple fruit scents layered with nutmeg and cinnamon spice notes from the French oak barrels in which it was fermented and aged. Full-bodied, round and extremely rich and creamy on the palate, the wine expertly marries lush apple, peach and crème brulee flavors with refreshing mineral tones, culminating in a long, lively finish buoyed by bright acidity and a hint of citrus zest. Beautifully structured, this sumptuous Chardonnay Reserve should age beautifully in bottle for another 5-7 years.

Pair with salmon, swordfish, veal and light pork, bouillabaisse or cream bisques.
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Vineyards

2010 is our first vintage of Chardonnay Reserve produced entirely from our estate vineyards – Cuttings Wharf, Milton Road and Foster Road – in the cool-climate Carneros district of southern Napa Valley. These prime sites are planted to six distinctive, high-quality clones of Chardonnay. By fermenting and barrel aging each clonal selection separately, and then blending only the very best barrel lots, we’re able to create a rich, luxurious style of Chardonnay with layers of complex aromas and flavors.

Vintage

2010 was the latest in a series of cooler-than-normal growing seasons in Napa Valley. The year began with substantial winter rainfall, which pushed back bud break, flowering and grape set by several weeks. After an especially cool summer, heat spikes in late August kick-started full ripening. Cooler temperatures returned in early September, but classic Indian summer weather yielded fully matured fruit. 2010’s mild growing conditions proved especially ideal for our Chardonnay grapes, which developed deep, concentrated flavors balanced by vibrant acidity.

Winemaking

To ensure we obtain the freshest, purest juice possible, we night-harvest and whole-cluster-press 100% of our Chardonnay grapes. In 2010, we inoculated 76% of the juice with cultured yeast strains that accentuate the variety’s fruitfulness while using 24% native yeasts from the vineyard to promote greater complexity and a refreshing minerality. One hundred percent of the juice fermented in French oak barrels, 30% new, with 7% undergoing a secondary, malolactic fermentation to enhance richness and mouthfeel. Aging our Chardonnay Reserve in barrel on its primary yeast lees for 15 months, with weekly stirring of the lees, further enhanced the wine’s aromatic complexity while fostering a round, creamy texture and lush, concentrated flavors.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

Our 2007 Chardonnay Reserve boasts fragrant sweet apple, ginger and melon aromas with complex, accompanying scents of citrus zest, mineral, vanilla cream, yeast and toasty oak. On the full-bodied, beautifully structured palate, the wine delivers succulent, deeply concentrated, creamy apple, melon, lemon-lime and peach flavors that persist throughout a long, bright, mineral- and ginger-laced finish. With great reserves of fruit, vibrant acidity and perfectly balanced oak tones, this luxurious, cool-climate Napa Valley Chardonnay makes delicious drinking now, but will handsomely reward five to seven years of cellaring.

Pair with salmon, swordfish, veal and light pork, bouillabaisse or cream bisques.
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Vineyards

Our 2007 Chardonnay Reserve is a blend of grapes from several outstanding vineyards in the cool-climate Carneros district of Napa Valley, with 67% of the fruit coming from our Foster Road, Milton Road and Tinsley Ranch estate vineyards. The wine also blends six different French Dijon clones of Chardonnay, which contribute to its distinctive, complex aromas and intense, vibrant flavors.

Vintage

2007 was a vintage of exceptional quality. Winter and spring were warmer and drier than usual, which accelerated budbreak, bloom and set and also resulted in small Chardonnay cluster and berry sizes, which concentrated and intensified flavors. Due to the early-starting season and consistently temperate summer weather, harvest began early and progressed at a fast clip, allowing us to harvest our Carneros District Chardonnay grapes between September 3rd and 21st with an ideal balance of ripe fruit and crisp acidity.

Winemaking

We night-harvest 100% of our Carneros Chardonnay grapes and whole-cluster-press the fruit to obtain the freshest, purest juice possible. In 2007, we inoculated 90% of the juice with cultured yeast strains to enhance the rich fruit character of the Chardonnay variety. Ten percent was fermented with native yeast strains to promote even greater complexity and a refreshing minerality. All of the juice fermented in French oak barrels, 32% new, with 16% of the new wine undergoing a secondary, malolactic fermentation to soften acidity and foster a round, creamy texture. Aging the wine in barrel on its primary yeast lees for 15 months, with plentiful stirring and no racking, further refined our Reserve Chardonnay’s silky texture, complex aromas and intense flavors, creating a perfect balance of fruit, yeast and oak tones.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

Our 2008 Chardonnay Reserve boasts vivid, beautifully delineated sweet apple, melon and citrus aromas – with hints of ginger and white peach – layered with toasty, creamy tones from barrel fermentation and sur lie aging. On the round, streamlined palate, bright, creamy, apple, melon, pear, lemon-lime and mineral flavors gain additional richness from judicious toasty oak and yeast tones that prolong a lingering, gingery finish lifted by a refreshing minerality. This youthful Chardonnay Reserve, from a vintage renowned for producing finely focused white wines with concentrated fruit and vibrant acidity, will continue developing in bottle for another 5-7 years.

Pair with salmon, swordfish, veal and light pork, bouillabaisse or cream bisques.
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Vineyards

We craft our Chardonnay Reserve from grapes cultivated in the cool-climate Carneros district of Napa Valley, with most of the fruit coming from our own estate vineyards. The wine blends six superior French Dijon clones of Chardonnay, which account for its distinctive, complex aromas and intense, vibrant flavors.

Vintage

2008 was a topsy-turvy growing season in Napa Valley, with heavy January rains giving way to a warm, dry spring complicated by severe frosts in late March and throughout April. Coupled with inclement weather during bloom in May, these conditions dramatically reduced the size of the grape crop. Beginning in June, however, consistently clear, mild summer weather prevailed, ripening our small crop of Carneros Chardonnay grapes to perfection. Despite the season’s tribulations, 2008 yielded a bevy of vibrant, beautifully focused wines with rich, concentrated flavors balanced by crisp acidity.

Winemaking

We night-harvest 100% of our Chardonnay Reserve grapes and whole-cluster-press the fruit to obtain the freshest, purest juice possible. In 2008, we inoculated 80% of the juice with cultured yeast strains to enhance its rich fruit character while using 20% native yeasts from the vineyard to foster greater complexity and a refreshing minerality. One hundred percent of the juice fermented in French oak barrels, 35% new. Due to the wine’s perfect natural balance, we refrained from subjecting it to a secondary, malolactic fermentation. Aging our Chardonnay Reserve in barrel on its primary yeast lees for 15 months, with periodic stirring to enhance body and complexity, further refined its round, creamy texture, vibrant, varietally expressive aromas and rich, concentrated flavors.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

Our 2009 Chardonnay Reserve delights the olfactory sense with beautifully ripe golden apple, citrus and tropical fruit aromas, complemented by seductive scents of buttercream, yeast and mineral. On the palate, the wine is wonderfully lush and mouthfilling, with rich, creamy, spiced apple, peach and melon flavors; yet, it is also wonderfully fresh, focused and balanced, reflecting the cool 2009 vintage. With deeply concentrated fruit and vibrant acidity, this luxurious Chardonnay Reserve will age beautifully in bottle for another 5-7 years.

Pair with salmon, swordfish, veal and light pork, bouillabaisse or cream bisques.
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Vineyards

Our 2009 Chardonnay Reserve was produced entirely from grapes grown in the cool-climate Carneros district of southern Napa Valley, with 85% of the fruit coming from our estate vineyards which includes 70% from four special blocks of our Foster Road ranch. These sites provide us with six distinctive, high-quality French Dijon clones of Chardonnay, which we blend to create a singularly delicious wine with complex varietal aromas and intense, vibrant flavors.

Vintage

In 2009, plentiful spring rains in Northern California deferred the need for early irrigation, resulting in small berries with deeply concentrated flavors. Summer was consistently cool, which allowed for slow, steady ripening and the parallel development of grape sugars and flavors, fostering maturity at moderate sugar levels and resulting in superbly balanced wines. We harvested the grapes for our 2009 Chardonnay Reserve between September 8th and 19th with a fine balance of ripe fruit flavors and crisp balancing acidity.

Winemaking

We night-harvest 100% of our Chardonnay grapes and whole-cluster-press the fruit to obtain the freshest, purest juice possible. In 2009, we inoculated 91% of the juice with cultured yeast strains to accentuate fruit character while using 9% native yeasts from the vineyard to foster greater complexity and a refreshing minerality. One hundred percent of the juice fermented in French oak barrels, 31% new, with 12% undergoing a secondary, malolactic fermentation to enhance richness and mouthfeel. Aging our Chardonnay Reserve in barrel on its primary yeast lees for 15 months, with weekly stirring to enhance body and complexity, further refined its round, creamy texture, varietally expressive aromas and lush, concentrated flavors.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

Our sumptuous 2011 Chardonnay Reserve offers creamy, complex aromas of lemon custard, ripe golden apple and white peach, complemented by subordinate notes of jasmine, buttercream, light yeast and oak toast. Round and creamy on the palate, with deeply concentrated peach, apple and melon flavors, the wine picks up zesty citrus, spice and mineral tones in the long, elegant finish. This big, beautifully balanced Chardonnay is delicious now, but it will handsomely reward another 5-7 years’ aging.

Pair with salmon, swordfish, veal and light pork, bouillabaisse or cream bisques.
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Vineyards

The grapes for our 2011 Chardonnay Reserve came entirely from our four ranches – Foster Road (49%), Tinsley (41%), Cuttings Wharf (9%) and Milton Road (3%) – in the cool-climate Carneros district of southern Napa Valley. These prime sites are collectively planted to nine distinctive, high-quality clones of Chardonnay. By fermenting and barrel aging each clonal selection separately, and then blending the very best barrel lots, we’re able to create a luxurious style of Chardonnay boasting layers of complex aromas and flavors.

Vintage

2011 was a memorably cool, late vintage. Rainy winter and spring weather extended into mid-June, delaying and disrupting budbreak, bloom and fruit set and setting the stage for a cool summer growing season culminating in a prolonged harvest. The good news is that the cool weather fostered slow, even ripening and fully mature fruit flavors in our estate Chardonnay grapes, allowing us to craft a beautifully structured Chardonnay Reserve with ripe, luscious flavors balanced by crisp acidity.

Winemaking

After night-harvesting and whole-cluster-pressing the fruit to maximize freshness and fruit purity, we instigated fermentation by inoculating the juice with cultured yeast strains that accentuate the Chardonnay variety’s bright fruit tones. One hundred percent of the juice fermented in French oak barrels, 31% new, with a small portion of the new wine undergoing a secondary, malolactic fermentation to enhance texture, mouthfeel and balance. Our Chardonnay Reserve then aged in barrel on its primary yeast lees for 15 months, with weekly stirring of the lees. This regimen further enhanced the wine’s aromatic complexity, round, creamy texture and fresh flavors.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

Our 2012 Chardonnay Reserve boasts bright, creamy aromas of sweet golden apple and white peach augmented by enticing pie crust, biscotti, toasted oak and mineral scents. Full-bodied and mouthfilling on the palate, with luscious, impressively concentrated apple, pear and melon flavors, the wine delivers a strikingly long, persistent finish showcasing ripe fruit, spicy oak and refreshing mineral tones. Although this intense, beautifully structured chardonnay is difficult to resist now, it will benefit from another 5-7 years of aging.

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Vineyards

We craft our Chardonnay Reserve exclusively from grapes grown in our four estate vineyards in the cool-climate Carneros district of southern Napa Valley. These sites provide ideal conditions for the cultivation of world-class chardonnay fruit, especially as they’re planted to nine distinctive clones of the variety, each supplying desirable traits to our final blend. By fermenting and barrel aging each clonal selection separately – using French oak barrels tailored to the character of each lot – and then blending only the very best lots, we’re able to create a rich, luxurious chardonnay boasting layers of complex aromas and flavors.

Vintage

2012 was a near-ideal growing season, with a warm, dry spring fostering early budbreak and trouble-free flowering and grape set. Consistently mild summer weather free of rain or unwelcome heat spikes allowed us to harvest our Chardonnay Reserve grapes at just the right moment with a perfect balance of intense, concentrated fruit flavors and bright acidity.

Winemaking

We night-harvested and whole-cluster-pressed our 2012 Chardonnay Reserve fruit to maximize freshness and fruit purity, then instigated fermentation by inoculating the juice with cultured yeast strains that accentuate the chardonnay variety’s bright fruit tones. One hundred percent of the juice fermented in French oak barrels, 30% new, and 60% of the wine was put through a secondary, malolactic fermentation to enhance its texture and foster a rich, creamy mouthfeel. The Chardonnay Reserve aged in barrel on its primary yeast lees for 15 months, with weekly stirring of the lees. This regimen enhanced the wine’s aromatic complexity, round, creamy texture and fresh, lush flavors.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

Our 2013 Chardonnay Reserve offers an enticingly fresh, perfumed nose of creamy golden apple and Asian pear fruit mingled with intriguing beeswax, mineral and toasty oak scents. Fresh and lively on the palate with deeply concentrated, layered flavors of yellow apple, white peach and melon, the wine boasts a long, lingering finish showcasing mouthwatering lemon curd and mineral tones. While this intense, beautifully structured chardonnay is impressive now, it will gain further richness and complexity with another 5-7 years of aging.

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Vineyards

We vinify our Chardonnay Reserve exclusively from grapes grown in from our four estate vineyards in the Carneros district of southern Napa Valley. These cool-climate sites provide ideal conditions for the cultivation of world-class chardonnay, especially as they’re planted to nine distinctive, high-quality clones of the variety, each of which supplies desirable traits to the final blend. By fermenting and barrel-aging each clonal selection separately – using French oak barrels tailored to the particular character of each lot – and then blending only the very best lots, we’re able to create a rich, luxurious chardonnay boasting layers of complex aromas and flavors.

Vintage

In 2013, the second year of the California drought, a warm, dry spring initiated early budbreak, ensured trouble-free vine flowering and grape set, and led to a consistently mild summer fostering steady, even ripening and grapes with wonderful flavor concentration. The fruit for our 2013 Napa Valley Chardonnay Reserve was harvested early – between August 20th and September 4th – with a perfect balance of sugars and acidity.

Winemaking

We night-harvest and whole-cluster-press our hand-picked Chardonnay Reserve fruit to maximize its freshness and fruit purity, then instigate fermentation by inoculating the juice with cultured yeast strains that accentuate the chardonnay variety’s vibrant fruit tones. In 2013, 100% of the juice fermented in French oak barrels, 30% new, while roughly 50% of the wine underwent a secondary, malolactic fermentation to foster a rich, creamy mouthfeel. The 2013 Chardonnay Reserve aged in barrel on its primary yeast lees for 15 months, with weekly stirring of the lees to optimize its complex aromas, rich texture and bright, concentrated flavors.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

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Vineyards

To ensure we obtain the freshest, purest juice possible, we night-harvest and whole-cluster-press 100% of our Chardonnay grapes. We inoculate some of the juice with cultured yeast strains that accentuate the variety’s fruitfulness while using a portion of the native yeasts from the vineyard to promote greater complexity and a refreshing minerality. One hundred percent of the juice fermented in French oak barrels, 30% new, with 7% undergoing a secondary, malolactic fermentation to enhance richness and mouthfeel. We age our Reserve Chardonnay in barrel on its primary yeast lees typically for approximately 15 months, with weekly stirring of the lees, further enhanced the wine’s aromatic complexity while fostering a round, creamy texture and lush, concentrated flavors.

Our Chardonnay Reserve introduces itself with creamy, yeasty, butterscotch-y aromas that quickly reveal lovely ripe peach and yellow apple fruit scents layered with nutmeg and cinnamon spice notes from the French oak barrels in which it was fermented and aged. Full-bodied, round and extremely rich and creamy on the palate, the wine expertly marries lush apple, peach and crème brulee flavors with refreshing mineral tones, culminating in a long, lively finish buoyed by bright acidity and a hint of citrus zest. Beautifully structured, this sumptuous Napa Valley Chardonnay should age beautifully in bottle for another 5-7 years beyond release date.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

Our 2010 Anderson Valley Pinot Noir boasts a vividly fragrant nose of bright cherry, raspberry and plum fruit, complemented by a seductive scent of sweet vanilla. Comprised primarily of the famed Pommard and Swan clones, this plush Pinot is fruit-rich, round and mouthfilling on the palate, with juicy dark cherry, plum and pomegranate flavors that pick up a zesty tea-leaf spice tone on the long, succulent finish. Superbly balanced, with deep, opulent fruit, supple tannins and bright acidity, this delicious Pinot Noir will drink beautifully for the next 5-7 years.

Delicious with seared tuna or swordfish, pork or lighter red meats.
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Vineyards

Our estate Mendocino County Pinot Noir vineyard lies just north of the small town of Boonville at the southern end of Anderson Valley, a small jewel of a winegrowing region that follows the Navarro River on its path to the spectacular Mendocino coastline. In addition to an ideal climate of cool, foggy mornings, warm late afternoons and chilly evenings, the site boasts six distinctive clones of Pinot Noir that together provide a rich tapestry of varietal flavors, making our Anderson Valley Pinot Noir a marvel of opulence and complexity.

Vintage

The 2010 growing season began with substantial rainfall, which pushed back bud break, flowering and grape set by several weeks. After an unusually cool summer, heat spikes in late August kick-started ripening. Cool weather returned in early September, but a glorious Indian summer yielded a late harvest of fruit with mature, concentrated flavors, resulting in a bevy of beautifully structured wines. We harvested our Anderson Valley Pinot Noir grapes between September 29th and October 1st with a perfect balance of ripe fruit flavors and crisp balancing acidity.

Winemaking

We night-harvest our Anderson Valley Pinot Noir grapes during the early morning hours when their flavors are optimally fresh and intense. Fermenting each of our six Pinot Noir clones separately maximizes their distinctive personalities and enhances wine complexity. Before fermentation, each clonal lot receives a three-day cold soak to gently extract color and tannin and accentuate Pinot Noir’s fruit-forward personality. In traditional Burgundian fashion, we ferment the juice in small open-top tanks and gently punch down the cap of skins at the top of the tanks to fully extract color and flavor. Once fermentation completes, the wines macerate on their skins for several more weeks, with daily assays of color and tannin development. After draining the wines from the skins, we transfer them to Burgundian oak barrels carefully matched to our estate fruit’s flavor and textural attributes. After aging the wines in barrel until the following spring, we blend the lots and barrel-age the blend another 6-7 months before bottling.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

Compared to Cakebread Cellars’ Carneros Pinot Noir, our Anderson Valley Pinot Noir bottling offers a darker, lusher, earthier fruit character. The 2009 vintage displays lavish, high-toned blueberry, boysenberry, dark plum and blackberry aromas with rich, dense, black fruit flavors that are simultaneously fresh and opulent. Beautifully balanced with supple, perfectly integrated tannins and a long, savory finish, this immensely flavorful Pinot Noir is thoroughly delicious now, yet it will handsomely reward another 3-5 years’ aging.

Delicious with seared tuna or swordfish, pork or lighter red meats.
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Vineyards

In 2001, Cakebread Cellars planted a Pinot Noir vineyard just north of the small town of Boonville at the southern end of Anderson Valley, a small jewel of a winegrowing region that follows the Navarro River on its path to the spectacular Mendocino coastline. In addition to an ideal climate of cool, foggy mornings, warm late afternoons and chilly evenings, the site boasts six distinctive French clones of Pinot Noir that together provide a rich tapestry of varietal flavors, making our Anderson Valley Pinot Noir a marvel of opulence and complexity.

Vintage

In 2009, plentiful spring rains in Northern California fully replenished the water table, which deferred the need for early irrigation and kept berry sizes small. Consistently cool summer temperatures resulted in the slow, steady and parallel development of grape sugars and flavors, resulting in peak fruit maturity at lower sugar levels and beautifully balanced wines. We harvested our Anderson Valley Pinot Noir grapes between September 16th and 19th with a perfect balance of rich fruit flavors and crisp balancing acidity.

Winemaking

An important aspect of our winemaking regimen for Pinot Noir is night-harvesting, because grape flavors are fresher and more concentrated during the cold early morning hours – when the vines are at rest – than during the day. Fermenting each of our six Anderson Valley Pinot Noir clones separately is also key, as it optimizes the distinctive personality of each clone and maximizes complexity. Prior to fermentation, each lot receives a three-day cold soak to gently extract color and tannin while accentuating Pinot Noir’s fruit-forward personality. In traditional Burgundian fashion, the juice ferments in open-top tanks with gentle, manual punch-downs of the cap. Once fermentation completes, the wines macerate on the skins for several more weeks, with daily assays of color and tannin development. After gently draining the wines from the skins, we transfer them to French oak barrels (31% new) selected to accentuate our estate fruit’s flavor and textural attributes. After aging the wines in barrel until the following spring, we blend the lots and barrel-age the blend another seven months before bottling.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

The nose of our 2008 Anderson Valley Pinot Noir is dense with the scents of ripe summer fruits: boysenberry, black raspberry, black cherry, strawberry and dark plum, all abetted by intriguing hints of earth, leather, cocoa and oak toast. Lush and full-bodied on the palate, with layer upon layer of sumptuous, deeply concentrated dark fruit flavors, the wine is bolstered by beautifully integrated tannins and appealing spice and toasty oak tones that add a savory note to the long, firmly structured finish. Delicious now, this opulent Anderson Valley Pinot Noir will gain even more nuance and complexity with another 3-5 years’ bottle aging.

Delicious with seared tuna or swordfish, pork or lighter red meats.
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Vineyards

In 2001, we planted a Pinot Noir vineyard just north of the small, iconic town of Boonville at the southern end of Anderson Valley, a small jewel of a winegrowing region that follows the Navarro River on its path to the spectacular Mendocino coastline. In addition to an ideal climate of cool, foggy mornings, warm late afternoons and chilly evenings, the site boasts six distinctive French clones of Pinot Noir. Clone 667 provides fruit-forward flavors; 777 delivers perfumed aromas; 115 adds strong color; the Pommard and 375 clones supply elegant tannic structure; and the Swan clone contributes wonderful concentration. Together, they provide an amazing diversity of varietal flavors, making our Anderson Valley Pinot Noir a marvel of richness and complexity.

Vintage

In spring, 2008, Northern California experienced a spate of severe spring frosts, dramatically reducing yields on virtually all wine grape varieties. Temperatures during the early part of the growing season were significantly below average, but warmer weather finally arrived in July, although temperatures cooled again in September. Southern Anderson Valley’s warm afternoon temperatures, coupled with its overcast, fog-chilled mornings and cold evenings (diurnal variations of 40 degrees are not uncommon), ripened our estate Pinot Noir grapes to perfection with an excellent balance of ripe fruit flavors and bright acidity. The fruit was harvested between September 27th and 30th in pristine condition.

Winemaking

We ferment each of our six Anderson Valley Pinot Noir clones separately to optimize their distinctive personalities. Prior to fermentation, each lot receives a three-day cold soak to gently extract color and tannin while accentuating Pinot Noir’s fruit-forward personality. In true Burgundian fashion, the juice ferments in open-top tanks with gentle, manual punch-downs of the cap. Once fermentation completes, the wines macerate on the skins for several more weeks, with daily assessments of color and tannin development. In 2008, 3% of the fruit was fermented as whole clusters and 4% was barrel-fermented to enhance complexity. After gently draining the wines from the skins, we transferred them to Burgundian oak barrels, 32% new, selected to accentuate our estate fruit’s flavor and textural attributes. After aging the wines in barrel until the following spring, we blended the lots and barrel-aged the blend another seven months before bottling.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

On first whiff, our 2007 Anderson Valley Pinot Noir conjures a shower of cascading rose petals, a lovely, floral aroma that gives way with airing to a mélange of dark ripe fruit scents (blueberry, boysenberry and black cherry), with earth, chocolate and juniper notes adding complexity. On the full, rich palate, the wine offers layers of deeply concentrated, dark berry, plum and currant fruit flavors bolstered by ripe, seamlessly integrated tannins and a long, chocolate-y finish. Thoroughly delicious now, this ‘masculine’-style Pinot Noir will become even more voluptuous and complex with another 3-5 years’ bottle aging.

Delicious with seared tuna or swordfish, pork or lighter red meats.
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Vineyards

The grapes for this sumptuous Anderson Valley Pinot Noir come exclusively from our estate vineyard near Boonville at the southern end of Anderson Valley, which follows the Navarro River as it drains into the Pacific Ocean at Albion on the Mendocino Coast. While the site experiences cool, foggy mornings, it also enjoys warm late afternoons, an ideal scenario for ripening Pinot Noir grapes to perfection while retaining their vibrant acidity. Another key feature of our Anderson Valley vineyard is its six superb French clones of Pinot Noir, which yield small-berried grapes with intense, concentrated flavors and ripe, round tannins. These special clones allow us to craft an Anderson Valley Pinot Noir of uncommon depth, richness and complexity.

Vintage

The winter and spring of 2007 were unusually dry and mild, which accelerated budbreak and bloom. The summer months were also temperate, with few heat spikes, which allowed our Anderson Valley Pinot Noir grapes to ripen slowly and evenly. Coupled with modest crop yields and ideal harvest weather, these conditions fostered perfectly ripened fruit, which we night-harvested by hand between September 18th and 27th.

Winemaking

We ferment each of our six Anderson Valley Pinot Noir clones separately to optimize their distinctive personalities, using a proportion of native yeasts from the vineyard (22% in 2007) to foster additional complexity. Prior to fermentation, each lot receives a three-day cold soak to gently extract color and tannin while accentuating Pinot Noir’s fruit-forward personality. In true Burgundian fashion, the juice ferments in open-top tanks with gentle, manual punch-downs of the cap. Once fermentation completes, the wines macerate on the skins for another two weeks, with daily assessments of color and tannin development. In 2007, after draining the wines from the skins, we transferred them to French oak barrels, 40% new, selected specifically to accentuate our Anderson Valley Pinot Noir’s fruit and textural qualities. We then blended the component wines in spring, 2008 and barrel-aged the blend for another seven months, for a total of 15 months barrel aging. The 2007 Pinot Noir was bottled in January, 2009.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

The 2012 Cakebread Cellars Two Creeks Pinot Noir boasts fragrant red and black cherry, red raspberry, strawberry and rose petal aromas. It has a smooth, mouth-coating texture, velvety tannins and delightfully silky red raspberry, cherry and strawberry flavors that take on a spicy tone in the long, juicy finish. Delicious now, it will age well in bottle for at least five years.

Delicious with seared tuna or swordfish, pork or lighter red meats.
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Vineyards

Cakebread Cellars 2012 Two Creeks Pinot Noir is blend of several French Dijon clones and the famed Joseph Swan and Pommard clones. The grapes were night-harvested for freshness between September 20th and October 1st with an ideal balance of sugar and acidity. With the Dijon clones supplying bright fruit and acidity, the small-berried Swan clone providing intense varietal flavors, and the Pommard clone contributing mid-palate weight and a warm spice tone, Two Creeks is a fruit-forward, yet complex pinot noir showcasing the best of Anderson Valley.

Vintage

“2012 was a picture-perfect vintage in California,” says longtime Cakebread Cellars winemaker Julianne Laks, “so we’re happy it’s the debut vintage of our Two Creeks Pinot Noir. In great vintages like 2012, we’re able to fully execute our philosophy of non-intrusive winemaking: handling the grapes and wine as gently as possible to ensure that the lovely, ethereal aromas and flavors of pinot noir shine through. When you combine stellar vineyards with a superb vintage and let the fruit do the talking, you can make a beautiful wine like Two Creeks.”

Winemaking

The fruit was handled gently and cold-soaked for several days prior to fermentation to extract early color and flavor, with the stems retained in certain lots to impart a light spice tone. The must was allowed to warm up naturally over the course of a week before native yeast from the vineyards spontaneously initiated fermentation, which was subsequently sustained by inoculating with a cultured yeast strain. Gentle daily punchdowns during fermentation extracted optimal color, flavor and tannin from the skins. The new wines aged in French Burgundian oak barrels, 38% new, for seven months before being blended in April, 2013. The blended wine then spent another three months in barrel prior to bottling in July, 2013.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

Our 2013 Two Creeks Pinot Noir displays a beautifully fragrant nose of bright raspberry, strawberry, red cherry, cranberry, and pomegranate fruit, with a darker plum tone and hints of rose petal and oak toast adding complexity. On the palate, the wine is richer and more intense than its nose might suggest, with concentrated black cherry, plum and blackberry flavors that turn spicy on the long, youthfully firm finish. This superb, cool-climate pinot noir is impressive now, but will continue developing in bottle for another five years.

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Vineyards

Our second vintage of Two Creeks Pinot Noir blends grapes from our Apple Barn (60%) and Annahala (40%) vineyards in Mendocino County’s Anderson Valley, a cool-climate coastal region renowned for its superb pinot noirs. The vineyards share a marine-influenced climate and an overlapping mix of nine high-quality pinot noir clones, including the famed Joseph Swan and Pommard selections. Apple Barn is a more exposed site with gravelly soils, while Annahala is sheltered by trees and has heavier loam soils. Apple Barn enjoys warm afternoons, while Annahala, further west toward the ocean, is significantly cooler and receives more fog. The blend of the two estate vineyards yields a wonderfully complex and balanced wine.

Vintage

In 2013, a warm, dry winter and early spring resulted in early budbreak, consistent flowering of the vines, and an excellent fruit set. Summer growing conditions were ideal, with moderately warm days and cool nights fostering steady, even ripening. Many wines from the vintage are of exceptional quality, with enviable intensity, structure and balance.

Winemaking

We handle our pinot noir fruit very gently, cold-soaking the must (unfermented juice and skins) for several days prior to fermentation to extract early color and flavor. The must warms up naturally over the course of a week before native yeast from the vineyards spontaneously initiate fermentation, which is sustained by inoculating the fermenting wine with a cultured yeast strain. The grapes from each vineyard are fermented separately in small open top tanks with gentle daily punchdowns of the skins to extract optimal color, flavor and tannin. Post- fermentation, the free-run wines are drained from the skins and transferred to carefully selected French oak barrels, where they age three months before being blended. The 2013 Two Creeks Pinot Noir spent a total of ten months in barrel before bottling in June, 2014.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

Our 2015 Two Creeks Pinot Noir displays fresh, fragrant aromas of red and black cherry, raspberry and tea-leaf spice. The palate is lush and mouth-filling with rich blackberry, strawberry, raspberry and plum flavors that segue into a long finish suffused with notes of black cherry, spice and mineral. Delicious now, this full-flavored, cool-climate pinot noir will develop additional complexity with up to five more years of bottle aging.

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Vineyards

Two Creeks Pinot Noir is a blend of grapes from our Annahala and Apple Barn estate vineyards in Mendocino County’s Anderson Valley, a cool coastal appellation renowned for its superb pinots. The region’s close proximity to the Pacific Ocean has a dramatic cooling effect that promotes slow, even ripening. Annahala and Apple Barn share this marine-influenced climate and an overlapping mix of nine superior pinot noir clones, six of which were used for the 2015 vintage. Closer to the coast and sheltered by trees, Annahala is the cooler and foggier of the two sites, while Apple Barn is more exposed and enjoys warmer afternoons. Blending their fruit yields a beautifully aromatic, flavorful and balanced pinot noir.

Vintage

2015 was the latest in a string of fine vintages in Anderson Valley. Mild winter weather fostered early budbreak, flowering and grape set while ongoing drought conditions coupled with a notably light crop led to an early harvest of small-berried grapes boasting intense varietal flavors.

Winemaking

We hand-harvested our Anderson Valley pinot noir grapes at night to preserve their freshness and varietal intensity, keeping the fruit from a half-dozen distinctive blocks of vines separate. The individual lots were cold-soaked for early extraction of color and flavor, then fermented in small, open-top tanks. Native yeast from the vineyards initiated fermentation, which proceeded slowly until the fermenting wine was inoculated with a cultured yeast strain. Gentle punch downs assisted in the extraction of each lot’s aromas and flavors. Once fermentation completed, the free run juice from each lot was drained from the skins and transferred to French oak barrels, 37% of which were new, where they aged for three months before blending the lots together. The blended wine was then aged another seven months in barrel prior to bottling.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

Our 2012 Apple Barn Pinot Noir displays high-toned dark cherry, blueberry, black raspberry and plum aromas with hints of earth and spice. Rich and mouthfilling on the palate, its concentrated black cherry, huckleberry and black plum flavors gain a zesty spice tone on the long, savory finish. Finely structured by round, supple tannins and balanced acidity, this opulent Pinot Noir is delightful to drink now with herb-roasted chicken, pork, lamb and beef dishes, but it will develop even greater complexity with another 3-5 years of bottle age

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Vineyards

Apple Barn is a generally cool site, but its summer afternoons are warm. The vineyard’s open exposure, gravelly soils and half-dozen superior French clones yield intensely flavorful fruit that consistently produces deeply concentrated pinot noirs with lush fruit and round, ripe tannins.

Vintage

The 2012 vintage was one of California’s finest in recent memory. Consistently mild summer weather free of rain and significant heat spikes produced a healthy crop of ripe, concentrated fruit. These conditions allowed us to harvest our Apple Barn Vineyard pinot noir grapes at optimum maturity between September 20th and October 1st.

Winemaking

Our 2012 Apple Barn Pinot Noir is a blend of four superior clones of the variety: the famed Swan (40% of the blend) and Pommard selections, which have long been grown in California, and the superb French Dijon clones 777 and 115. Each clonal lot was harvested, cold-soaked and fermented separately to maximize its character. Gentle daily punchdowns during fermentation extracted optimal color, flavor and tannin from the skins. The four lots aged for six months in French Burgundian oak barrels (41% new) tailored to their respective fruit profiles before being blended in April, 2013. The blended wine spent another four months in barrel prior to bottling in August, 2013.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

The 2013 Apple Barn Pinot Noir displays a dark, saturated color and beautifully ripe dark cherry, black raspberry, blueberry and plum compote aromas accented by a fragrant sandalwood spice tone. Remarkably deep, dense and concentrated on the palate, the wine’s lush black cherry, red berry and black plum flavors are framed by silky-smooth tannins, leading to a long, sumptuous finish. While this opulent Pinot Noir is delightful to drink now with chicken, pork, lamb and beef dishes, it will develop greater complexity with another 3-5 years of bottle age.

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Vineyards

Planted in 2001, our Apple Barn Vineyard is located just north of the town of Boonville in the southern end of Mendocino County’s Anderson Valley, a small coastal appellation renowned for its world-class pinot noirs. Apple Barn is a generally cool site, but it warms considerably during summer afternoons. The vineyard’s open exposure, gravelly soils and half-dozen superior French clones yield ripe, intensely flavorful grapes that consistently produce deeply concentrated pinot noirs with lush fruit and round, supple tannins.

Vintage

In 2013, a warm, dry winter and early spring resulted in early budbreak, consistent flowering of the vines, and an excellent fruit set. Summer growing conditions were ideal, with moderately warm days and cool nights fostering steady, even ripening. These conditions allowed us to craft a range of superior varietal wines boasting enviable intensity, structure and balance.

Winemaking

Our 2013 Apple Barn Pinot Noir is a blend of six superior clones of the variety: the famed Swan (42% of the blend) and Pommard (14%) selections, which have long been grown in California, and the superb French Dijon clones 115 (15%), 777 (11%), 375 (11%) and 667 (7%). Each clonal lot was harvested, cold-soaked and fermented separately to maximize its unique character, with gentle daily punchdowns during fermentation extracting optimal color, flavor and tannin from the skins. Fermentation was instigated spontaneously by native yeasts from the vineyard. Given the diversity of yeast strains and species in a vineyard, the population of which varies by variety, site and region, native yeast fermentation fosters greater wine complexity, although we subsequently add cultured yeast to keep the fermentation on track. After six months in French Burgundian oak barrels (34% new) tailored to their respective fruit profiles, the six lots were blended, and the blend spent another four months in barrel prior to bottling in August, 2014.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

Our 2012 Annahala Pinot Noir boasts beautifully fresh, pure, red and black cherry aromas with notes of strawberry and red raspberry. Round and juicy on the palate, its silky, delicious cherry and raspberry flavors gain light spice and mineral tones on the bright, lively finish. Perfectly balanced by fine tannins and vibrant acidity, this lovely Pinot Noir is delightful now on its own or with food (salmon, herb-roasted chicken, pork and lamb dishes), but will develop greater nuance with another 2-3 years of bottle age.

Delicious with seared tuna or swordfish, pork or lighter red meats.
View recipes that complement this wine

Vineyards

The 60-acre Annahala Ranch is just northwest of the small town of Boonville in southern Anderson Valley, a renowned source of world-class pinot noir. Annahala’s tree-shaded slopes, loamy soils, cool, marine-influenced climate and multiple, high-quality clones of pinot noir yield wines with fresh, varietally pure aromas, bright, rich flavors and fine, supple tannins.

Vintage

The 2012 vintage was one of California’s finest in recent memory. Consistently mild summer weather free of rain and significant heat spikes produced a healthy crop of intensely flavorful fruit. These conditions allowed us to harvest our Annahala Ranch pinot noir grapes between September 25th and 29th with an ideal balance of ripe fruit flavors and vibrant acidity

Winemaking

Our 2012 Annahala Pinot Noir is a blend of three high-quality French Dijon clones of the variety: 114 (65% of the blend), 777 and 115. Each clonal lot was handled gently and cold-soaked for several days prior to fermentation to extract early color and flavor. The must was allowed to warm up naturally over the course of a week before native yeasts from the vineyard spontaneously initiated fermentation. Gentle daily punchdowns during fermentation and extended maceration extracted optimal color, flavor and tannin from the skins. The three wines aged for six months in French Burgundian oak barrels (37% new) tailored to their particular fruit attributes before being blended in April, 2013. The blended wine spent another three months in barrel prior to bottling in August, 2013.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

The 2013 Annahala Pinot Noir displays classic varietal aromas of bright black cherry and raspberry fruit complemented by a piquant spice-box scent. Its vibrantly delicious black cherry and raspberry flavors are supported by fine tannins and bright acidity, with mineral and spice tones enlivening the long finish. This varietally expressive, fruit-forward pinot noir is delightful now, on its own or with food (salmon, herb-roasted chicken, ham and lamb dishes), but it will develop greater nuance with another 2-3 years of bottle age.

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Vineyards

Our 60-acre Annahala Ranch in coastal Mendocino County is located just northwest of the small town of Boonville in southern Anderson Valley, a region celebrated for its world-class pinot noirs. A lovely, tree-sheltered site, Annahala benefits from loamy soils, a cool, marine-influenced climate and multiple, high-quality clones of pinot noir that yield wines with fresh, pure aromas, bright, rich flavors and fine, supple tannins.

Vintage

In 2013, a warm, dry winter and early spring resulted in early budbreak, consistent flowering of the vines, and an excellent fruit set. Summer weather was ideal, with moderately warm days and cool nights fostering steady, even ripening. These conditions allowed us to craft a range of superior varietal wines boasting enviable intensity, structure and balance.

Winemaking

Our 2013 Annahala Ranch Pinot Noir is a blend of five top-quality French Dijon clones of the variety: 777 (45%), 667 (29%), 114 (21%), 828 (4%) and 115 (1%). Each clonal lot was handled gently and cold-soaked for several days prior to fermentation to extract early color and flavor. The must was allowed to warm up naturally over the course of a week before native yeasts from the vineyard spontaneously initiated fermentation. Given the variety of yeast strains and species in a vineyard, the population of which varies by variety, site and region, native yeast fermentation fosters greater wine complexity, although we subsequently add cultured yeast to keep the fermentation on track. In 2013, we fermented 12% of the juice with stems – a common practice in Burgundy – which enhanced the wine’s structure and added a pleasing spice tone. Gentle daily punch-downs of the skins during fermentation and extended maceration time post-fermentation extracted optimal color, flavor and tannin. The clonal lots aged six months in French Burgundian oak barrels, 34% new, before blending. The blended wine spent another four months in barrel prior to bottling in August, 2014.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

Consistent with past vintages, our 2007 Carneros Napa Valley Pinot Noir seduces with fragrant red and black cherry aromas complemented by secondary scents of raspberry, dark plum, light brown spices, sweet vanilla, freshly baked brioche and toasty oak. On the beautifully balanced, medium-bodied palate, the wine delivers bright, succulent, cherry and raspberry flavors supported by fine, silky tannins and a black tea spiciness that enlivens the long, zesty finish. While this lovely Pinot Noir drinks beautifully now, it will handsomely reward another 3-5 years of bottle age.

Delicious with seared tuna or swordfish, pork or lighter red meats.
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Vineyards

We craft our Carneros Pinot Noir from multiple, small-berried clones of the variety grown in several outstanding vineyards in the famed Carneros District at the southern tip of Napa Valley. Morning fog and cooling afternoon breezes from nearby San Pablo Bay ensure a long growing season and the slow, even ripening of our Carneros grapes, which in 2007 were harvested between August 27th and September 4th.

Vintage

In 2007, a dry, mild winter and spring led to early budbreak and bloom. The summer months were temperate, with few heat spikes, which allowed our Carneros Pinot Noir grapes to develop concentrated flavors while retaining bright acidity. Warm weather in early September accelerated ripening and led to an early, fast-paced harvest of beautifully matured fruit.

Winemaking

To make world-class Pinot Noir, we night-harvest our grapes by hand and treat the fruit as gently as possible, intervening minimally during fermentation and barrel aging. Typically, we ferment all the juice in small, open-top, stainless steel tanks, but in 2007 we experimented with fermenting a small fraction (12%) in open-top barrels. This type of fermentation expands the flavor spectrum, produces richer hues, creates a more supple texture and promotes complexity. We further enhanced complexity by relying in the fermentation on 22% native yeasts that arrived on the fruit from the vineyards. In true Burgundian fashion we gently punched down the cap in tank to thoroughly macerate the juice and skins. Once fermentation completed, the wines continued macerating on the skins for several weeks to fully extract color and flavor. We then transferred them to French oak barrels, 42% new, where they aged until blending the following spring. The blended wine then spent another seven months in barrel, for a total barrel-aging time of 15 months. The 2007 Carneros Napa Valley Pinot Noir was bottled in December, 2008.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

Our 2011 Carneros Pinot Noir boasts delightfully fragrant, complex aromas of Bing and black cherry, strawberry, framboise, red plum, pomegranate and rose hips tea, complemented by pleasing sandalwood, vanilla and woodsy spice scents. On the medium-to-full-bodied palate, the wine delivers rich, juicy, dark cherry, raspberry, plum and pomegranate flavors balanced by fresh acidity, round, supple tannins, and a refreshing mineral tone in the long, fruit-filled finish. Delicious now, this lovely pinot noir will age beautifully in bottle for another 3-5 years.

Delicious with seared tuna or swordfish, pork or lighter red meats.
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Vineyards

Our Carneros Pinot Noir blends grapes from several outstanding vineyards in the northern portion of the famed Carneros District in southern Napa Valley. The loam and hillside alluvial soils of these cool-climate sites yield small crops of Pinot Noir fruit with highly concentrated flavors. Morning fog and cooling afternoon breezes from nearby San Pablo Bay ensure a long growing season and vibrant grape acidity, resulting in rich, beautifully balanced Pinot Noirs.

Vintage

In 2011, ample winter and spring rainfall extending into mid-June delayed vine development by several weeks, setting the stage for a prolonged grape harvest. Cool summer weather fostered slow, even ripening of our Carneros Pinot Noir grapes, which achieved optimal flavor concentration at lower-than-normal sugar levels. The fruit was harvested between September 20th and October 8th with an ideal balance of sugar and acidity.

Winemaking

Night harvesting our Carneros Pinot Noir grapes ensures we fully capture the variety’s fresh acidity, ethereal aromas and silky flavors. In 2011, each of our vineyard and clonal lots (Pinot Noir has numerous clonal variations) was fermented separately in small stainless steel tanks and gently punched down to extract optimal color, flavor and tannin. After fermentation completed, we drained the free-run juice from tank and transferred the new wines to French Burgundian oak barrels, 45% new, selected specifically to highlight the unique character of our Carneros fruit. Each barrel lot was carefully monitored for quality and varietal intensity, with the best lots blended within three months of the harvest to harmonize flavors. Our 2011 Carneros Pinot Noir aged for a total of 11 months in barrel before bottling in August, 2012.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

This is one of the richest Carneros Pinot Noirs we’ve made to date. Its lovely, complex nose reveals forward scents of cherry cobbler, red raspberry, plum compote, sandalwood, spearmint, Asian spices and dried herbs. Ripe, juicy and supple on the palate, with fine, ripe tannins, its rich and full-bodied black cherry, raspberry and dark plum flavors pick up a zesty tea-leaf spice tone in the long, full finish. Hard to resist now, this delicious wine will continue developing in bottle for another 3-5 years.

Delicious with seared tuna or swordfish, pork or lighter red meats.
View recipes that complement this wine

Vineyards

Our Carneros Pinot Noir is a blend of grapes from several outstanding vineyards in the northern precincts of the famed Carneros District in southern Napa Valley. The loam and hillside alluvial soils of these cool-climate sites yield small crops of Pinot Noir fruit with highly concentrated flavors. Morning fog and cooling afternoon breezes from nearby San Pablo Bay ensure a long growing season and vibrant grape acidity, resulting in a rich, beautifully balanced Pinot Noir.

Vintage

2010 was the latest in a string of cool growing seasons in California’s North Coast. The year began with substantial rainfall, which pushed back bud break, flowering and grape set by several weeks. After an unusually cool summer, heat spikes in late August kick-started full ripening. Cooler temperatures returned in early September, allowing our Pinot Noir grapes to hang on the vine an extra few weeks developing ripe, concentrated flavors.

Winemaking

Night harvesting our Carneros Pinot Noir grapes ensures we fully capture the variety’s fresh acidity, ethereal aromas and silky, complex fruit flavors. In 2010, we fermented 87% of the juice in small (4-ton) stainless steel tanks, while 13% was fermented in open-top barrels. Barrel fermentation of Pinot Noir results in a wine with great color and texture, a seamless integration of fruit and oak, lush flavors and soft tannins – a perfect complement to the bright, fruity character we get from traditional tank fermentation. Using a special Burgundian yeast strain to initiate fermentation, along with daily punchdowns of the cap of skins at the top of the fermenting tanks, further optimizes color, flavor and tannin. Once fermentation completes, the wines macerate on their skins for another few weeks, again in the interest of maximizing color and flavor extraction. In 2010, we used medium-plus-toast Burgundian barrels, 35% new, in which our Pinot Noir lots aged eight months prior to blending. The blended wine aged another seven months in barrel before bottling in December, 2011.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

The fresh, enticing nose of our 2009 Carneros Pinot Noir offers vivacious Bing cherry, red raspberry and red plum aromas complemented by lovely vanilla, tea-leaf spice and toasted oak scents. On the supple, richly textured palate, the wine delivers wonderfully deep, juicy, cherry and plum flavors framed by seamlessly integrated tannins and a long, fruitful finish punctuated by savory spice tones. Thoroughly delicious now, this superb Carneros Pinot Noir will age gracefully in bottle for another 3-5 years.

Delicious with seared tuna or swordfish, pork or lighter red meats.
View recipes that complement this wine

Vineyards

Our Carneros Pinot Noir is a blend of grapes from several outstanding vineyards in the northern section of the famed Carneros District in southern Napa Valley. The loam and hillside alluvial soils of these cool-climate sites yield small crops of Pinot Noir fruit with highly concentrated flavors. Morning fog and cooling afternoon breezes from nearby San Pablo Bay ensure a long growing season and vibrant grape acidity, resulting in rich, beautifully balanced wines.

Vintage

The 2009 growing season in Napa Valley was “cool” in all respects. Spring rains replenished the water table, deferring the need for irrigation, which kept berry sizes small. Summer brought consistently below-average temperatures, resulting in the slow, parallel development of grape sugars and flavors. This allowed the fruit to reach peak maturity at lower sugar levels, a highly desirable outcome. We harvested our Carneros Pinot Noir grapes between August 31st and September 11th with an ideal balance of ripe fruit flavors and crisp balancing acidity.

Winemaking

Night harvesting of our Carneros Pinot Noir grapes ensures we fully capture the variety’s fresh acidity, ethereal aromas and silky, complex fruit flavors. In 2009, in true Burgundian fashion, we retained 20% of the grape stems in the fermentation, 85% of which was conducted in small, open-top tanks using a special Burgundian yeast strain, with daily punchdowns of the cap to fully extract color, flavor and tannin. Fifteen percent of the juice fermented in open-top barrels, which softens tannins, stabilizes color and allows for the early integration of oak aromas and flavors. Once fermentation completed, the wines macerated on their skins for several additional weeks to fully extract color and flavor. They were then transferred to medium-plus-toast French oak barrels, 33% new, where they aged eight months prior to blending. The blended wine aged another seven months in barrel before bottling in December, 2010.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

Reflecting the low yields and concentrated character of the vintage, our 2008 Carneros Pinot Noir displays a darker, more saturated color and richer, deeper flavors than past vintages. The nose is redolent of fresh dark plum, black cherry and black raspberry fruit, with enticing sandalwood, rose petal and tea-leaf spice scents adding complexity. Smooth, round and full-bodied on the palate, with rich, layered, dark cherry and ripe berry flavors, the wine picks up an intriguing rose hips tea spice tone on the long finish, where its supple, seamlessly integrated tannins and bright acidity provide excellent structure and length. Delicious now, the deep, rich fruit and fine composition of this lovely Pinot Noir ensure it will age well for another 3-5 years.

Delicious with seared tuna or swordfish, pork or lighter red meats.
View recipes that complement this wine

Vineyards

Our Carneros Pinot Noir is a blend of grapes from several outstanding vineyards in the northern portion of the famed Carneros District in southern Napa Valley. The loam and hillside alluvial soils of these cool-climate sites yield small crops of Pinot Noir fruit with highly concentrated flavors. Morning fog and cooling afternoon breezes from nearby San Pablo Bay ensure a long growing season and bright grape acidity, which results in rich, beautifully balanced wines.

Vintage

In spring, 2008, Napa Valley experienced its worst spring frosts in 35 years, sharply reducing yields for Pinot Noir and many other varieties. The ensuing growing season was characterized by below-normal temperatures, although warmer weather arrived in July and August and, coupled with the season’s light crop, perfect levels of ripening were achieved. Late-summer daytime temperatures in the mid-80s, tempered by the Carneros region’s persistent morning fog and cooling afternoon breezes, ensured excellent flavor development in our Pinot Noir grapes, which were harvested at full maturity between August 29th and September 9th.

Winemaking

To protect our vineyard workers from summer’s heat, we harvest our Pinot Noir grapes at night, which also safeguards the variety’s ethereal aromas and silky, complex fruit flavors. After cold-soaking the fruit for 2-3 days to maximize color extraction, we ferment most of the juice – using special Burgundian yeast strains – in small, open-top tanks with daily punchdowns of the cap to fully extract color, flavor and tannin. In 2008, we fermented 14% of the fruit, including whole berries, in open-top barrels, which intensified color and flavor, fostered supple tannins and enhanced complexity. Once fermentation completed, the wines continued macerating on their skins for several weeks to fully extract color and flavor. They were then transferred to medium-plus-toast Burgundian barrels, 40% new, where they aged eight months prior to blending. The blended wine aged another seven months in barrel before bottling in December, 2009.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

Our 2006 Carneros Pinot Noir displays all the charms that make Pinot Noir lovers swoon. The nose boasts beautifully fresh aromas of bright black cherry and raspberry fruit, with lovely lavender, black tea, brown spice and toffee scents adding complexity. The silky, medium-bodied palate offers pure, beautifully structured wild cherry, red-berry and Asian spice flavors, while the wine’s lengthy finish, full of rich fruit, ripe tannins and subtle oak tones, persists for minutes. A wonderful example of fine Carneros Pinot Noir, this pretty, yet substantial, wine drinks beautifully now, but will develop additional complexity with 3-5 years additional aging.

Delicious with seared tuna or swordfish, pork or lighter red meats.
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Vineyards

Our Carneros Pinot Noir is crafted from several superb, small-berried clones of the variety grown in outstanding vineyards in the famed Carneros District, which lies at the southern tip of Napa Valley close by San Pablo Bay. Morning fog and cooling afternoon breezes from the bay ensure a long growing season and the slow, even ripening of our Carneros grapes, which in 2006 were harvested between September 7th and 24th.

Vintage

The long, cool, 2006 growing season began with a wet winter, which delayed bud break and led to late flowering of the vines. Good weather arrived in June, only to be followed by a heat wave in July that caused minor sunburning of some varieties, but no damage to our Carneros grapes. Cooler weather returned in August and continued throughout the harvest season, resulting in a long grape ripening period that fostered mature Pinot Noir flavors balanced by bright acidity.

Winemaking

To make world-class Pinot Noir, we handle the fruit as gently as possible, ferment the juice at moderate temperatures, and intervene minimally during barrel aging. In 2006, we cold-soaked our Carneros fruit for 72 hours prior to fermentation to extract maximum color from the skins. We then inoculated the must with several cultured yeast strains to foster a slow, active fermentation that would accentuate the Pinot Noir grape’s fruitiness. In traditional Burgundian fashion, we fermented the various lots in small, open-top tanks, gently punching down the cap to thoroughly macerate the juice and skins. After fermentation completed, the wines continued macerating on the skins for several weeks to further extract color and flavor. They were then transferred to French oak barrels, 42% new, where they aged for several months before blending in December, 2006. The wine aged an additional year in barrel before bottling in December, 2007.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

Our fruit-forward 2012 Carneros Pinot Noir is redolent of pure Bing cherry, red raspberry and blueberry fruit with intriguing hints of violets and cinnamon. Beautifully balanced on the palate, it boasts plush cherry, blackberry, blueberry and plum flavors, finely textured tannins, and a long finish bursting with black cherry and tea-leaf spice notes. Delicious now, this lovely, cool-climate pinot noir will develop gracefully in bottle over the next 3-5 years.

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Vineyards

Our 2012 Carneros Pinot Noir is a blend of grapes from our Foster Road estate vineyard (77%) and an excellent adjacent vineyard (23%), both located in the northern portion of the famed Carneros District in southern Napa Valley. The loam and hillside alluvial soils of these cool-climate sites yield small crops of pinot noir fruit with highly concentrated flavors. Morning fog and cooling afternoon breezes from nearby San Pablo Bay ensure a long growing season and vibrant grape acidity, resulting in rich, beautifully balanced, varietally expressive pinot noirs.

Vintage

Growing conditions in 2012 were ideal, with consistently mild summer weather free of rain or significant heat waves. This allowed for even, uninterrupted ripening and the opportunity to pick our Carneros pinot noir grapes at peak ripeness. The fruit was harvested between September 4th and 20th with a perfect balance of sugar and acidity.

Winemaking

Night harvesting our Carneros pinot noir grapes ensures we fully capture the variety’s fresh acidity, ethereal aromas and silky flavors. Our winemaking regimen with pinot noir includes gentle handling of the fruit, fermentation in small stainless steel fermenters, and gentle pumpovers to thoroughly macerate juice and skins. We blend the barrel-aged component wines of our pinot noir after three months to fully integrate flavors and tannins, then age the blended wine another four to eight months in French Burgundian oak barrels (40% new in 2012) selected specifically to highlight the unique character of our Carneros fruit. The 2012 vintage aged for a total of seven months in barrel before being bottled in May, 2013.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

Our 2011 North Coast Rubáiyat boasts delightfully fragrant black cherry, blueberry and dark plum aromas, with rich supporting scents of chocolate and toasted oak. On the medium-bodied palate, the wine delivers impressively concentrated black cherry, blackberry, plum, and spiced mocha flavors framed by fine tannins and a long, savory finish mingling earthy blackberry, mocha and toasty oak tones.

Rubáiyat’s lavish fruit and soft tannins make it a wonderful companion to a broad spectrum of hearty foods, from grilled burgers, steaks and spicy sausages to barbecued ribs and chicken, and rich, tomato-based pastas.
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Vineyards

Our 2011 North Coast Rubáiyat blends 50% Napa Valley Syrah, 38% Sonoma Carneros Pinot Noir, 8% Napa Valley Petit Verdot, 3% Lake County Petite Sirah and 1% Napa Valley Grenache. The fruit was 100% hand-harvested at night between October 8th and 17th.

Vintage

2011 was among California’s coldest, wettest and most elongated vintages. Wet winter and spring weather extended into mid-June, delaying and disrupting budbreak, bloom and fruit set and setting the stage for an unusually cool summer growing season that culminated in a prolonged harvest beset by autumn rains. Experienced grape growers compensated for these challenging conditions by removing leaves from the vines to admit more sunlight and thinning bunches to ensure the remaining grape clusters ripened fully. These practices enabled us to produce many fine, elegant, full-flavored wines in 2011, including this delicious Rubáiyat.

Winemaking

Rubáiyat is a stellar example of expert blending. Each year, our winemaker, Julianne Laks, blends multiple small lots of separately harvested, fermented and aged red varietals to create a smooth, medium-bodied, fruit-forward red wine that beautifully accompanies a wide range of casual meals. In 2011, Julianne and her crew fermented six different lots of fruit – each one hand-harvested at night to preserve freshness and fruit purity – in small, open-top, stainless steel tanks, using manual punchdowns to gently macerate the juice and skins and extract optimal color and flavor. The wines aged 14 months in French oak barrels, 28% new, and were blended just before bottling to accentuate North Coast Rubáiyat’s characteristically ripe, fruit-forward aromas, rich, juicy flavors and smooth, supple tannins.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

The 2010 vintage of North Coast Rubáiyat is a classic, boasting lush black cherry and plum fruit aromas with complex supporting scents of roasted earth, leather, licorice spice and mineral. In the mouth, the wine is round, smooth and fruitful, with mouthfilling cherry, plum and mocha flavors that extend into a long, savory, black-cherry-and-spice finish. Rubáiyat’s luscious fruit, bright acidity and soft tannins fruit make it a delicious companion to a wide range of hearty foods, including grilled burgers and steaks, barbecued ribs and chicken, spicy sausages and rich, tomato-based pastas.

Rubáiyat’s luscious fruit, bright acidity and soft tannins fruit make it a delicious companion to a wide range of hearty foods, including grilled burgers and steaks, barbecued ribs and chicken, spicy sausages and rich, tomato-based pastas.
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Vineyards

Our 2010 North Coast Rubáiyat is a blend of 43% Carneros Napa Valley Syrah, 32% Lake County Zinfandel, 16% Carneros Napa Valley Pinot Noir, 6% Lake County Petite Sirah and 3% Napa Valley Grenache. The fruit was 100% hand-harvested at night between September 24th and October 16th.

Vintage

2010 was the latest in a string of cool growing seasons in California’s North Coast. The year began with substantial rainfall, which pushed back bud break, flowering and grape set by several weeks. After an unusually cool summer, heat spikes in late August kick-started full ripening. Cooler temperatures returned in early September, but classic Indian summer weather yielded grapes with mature, concentrated flavors. The result was a bevy of rich, elegant, beautifully balanced red wines, of which Rubáiyat is a prime example.

Winemaking

Each year, our winemaker, Julianne Laks, expertly blends multiple small lots of separately harvested, fermented and aged red varietals to create Rubáiyat, a smooth, fruitful red that beautifully accompanies a broad range of casual meals. Julianne and her team ferment the components of North Coast Rubáiyat in small, open-top, stainless steel tanks, using manual punchdowns to gently macerate the juice and skins and extract optimal color and flavor. The goal is to craft a medium-bodied, juicy red wine with vibrant acidity and supple tannins that’s delicious to drink on release. In 2010, the individual lots comprising Rubáiyat aged 14 months in French oak barrels, 20% new, and then were blended just before bottling to preserve the wine’s wonderfully fruit-forward aromas and flavors.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

Our 2009 North Coast Rubáiyat is a bit bigger and richer than previous vintages. In the nose, it offers plentiful black cherry and dark fruit aromas with earthy spice box and chocolate tones. The palate is full and weighty with concentrated dark cherry, ripe berry and blackcurrant flavors, firm, but supple tannins and a long, zesty finish. Rubáiyat’s abundant fruit makes it the perfect companion to hearty foods. Enjoy this summer with barbecued ribs and chicken, grilled burgers and steaks, and spicy sausages.

Enjoy this summer with barbecued ribs and chicken, grilled burgers and steaks, and spicy sausages.
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Vineyards

The 2009 vintage of North Coast Rubáiyat is a blend of 82% Pinot Noir and 18% Syrah. The Pinot Noir came from our Anderson Valley (Mendocino) estate and vineyards in the Carneros region of Napa Valley, while the Syrah came entirely from Carneros. The fruit was 100% hand-harvested at night between September 9th and October 10th.

Vintage

The 2009 growing season was “cool” in all respects. Spring rains replenished the water table, deferring the need for irrigation, which kept berry sizes small. Summer saw consistently below-average temperatures, resulting in the slow, parallel development of grape sugars and flavors. This allowed the fruit to reach peak maturity at lower sugar levels, fostering rich, balanced wines.

Winemaking

Our goal with Rubáiyat is to produce a lighter-style red wine with moderate body and fresh, ripe fruit flavors. By separately harvesting, fermenting and aging multiple small lots of wine, winemaker Julianne Laks creates a blend showcasing delicate aromas, fruit-rich flavors, soft tannins and a supple texture. We ferment each component of North Coast Rubáiyat in small, open-top tanks with manual punchdowns of the cap to gently macerate the juice and skins and extract optimal color and flavor. In 2009, the North Coast Rubáiyat lots aged seven months in French oak barrels, 36% new, before blending. The finished wine spent another seven months in barrel prior to bottling.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

With Pinot Noir comprising three-quarters of the blend, our 2008 Rubáiyat displays distinctive Pinot Noir aromas of fresh cherry, strawberry and raspberry fruit coupled with scents of rose hips tea, menthol and leather. Soft, supple and juicy on the palate, its fleshy black cherry and strawberry flavors are accented by zesty tea-leaf spice tones in the wine’s long, smooth and flavorful finish. Made to be savored in its youth, this poetic red is a delicious accompaniment to juicy burgers, barbecued chicken, grilled lamb and other Mediterranean-style dishes. We recommend drinking while young and serving it slightly chilled, especially on warm summer days.

Made to be savored in its youth, this poetic red is a delicious accompaniment to juicy burgers, barbecued chicken, grilled lamb and other Mediterranean-style dishes.
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Vineyards

This vintage of Rubáiyat is a blend of 76% Pinot Noir, 16% Syrah, 7% Zinfandel and 1% Petite Sirah. The Pinot Noir came from our Carneros Napa Valley vineyards and our Anderson Valley vineyard in Mendocino County, while the Sirah is also from Carneros and the Zinfandel from the Red Hills appellation of Lake County. The fruit was 100% hand-harvested at night between August 29th and October 10th, 2008.

Vintage

The 2008 growing season began with torrential January rains, segued into drought conditions in early spring which then erupted into the worst frost season in over 35 years in late March and throughout April. Combined with disadvantageous weather during bloom in May, these conditions significantly reduced the size of the crop throughout California’s North Coast. Fortunately, June ushered in an extended period of clear, mild summer weather, which enabled us to harvest our Rubàiyat grapes at full maturity. Despite the season’s tribulations, 2008 yielded a trove of vibrant wines boasting concentrated fruit flavors balanced by crisp acidity.

Winemaking

Rubáiyat is a blend of numerous small lots of grapes harvested at different times from multiple vineyard sites. The blend changes each year, providing winemaker Julianne Laks with the flexibility to be creative. In general, Julianne selects lighter-bodied, fruitier lots of wine for Rubáiyat. These are kept separate and fermented primarily in small, open-top tanks with manual punchdowns of the cap, a method that gently macerates the juice and skins to extract optimal color and flavor. The lots for our 2008 Rubáiyat aged 14 months in French oak barrels, 38% new, prior to blending.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

Our 2007 Rubáiyat leaps from the glass with fresh blueberry, blackberry, black cherry, ripe plum and framboise aromas, with light pepper, sage and briar scents adding complexity. On the supple palate, the wine is a mouthful of juicy, grapey, blackberry, plum skin and dark cherry flavors with briary spice notes adding zest to the lengthy, fruitful finish. This unique, fruit-forward red is meant to be savored in its youth. Enjoy it slightly chilled on a warm afternoon or evening with good picnic or barbecue fare (burgers, barbecued chicken, grilled lamb and other Mediterranean-style dishes) and you may find yourself reciting extravagant poetry to friends and strangers alike.

Enjoy it slightly chilled on a warm afternoon or evening with good picnic or barbecue fare (burgers, barbecued chicken, grilled lamb and other Mediterranean-style dishes).
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Vineyards

Our 2007 Rubáiyat is a blend of 33% Merlot, 31% Syrah, 22% Pinot Noir and 14% Zinfandel. The Merlot and Pinot Noir came from vineyards in the Carneros region of Napa Valley and Mendocino’s Anderson Valley; the Zinfandel from the Red Hills District of Lake County; and the Syrah from Carneros (thus the North Coast appellation). The fruit was 100% hand-harvested at night between August 22nd and October 6th, 2007.

Vintage

After the long, cool growing seasons of 2005 and 2006, 2007 brought a change of pace. Winter and spring were unusually dry with above-average temperatures, which accelerated budbreak and bloom. Summer was mild, with few heat spikes, which led to an early, fast-paced harvest of fruit with perfectly ripened flavors balanced by supple tannins and vibrant acidity.

Winemaking

Rubáiyat is a blend of numerous small lots of grapes harvested at different times from multiple vineyard sites. The blend changes every year, providing winemaker Julianne Laks with the opportunity to be creative. In general, Julianne selects lighter-bodied, fruitier lots for Rubáiyat. These are kept separate and fermented primarily in small, open-top tanks with manual punchdowns of the cap, a method that gently macerates the juice and skins to extract optimal color and flavor. The lots for our 2007 Rubáiyat aged 15 months in French oak barrels, 38% new, before blending.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

Our 2012 Rubáiyat perfectly reflects its constituent parts, with pinot noir dominating the nose, syrah on display in the mid-palate, and the spiciness of zinfandel enlivening the finish. The wine boasts wonderfully fresh and fragrant ripe cherry, dark plum, and blackberry aromas accompanied by scents of lavender and dark chocolate. On the full-bodied palate, rich and juicy dark cherry, plum, elderberry and blackberry flavors segue into a long, savory finish showcasing briary spice tones. Rubáiyat’s lavish fruit and supple tannins make it a wonderful accompaniment to a broad spectrum of hearty foods, from grilled burgers, steaks and spicy sausages to barbecued ribs and chicken, and rich, tomato-based pastas.

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Vineyards

Our 2012 Rubáiyat is a blend of 47% Anderson Valley pinot noir, 28% Carneros Napa Valley pinot noir, 17% Napa Valley syrah, 7% Lake County zinfandel and 1% Napa Valley grenache. The fruit was 100% hand-harvested at night between September 7th and October 1st.

Vintage

The 2012 vintage was one of California’s finest in recent memory. Consistently mild summer weather free of rain and significant heat spikes allowed for even, uninterrupted ripening and the opportunity to harvest our Rubáiyat grapes with an ideal balance of sugars and acidity.

Winemaking

Rubáiyat is a stellar example of expert blending. Each year, our winemaker, Julianne Laks, blends multiple small lots of separately harvested, fermented and aged red varietals to create a smooth, rich, fruit-forward red wine that beautifully accompanies a wide range of casual meals. Each lot is hand-harvested at night to preserve freshness and fruit purity and fermented in small, open-top, stainless steel tanks, using manual punchdowns to gently macerate the juice and skins and extract optimal color and flavor. The 2012 Rubáiyat aged 14 months in French oak barrels, 35% new, with the component wines blended shortly before bottling to capture the wine’s ripe, fruit-forward aromas, rich, juicy flavors and smooth tannins.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

Our 2013 Rubáiyat displays bright, come-hither aromas of toasted black cherry, raspberry, blueberry and red plum fruit coupled with a pleasing vanilla tone and a hint of brown spice. Rich and juicy on the palate, with nicely concentrated blackberry and black cherry flavors well-structured by bright acidity and smooth, round tannins, the wine picks up a zesty spice tone on the long, flavorful finish. A perfect companion to hearty foods, Rubáiyat is delicious with grilled burgers, steaks and sausages, barbecued ribs and chicken, and rich, tomato-based pastas.

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Vineyards

Our 2013 Rubáiyat is a blend of 86% cool-climate pinot noir (52% from the Carneros district in southern Napa Valley and 34% from our estate vineyards in Mendocino County’s Anderson Valley) and 14% syrah from our Suscol Springs Ranch, another cool southern Napa Valley site.

Vintage

In 2013, a warm, dry spring initiated early budbreak, ensured trouble-free vine flowering and grape set, and led to a consistently mild summer fostering steady, even ripening and grapes with wonderful flavor concentration. The fruit for Rubáiyat was hand-picked and night-harvested, to enhance freshness and varietal intensity, between August 27th and September 26th, 2013.

Winemaking

Rubáiyat is a case study in the art of blending. Each year, our winemaker, Julianne Laks, blends multiple small lots of separately harvested, fermented and aged red wines from our cellar to fashion a smooth, richly fruity red that beautifully accompanies a diverse range of casual meals. Each lot is hand-harvested at night to preserve freshness and fruit purity and fermented in small, open-top, stainless steel tanks, using manual punchdowns to gently macerate the juice and skins and extract optimal color and flavor. The 2013 Rubáiyat aged for a total of 14 months in French oak barrels, 36% new, with the component wines blended shortly before bottling to capture the wine’s ripe, fruit-forward aromas, lush, juicy flavors and supple tannins.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

Characteristically bright and fruit-forward, our 2014 Rubáiyat couples fresh, vibrant aromas of black cherry, raspberry, strawberry and blueberry with rich, ripe flavors of black raspberry, blackberry and dark plum that are accented in the wine’s long finish by lively acidity, supple tannins and a savory anise spice tone. This flavorful, robustly fruity red is an ideal companion to grilled burgers, steaks and sausages, barbecued ribs and chicken, and rich, tomato-based pastas.

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Vineyards

Our 2014 Rubáiyat is a blend of 51% syrah, 39% pinot noir and 10% grenache grown in vineyards from multiple cool-climate growing regions. Fruit from Napa Valley comprises 48% of the blend, while 39% is from the Carneros district (encompassing southwest Napa Valley and southeast Sonoma County) and 13% is from Anderson Valley in Mendocino County. Roughly 40% of the fruit is from our estate vineyards in these appellations.

Vintage

2014 was another in a series of outstanding vintages in Northern California. A warm, dry spring initiated early budbreak and prefaced a consistently mild summer characterized by chilly mornings, warm afternoons and cool evenings. These conditions yielded grapes with an ideal balance of ripe fruit flavors and bright acidity. The fruit for the 2014 Rubáiyat was harvested between September 6th and 30th.

Winemaking

Rubáiyat is a case study in the art of blending. Each year, our longtime winemaker, Julianne Laks, blends multiple, small lots (10 in 2014) of red wine to create a smooth and robustly fruity red that beautifully accompanies a broad range of casual meals. Each lot is hand-harvested at night to preserve freshness and fruit purity and fermented in small, open-top, stainless steel tanks, using manual punchdowns to gently macerate the juice and skins and extract optimal color and flavor. The 2014 Rubáiyat aged for a total of 11 months in French oak barrels, 38% new, with the component wines blended shortly before bottling to fully capture the wine’s ripe, fruit-forward aromas, lush, juicy flavors and supple tannins.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

The ripe, earthy, black cherry, dark plum and blackcurrant aromas of our 2010 Napa Valley Merlot introduce a palate full of rich plum, pomegranate and dark cherry flavors that take on a spicy tone in the wine’s long, fruitful finish. Boasting vibrant, concentrated flavors, fine tannins and good balancing acidity, this beautifully structured wine is alluring now, but will develop even greater richness and complexity with another 2-3 years of bottle age.

An excellent companion to pork, pheasant and veal.
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Vineyards

Our 2010 Napa Valley Merlot is a blend of fruit from top vineyards throughout the valley. Blending fruit from different microclimates and soil types allows us to craft a rich, ripe Merlot with bright, vibrant flavors, well-integrated tannins and fresh acidity.

Vintage

2010 was a notably cool growing season in California. The year began with substantial rainfall, which pushed back bud break, flowering and grape set by several weeks. After an unusually cool summer, heat spikes in late August kick-started full ripening. Cooler temperatures returned in early September, allowing us to harvest our Merlot grapes over an extended period as the fruit from each vineyard source attained full ripeness.

Winemaking

We harvest, de-stem and crush each lot of our Napa Valley Merlot grapes separately, cold-soaking the must for 48 hours to extract maximum color and supple tannins from the skins. The various lots are fermented in a mix of small closed and open-top stainless steel tanks, and fermentation temperatures are adjusted – based on daily tasting – to maximize the extraction of color, flavor and tannin. We pay special attention to selecting just the right barrels in which to age each lot of our Merlot. The components of our 2010 Merlot spent six months aging in 35% new French Bordeaux barrels prior to blending. The blended wine then spent an additional 12 months in barrel prior to bottling, adding another layer of complexity to its rich, ripe flavors.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

Our 2007 Napa Valley Merlot boasts richly fruity aromas of ripe black plum and cherry fruit, complemented by savory roasted herb and toasted oak scents. Soft and open on the palate, with a round, luxurious texture and supple, seamless tannins, the wine’s lush black cherry and plum flavors culminate in a long, delectable finish brightened by a youthfully flinty, mineral-y tone. Sumptuous, elegant and beautifully balanced, this classic Napa Valley Merlot makes delicious drinking now, but will profit from another 2-3 years of bottle age.

An excellent companion to pork, pheasant and veal.
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Vineyards

In 2007, 90% of the grapes for our Napa Valley Merlot came from vineyards in the Oakville, Rutherford and Calistoga districts of upper Napa Valley, with 10% from the cooler Carneros district in the southern end of the valley. As a result, our 2007 Merlot is especially ripe and mouth-filling, dominated by the ripe dark plum and berry flavors characteristic of northern Napa Valley Merlot, with a touch of the bright cherry and spice notes typical of Carneros Merlot fruit.

Vintage

The exemplary 2007 growing season commenced with a dry, mild winter and unusually warm spring, which prompted early budbreak and bloom. The summer was consistently mild, which enabled our modest crop of small-clustered Napa Valley Merlot grapes to ripen slowly and evenly, developing rich, distinctive varietal flavors. Warm temperatures in early September, followed by classic California Indian Summer weather, allowed us to harvest our Merlot fruit at perfect maturity between August 28th and October 10th.

Winemaking

Our winemaking protocol with Merlot is to de-stem and crush the grapes – segregated by vineyard lot – into stainless steel tanks ranging in size from 10 to 15 tons. We cold-soak the must (unfermented juice and skins) for between 24 and 72 hours to extract color and flavor prior to fermentation. Early during the fermentation, we employ a Bordeaux technique called rack-and-return: fermenting juice from one tank is drained and transferred to another, leaving the ‘cap’ of grape skins in the first tank to fall to the bottom. The fermenting wine is then returned to the original tank, re-macerating the skins and maximizing color and flavor extraction while softening tannins. Once fermentation completes, we transfer the various lots to carefully selected French Bordeaux barrels (up to 50% new), where they age 6-8 months prior to blending. The blended wine then ages another 12 -14 months in barrel prior to bottling. This extended barrel time adds elegance and complexity to our Napa Valley Merlot’s rich, ripe fruit.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

Bright, sweet black cherry and plum compote aromas, complemented by tea-leaf spice and oak vanillin scents, introduce our lovely 2008 Napa Valley Merlot, which follows through on the smooth, round palate with succulent, mouthfilling, ripe cherry and plum flavors. Displaying a deep, expansive mid-palate, fine underlying structure and a lingering, zesty finish enlivened by black tea spice tones, this mellifluous Merlot is delicious for current drinking, but will develop further complexity with another 2-3 years of bottle age.

An excellent companion to pork, pheasant and veal.
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Vineyards

In 2008, 85% of the grapes for our Napa Valley Merlot came from the warmer northern precincts of the valley, while 15% came from the cooler Carneros district at the southern tip of the valley. This blend enabled us to create a rich, ripe Merlot balanced by the crisp acidity and bright fruit tones typical of Carneros region Merlot.

Vintage

The 2008 growing season featured heavy winter rains, drought conditions in early spring and severe frosts in March and April. Coupled with disadvantageous weather during bloom and stress-inducing heat during grape set, these conditions significantly reduced the size of the crop throughout Napa Valley, greatly concentrating flavors. Clear, mild summer weather, with warm days and cool nights, fully matured our Merlot grapes, which were harvested between August 22nd and September 3rd.

Winemaking

After the grapes were harvested and delivered to the winery, each vineyard lot was de-stemmed, crushed and cold-soaked for 3-4 days to extract maximum color and supple tannins from the skins. The must fermented in closed-top stainless steel tanks, the size of which was tailored to the attributes of each lot, with daily pumpovers to achieve optimal color, flavor and tannin extraction. Particular attention to the selection of barrels with moderate oak toast levels respects the elegance and delicate fruit structure of Merlot, adding a subtle spice and perfume. This vintage’s grapes spent 6 to 8 months aging in 43% new French Bordeaux barrels prior to blending. The blended wine then spent an additional 12-14 months in barrel prior to bottling, which added another layer of elegance and complexity to its lush, mouthfilling fruit flavors.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

Our 2009 Napa Valley Merlot displays ripe black cherry and plum compote aromas complemented by enticing tea-leaf, toasted vanilla and woodsy scents. Plush, rich and juicy on the palate, its densely concentrated black cherry, dark plum and pomegranate flavors are supported by fine-grained tannins and a long, sumptuous finish graced by savory spice and mocha tones. An irresistibly lush Merlot of great depth, length and suppleness, it drinks deliciously now, yet will develop further complexity with another 2-3 years of bottle age.

An excellent companion to pork, pheasant and veal.
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Vineyards

In 2009, 93% of the grapes for our Napa Valley Merlot came from the northern precincts of the valley, while 7% issued from the cooler Carneros district at its southern tip. Blending fruit from these disparate microclimates allows us to create a rich, ripe Merlot balanced by crisp acidity and bright fruit tones.

Vintage

In 2009, plentiful spring rains in Northern California deferred the need for early irrigation, resulting in small berries with deeply concentrated flavors. Summer was consistently cool, which allowed for slow, steady ripening and the parallel development of grape sugars and flavors, fostering maturity at moderate sugar levels and resulting in superbly balanced wines. We harvested the grapes for our 2009 Merlot between August 31th and October 12th with an ideal balance of ripe fruit flavors and crisp balancing acidity.

Winemaking

To craft our Napa Valley Merlot, we separately harvest, de-stem and crush each lot of grapes, cold-soaking the must for 3-4 days to extract maximum color and supple tannins from the skins. We ferment the various lots in a mix of small closed and open-top stainless steel tanks, tasting the fermenting wines daily and adjusting fermentation temperatures to maximize the extraction of color, flavor and tannin. As with all our red wines, we pay particular attention to selecting the perfect barrels in which to age each lot of wine, fine-tuning the selection based on frequent tasting. The 2009 vintage spent six months aging in 38% new French Bordeaux barrels prior to blending. The blended wine then spent an additional 12 months in barrel before bottling, adding another layer of elegance and complexity to its rich, intense flavors.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

Our 2006 Merlot impresses right off the bat with pretty black cherry and dark plum aromas that gain complexity from subtle earth, hazelnut, black tea, cocoa and toasty oak tones. On the beautifully structured palate, the wine offers pure, concentrated, black cherry and plum flavors balanced by bright acidity and round, supple tannins, concluding in a long, elegant finish that showcases a refreshing minerality and savory black-tea spice tone. Delicious now, this cool-vintage Merlot will blossom further with another 2-3 years of bottle age.

An excellent companion to pork, pheasant and veal.
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Vineyards

Sixty-four percent of the grapes for our 2006 Napa Valley Merlot came from select vineyards in the Oakville, Rutherford and Calistoga districts of upper Napa Valley, while 36% came from the cooler Carneros district at the southern end of the valley. Our up-valley fruit contributed ripe dark plum and berry flavors, while the Carneros fruit added bright black cherry and spicy black tea notes, with vibrant acidity and a vein of refreshing minerality.

Vintage

The long, cool, 2006 growing season imbued our Napa Valley Merlot grapes with concentrated, well-structured flavors balanced by bright acidity. The growing season began with a wet winter, which delayed bud break and led to a late flowering of the vines. Fine weather in June was followed by a heat wave in July, but cool weather returned in August and continued throughout the harvest season, resulting in a long grape ripening period that fostered deep fruit flavors in our Napa Valley reds. The grapes for our 2006 Merlot, which includes 9% Syrah, 2% Cabernet Sauvignon and 2% Petit Verdot, were harvested between October 4th and October 26th.

Winemaking

After the grapes arrive at the winery, we de-stem and crush them, then cold-soak the must (unfermented juice and skins) for 24-36 hours to extract color and flavor prior to fermentation. Once fermentation commences, we used a Bordeaux technique called rack-and-return, in which fermenting juice is drained from one tank and transferred to another, leaving the ‘cap’ of grape skins in the first tank to fall to the bottom. We then return the fermenting wine to the original tank, re-macerating the skins and maximizing color and flavor extraction while softening tannins through controlled aeration. Once fermentation completes, we age the wine in French oak barrels – a total of 18 months in 2006 – which further softens this delicious, fruit-driven wine.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

Our 2005 Napa Valley Merlot offers a constellation of bright fruit aromas keyed on fresh black cherry, blueberry and plum, with fragrant scents of rose petal, tea-leaf, tobacco and cocoa adding interest and complexity. On the compact, supple palate, vibrant cherry, blackberry and cassis flavors are enlivened by a zesty black-tea spiciness that segues into a long, cocoa-tinged finish. Delicious now, this rich, firmly structured Merlot will soften and develop further nuance with 2-3 years’ additional bottle age.

An excellent companion to pork, pheasant and veal.
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Vineyards

Three-quarters of the grapes for our 2005 Merlot came from vineyards in the Oakville, Rutherford and Calistoga districts of upper Napa Valley, with the balance from the cooler Carneros district in the southern tip of the valley. The up-valley fruit contributes ripe berry, plum and cocoa flavors, while the Carneros fruit adds a bright black cherry and tea-leaf character, with vibrant acidity.

Vintage

In 2005, a warm late winter spurred early bud break, but cool, wet, spring weather set back vine development. Atypically cool temperatures continued throughout the summer, which slowed ripening and prolonged the growing season. Fortunately, warm, sunny weather in September and October brought the harvest to fruition in fine fashion. Due to the early start to the season and its late conclusion, the grapes for our 2005 Merlot, which includes 22% Cabernet Sauvignon and 2% Syrah, enjoyed a long hang time on the vines, developing concentrated flavors at moderate sugar levels. The fruit was harvested between October 4th and October 31st.

Winemaking

After de-stemming and crushing the grapes, we cold-soaked the must (unfermented juice and skins) to enhance color and flavor extraction. Once fermentation began, we used 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 in the first tank to fall to the bottom. The juice is then returned to the original tank, re-macerating the skins and maximizing color and flavor extraction while softening tannins. Once fermentation completed, the free run wine was drained off the skins and transferred to French oak barrels, 45% new, where they aged five months before blending. The wine then aged 13 more months in barrel before bottling in April, 2007.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

Our 2011 Merlot displays expressive aromas of black cherry, red plum and pomegranate with a hint of toasty oak. Rich and juicy on the palate, the wine’s concentrated dark cherry, plum and blackcurrant flavors are supported by fine tannins and balanced acidity, leading to a long, fruitful finish showcasing pleasing cassis and toasty oak tones. Red wines from cool years tend to develop slowly, so while our 2011 Merlot is tasty now, it will reveal the full scope of its charms as it ages.

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Vineyards

Ninety percent of the grapes for our 2011 Napa Valley Merlot came from our estate vineyards, including the cool, hilly Suscol Springs Vineyard east of the town of Napa and our high-elevation Dancing Bear Ranch on Howell Mountain in northern Napa Valley. Controlling our fruit sources ensures we can consistently produce quintessential Napa Valley merlots boasting rich, vibrant varietal flavors, smooth, supple tannins and fresh acidity.

Vintage

2011 was a challenging vintage. The year began with a wet winter and spring, followed by atypically cool summer weather and several October rainstorms. As a result, the grapes ripened very slowly, resulting in a prolonged harvest. At Cakebread Cellars, we took an aggressive approach to the situation, extensively thinning our merlot vines to ensure the remaining fruit reached full maturity and sorting meticulously through the grapes at the winery to guarantee only the best berries reached the crusher. This reduced our production, but achieved our goal of making a rich, concentrated merlot with ripe, rich aromas and flavors.

Winemaking

We harvest, de-stem and crush each lot of our Napa Valley Merlot grapes separately, cold-soaking the must for 48 hours to extract maximum color and supple tannins from the skins. The various lots are fermented in a mix of small closed and open-top stainless steel tanks, and fermentation temperatures are adjusted – based on daily tasting – to maximize the extraction of color, flavor and tannin. We pay special attention to selecting just the right barrels in which to age each lot of our Merlot.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

Our 2012 Napa Valley Merlot immediately captures attention with its perfumed black cherry, red plum and blackberry aromas, which are nicely complemented by hints of mineral and dried herbs. Boasting considerable depth and concentration on the palate, the wine offers rich, vibrant, dark cherry and plum flavors, with notes of sage, tea-leaf spice and a flinty minerality adding zest to the long, cherry-laced finish. Immensely appealing now, this fragrant, delicious merlot will profit from another 5-7 years’ aging.

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Vineyards

Eighty percent of the grapes for our 2012 Napa Valley Merlot came from our estate Suscol Springs Ranch in southeastern Napa Valley, a vineyard planted primarily to Bordeaux varieties and featuring a hilly topography, rocky, well-drained soils, and a desirable southern exposure. Because Suscol Springs is a cool, windy site, it fosters bright acidity in our grapes, lifting the flavors of our merlot and providing excellent structure for aging.

Vintage

2012 was a near-ideal growing season in Napa Valley, with a warm, dry spring fostering early budbreak and trouble-free flowering and grape set. Consistently mild summer weather free of rain or unwelcome heat spikes allowed us to harvest our merlot grapes with an optimal balance of ripe, concentrated fruit flavors and lively acidity.

Winemaking

We ferment our various vineyard lots of merlot in a mix of small closed and open-top stainless steel tanks, pumping the fermenting juice over the ‘cap’ of skins and other solids that form at the top of the tank to fully extract color, flavor and tannin from the skins. Once fermentation completes, we transfer the new wines to carefully selected French oak barrels (40% new in 2012), where they age for six months before being blended. The blended wine then spends an additional 12 months in barrel prior to bottling.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

Fragrant aromas of ripe black cherry, plum compote, blackcurrant and herbal spice introduce the lush red and black cherry, raspberry, and black plum flavors of this remarkably sumptuous merlot. Mouth-filling and deeply concentrated on the palate, it is perfectly balanced by bright acidity and supple, fine-grained tannins, culminating in a long, spicy, cherry-laced finish. Enjoy this delicious merlot now or age it another 5-7 years to fully savor its developing complexity.

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Vineyards

Nearly 60% percent of the grapes for our 2014 Napa Valley Merlot come from our estate vineyards, with the majority from our Suscol Springs Vineyard in southeastern Napa Valley. Suscol Springs is a hilly, rocky, cool-climate site with well-drained volcanic soils and a desirable southern exposure. These conditions yield merlot grapes with rich varietal flavors, bright, lively acidity, and fine structure for aging.

Vintage

2014 was another in a series of excellent vintages in northern California. After a rainy February, which rejuvenated the vines, a warm, dry spring led to early bud-break, flowering and grape set. Summer was consistently mild with few heat spikes, allowing our merlot grapes to ripen slowly and evenly while developing impressively concentrated flavors.

Winemaking

We ferment our various lots of merlot in a mixture of small closed and open-top stainless steel tanks, pumping the fermenting juice over the ‘cap’ of skins and other solids that form at the top of the tank to fully extract color, flavor and tannin from the skins. Once fermentation completes, we transfer the new wines to carefully selected French oak barrels (38% new in 2014), where they age six months before being blended. After blending, our 2014 Merlot spent an additional eleven months in barrel prior to bottling.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

Our 2010 Napa Valley Syrah displays a saturated dark ruby/purple color and wonderfully complex aromas of roasted earth, toasted black fruits, caramel and licorice. Lush and mouthfilling with beautifully integrated tannins, its concentrated black cherry, cassis, blackberry, black licorice and pepper spice flavors culminate in a long, juicy, mineral-y finish. While this sumptuous Syrah is delicious to drink now, it will age beautifully in bottle for another 5-7 years.

Pairs well with a broad spectrum of hearty foods, especially steaks and other red meats
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Vineyards

Sixty-two percent of the grapes for our 2010 Syrah came from our Suscol Springs estate vineyard in southern Napa Valley, with the balance from two other cool-climate Napa Valley vineyards. At Suscol Springs, we have six high-quality clones of Syrah, most originating in France’s northern Rhône Valley. Like the northern Rhône, our southern Napa vineyards feature a cool, windy climate that fosters the rich, earthy, spicy flavors for which Syrah is renowned. In 2010, we included 3% Grenache – from two outstanding French clones grown at Suscol Springs – in the blend to magnify the wine’s lush fruit character.

Vintage

2010 was the latest in a string of cool growing seasons in Napa Valley. The year began with plentiful rainfall, which delayed bud break, flowering and grape set by several weeks. After an unusually cool summer, heat spikes in late August kick-started full ripening. Cooler weather returned in early September, allowing us to harvest our Syrah grapes between September 24th and October 7th with a perfect balance of sugar and acidity.

Winemaking

We harvest each of our Napa Valley Syrah clones separately and ferment them in small open-top fermenters. Prior to fermentation, we cold soak the must for four to six days to maximize color extraction and soften tannins. During fermentation, we daily punch down the cap of skins at the top of the fermenting tanks to thoroughly macerate the skins and juice for optimal color and flavor, while closely monitoring tannin levels. Once fermentation completes, we drain the free-run juice by gravity and transfer the wines to French oak barrels (34% new in 2010), where they age for eight months before blending. The 2010 Syrah spent an additional six months aging in barrel prior to bottling in February, 2012. (In 2010, we used a high percentage of barrels formed from water-bent, rather than fired, staves, which helped emphasize our Syrah’s rich fruit while softening tannins and ensuring a discreet oak character.)

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

Our 2007 Napa Valley Syrah boasts a deep, saturated color and classic, cool-toned varietal aromas of ripe dark fruits (cassis, blackberry and boysenberry) augmented by scents of roasted earth, mocha, violets, black licorice and chaparral. On the full-bodied palate, the wine is awash in deep, mouthfilling, cassis and blackberry compote flavors, which glide into a long, rich finish dominated by dark roasted coffee, briary spice and toasty oak tones. While this sumptuous Syrah is delicious now with robust fare, its depth of fruit and firm, supple tannins suggest it will age beautifully in bottle for another 5-7 years.

Pairs well with a broad spectrum of hearty foods, especially steaks and other red meats
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Vineyards

The grapes for our Napa Valley Syrah come from vineyards in the cool-climate Carneros District at the southern tip of Napa Valley, including a significant portion from our own Milton Road Vineyard. Milton Road contains five different clones of Syrah, including three originating in France’s northern Rhône Valley. Like the northern Rhône, Carneros features a cool, windy climate that promotes the intense, spicy aromas and flavors for which Syrah is universally celebrated.

Vintage

In 2007, a dry, mild winter and spring led to early budbreak and bloom. The summer months were temperate, with few heat spikes, which allowed our Carneros Syrah grapes to develop concentrated flavors while retaining bright acidity. Warm weather in early September accelerated ripening, which led to a fast-paced harvest of beautifully matured Syrah fruit between September 25th and October 6th.

Winemaking

We harvest each of our five Syrah clonal selections separately and ferment them in small open-top fermenters. In 2007, we retained 10% stems to foster more spice and tannin structure in the blend, a common practice in the Northern Rhône. During fermentation, we used daily manual punchdowns to thoroughly macerate the cap of skins and extract maximum color and flavor from the juice. Once fermentation completed, the wines were transferred to French oak barrels, 48% new, where they aged for eight months before being blended in May, 2008. The finished wine spent an additional seven months in barrel prior to bottling in December, 2008.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

Our 2008 Napa Valley Syrah displays a dark, nearly opaque color and wonderfully expressive varietal aromas of ripe blackberry, olallieberry and sweet black cherry fruit mingled with strong roasted coffee bean scents. On the dense, weighty palate, the wine’s immensely rich blackberry cobbler, cassis and licorice spice flavors offer tremendous length and intensity, bolstered by sturdy, supple tannins and savory toasted oak tones. While this remarkably lush, sumptuous Syrah is delicious now, especially with grilled and barbecued meats and hearty stews, its deep, concentrated fruit and fine underlying structure ensure it will age well for another 5-7 years.

Pairs with grilled and barbecued meats and hearty stews.
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Vineyards

The majority of the grapes for our 2008 Napa Valley Syrah come from our Milton Road estate, the southernmost vineyard in Napa’s cool-climate Carneros District, which borders San Pablo Bay and benefits from its marine influence. Milton Road is planted to five distinctive clones of Syrah, including three originating in France’s northern Rhône Valley. Like the northern Rhône, Carneros features a cool, windy climate that fosters the rich, earthy, spicy flavors for which Syrah is prized.

Vintage

The tumultuous 2008 growing season began with heavy winter rains, segued into drought conditions in early spring and erupted into the worst frost season in over 35 years in March and April. Coupled with disadvantageous weather during bloom in May and stress-inducing heat during grape set in June, these conditions significantly reduced the size of the crop throughout Napa Valley. Fortunately, clear, mild summer weather, with warm days and cool nights, brought our Carneros Syrah grapes to full maturity between September 26th and October 10th.

Winemaking

We harvest each of our five Syrah clonal selections separately and ferment them in small open-top fermenters. Prior to fermentation, we cold-soak the must (unfermented juice and skins) for four to six days to maximize color extraction and soften tannins. After fermentation begins, we daily punch down the cap of skins at the top of the fermenting tank to thoroughly macerate the skins and juice and extract maximum color and flavor. Once the ideal level of extraction and tannin balance has been achieved, the free-run is drained from tank and transferred to French oak barrels, where the wines age eight months prior to blending. The 2008 Napa Valley Syrah spent an additional six months aging in barrel prior to bottling in December, 2009.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

Our 2009 Napa Valley Syrah boasts a terrific dark ruby/purple color and lovely, seductive aromas of violets, sweet black cherry and roasted earth. On the palate, concentrated blackberry, dark plum and currant flavors, with notes of sweet oak and pepper spice, are balanced by ripe, supple tannins, creating a round, luxurious mouthfeel. The wine culminates in an extremely long, savory finish featuring luscious black fruit, toasted oak and chocolate flavors that leave a deeply lasting impression. While this sumptuous Syrah provides delicious drinking now, its lavish fruit and fine structure ensure it will age beautifully in bottle for another 5-7 years.

Pairs with hearty meals, such as red meats and barbeque.
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Vineyards

Two-thirds of the grapes for our limited-production 2009 Napa Valley Syrah came from our Milton Road and Suscol Springs estate vineyards in southern Napa Valley, with the balance from two other fine, cool-climate Napa Valley vineyards. Collectively, these sites are planted to eight different, high-quality clones of Syrah, four of which originated in France’s northern Rhône Valley. Like the northern Rhône, our Southern Napa vineyards feature a cool, windy climate that fosters the rich, earthy, spicy flavors for which Syrah has long been acclaimed.

Vintage

In 2009, plentiful spring rains in Northern California deferred the need for early irrigation, resulting in small berries with deeply concentrated flavors. Summer was consistently cool, which allowed for slow, steady ripening and the parallel development of grape sugars and flavors, fostering maturity at lower sugar levels and superbly balanced wines. We harvested our Syrah grapes late in the season on October 28th with a beautiful balance of rich, ripe fruit flavors and vibrant acidity.

Winemaking

We harvest each of our Syrah clonal selections separately and ferment them in small open-top fermenters. Prior to fermentation, we cold-soak the must (unfermented juice and skins) for four to six days to maximize color extraction and soften tannins. After fermentation begins, we daily punch down the cap of skins at the top of the fermenting tank to thoroughly macerate the skins and juice and extract maximum color and flavor, closely monitoring tannin extraction to ensure we drain the wine from tank at exactly the right moment for optimal fruit-tannin balance. The wines are then transferred to French oak barrels (40% new in 2009), where they age for eight months before blending. The 2009 Napa Valley Syrah spent an additional six months aging in barrel prior to bottling in February, 2011.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

Our dark ruby, nearly opaque 2011 Napa Valley Syrah offers fascinatingly complex aromas of roasted earth and toasted blackberry, dark plum and cassis aromas, complemented by fragrant notes of violets, sage, white pepper and milk chocolate. Rich and dense on the palate with round, supple tannins, its concentrated black cherry, wild berry, plum, blackcurrant and baking spice flavors culminate in a long, savory finish with rich boysenberry and plum tones. Although this sumptuous Syrah is delicious now with hearty meals, it will develop beautifully in bottle for another 5-7 years.

Pairs with hearty meals, such as red meats and barbeque.
View recipes that complement this wine

Vineyards

Seventy percent of the grapes for our 2011 Syrah came from our Suscol Springs estate vineyard in southern Napa Valley, with the balance from two other cool-climate Napa Valley vineyards. Collectively, these sites are planted to six high-quality clones of Syrah, several originating in France’s northern Rhône Valley. Like many northern Rhône vineyards, Suscol Springs is a hilly, rocky, well-drained site with a cool, windy climate, conditions fostering the rich, earthy, spicy flavors for which Syrah is renowned. In 2011, we included small amounts of Petit Verdot, Petite Sirah and Grenache in the blend to optimize our Syrah’s lush fruit character.

Vintage

In 2011, ample winter and spring rainfall extending into mid-June delayed vine development by several weeks, setting the stage for a prolonged grape harvest. Cool summer weather fostered slow, even ripening of our southern Napa Valley Syrah grapes, which achieved optimal flavor concentration at lower-than-normal sugar levels. The fruit was harvested between October 10th and October 21st with an ideal balance of sugar and acidity.

Winemaking

We harvest each of our Napa Valley Syrah clones separately and ferment them in small open-top fermenters. Prior to fermentation, we cold soak the must for four to six days to maximize color extraction and soften tannins. During fermentation, we daily punch down the cap of skins at the top of the fermenting tanks to thoroughly macerate the skins and juice for optimal color and flavor, while closely monitoring tannin levels. Once fermentation completes, we drain the free-run juice by gravity and transfer the wines to French oak barrels (47% new in 2011). Our 2011 Syrah spent a total of 14 months aging in barrel prior to bottling in December, 2012.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

Displaying a beautiful purplish hue signaling its depth and intensity, our 2012 Syrah presents a perfumed nose of fresh blackberry, boysenberry and blueberry fruit complemented by roasted earth and mocha tones. On the palate, the wine is dense, juicy and mouthfilling, with flavors of blackberry, black cherry, currant and dark plum leading to a long, rich finish featuring a hint of sandalwood spice and bolstered by fine, supple tannins. Although this lush, sumptuous syrah is delicious now, it will develop further complexity with another 5-7 years’ aging.

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Vineyards

The fruit for our 2012 Napa Valley Syrah came exclusively from our Suscol Springs estate vineyard in southern Napa Valley, a hilly, cool and windy site with rocky, well-drained soils, a desirable southern exposure and six top-flight clones of the noble syrah variety, all originating in France’s northern Rhône Valley, the grape’s ancestral home. In 2012, we blended our syrah with 4% grenache, also from Suscol Springs, to amplify the wine’s lush fruit character.

Vintage

2012 was a near-ideal growing season in Napa Valley, with a warm, dry spring fostering early budbreak and trouble-free flowering and grape set. Consistently mild summer weather free of rain or unwelcome heat spikes allowed us to harvest our syrah grapes with an optimal balance of ripe, concentrated fruit flavors and lively acidity.

Winemaking

We harvest each of our syrah clones separately and ferment them in small open-top fermenters. Prior to fermentation, we cold soak the must for four to six days to maximize color extraction and soften tannins. During fermentation, we daily punch down the cap of skins at the top of the fermenting tanks to thoroughly macerate the skins and juice for optimal color and flavor, while closely monitoring tannin levels. Once fermentation completes, we drain the free-run juice by gravity and transfer the wines to French oak barrels (54% new in 2012). Our 2012 Syrah spent a total of 14 months aging in barrel prior to bottling in January, 2014.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

This vintage of our single-vineyard syrah boasts a deep, saturated color and dense, concentrated aromas of blackberry, blueberry, olallieberry and cassis complemented by attractive violet/lavender scents. The full-bodied palate, bolstered by firm, yet elegant tannins, delivers bright, intense, blackberry, black cherry and blackcurrant flavors culminating in a long, savory finish featuring hints of mineral and spice. Although this lush, sumptuous syrah is delicious now, it will develop further complexity with another 5-7 years’ aging.

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Vineyards

This single-vineyard syrah comes from our Suscol Springs Ranch in southeastern Napa Valley, a hilly, cool and windy site boasting rocky, well-drained soils, an ideal southern exposure and six top-flight clones of the noble syrah variety originating in France’s northern Rhône Valley, the grape’s ancestral home. These conditions enable us to craft a fresh, vibrant syrah with rich fruit flavors balanced by bright acidity.

Vintage

In 2013, a warm, dry spring initiated early budbreak, ensured trouble-free vine flowering and grape set, and led to a consistently mild summer fostering steady, even ripening and grapes with wonderful flavor concentration. To enhance freshness and varietal intensity, we night- and hand-harvested our Suscol Springs syrah fruit between September 27th and October 15th.

Winemaking

We harvest each of our syrah clones separately and ferment them in small open-top fermenters. Prior to fermentation, we cold soak the must for four to six days to maximize color extraction and soften tannins. During fermentation, we daily punch down the cap of skins at the top of the fermenting tanks to thoroughly macerate the skins and juice for optimal color and flavor while closely monitoring tannin levels. Once fermentation completes, we drain the free-run juice by gravity and transfer the wines to French oak barrels (42% new in 2013). Our 2013 Suscol Springs Syrah spent 14 months aging in barrel prior to bottling in December, 2014.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

Our 2010 Red Hills Lake County Zinfandel showcases bright raspberry, black cherry and dark plum aromas complemented by intriguing dusty earth, black pepper and milk chocolate scents. On the rich and lively palate, it delivers pure, deeply concentrated black raspberry, dark cherry and blackberry flavors streaked with mineral and briary spice tones. Beautifully structured with sturdy, but supple tannins, fresh acidity and a long, rich, chocolate-y finish, this mountain Zinfandel wine is delightful to drink now, but will surely repay another 3-5 years of cellaring.

Excellent with roasts, barbecue or spicy foods.
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Vineyards

Our Lake County Zinfandel comes from a heavenly vineyard planted at a 2,100-foot-plus elevation in the acclaimed Red Hills appellation of Lake County. Located at the foot of Mt. Konocti, an ancient volcano, the site boasts a perfect southwestern exposure, excellent air circulation, and well-drained, mineral-rich, red volcanic soils. Its hot sunny days, windy afternoons and nights chilled by breezes from nearby Clear Lake ensure full and even ripening of our three distinguished clones of Zinfandel: Primitivo and heritage selections from Amador and Mendocino counties. In 2010, we included 6% Petite Sirah – from a block of the same vineyard – in the blend. Petite Sirah is often blended with Zinfandel, as it contributes deep color, excellent tannin structure and added complexity.

Vintage

2010 was the latest in a string of cool growing seasons in California’s North Coast. The year began with substantial rainfall, which pushed back bud break, flowering and grape set by several weeks. After an unusually cool summer, heat spikes in late August kick-started full ripening. Cooler temperatures returned in early September, which enabled us to harvest our Lake County Zinfandel grapes at perfect ripeness between September 24th and October 7th.

Winemaking

We night-harvest our Lake County Zinfandel grapes to maximize their freshness, purity and flavor concentration, then ferment and age each of our three clonal selections separately to maximize their distinctive personalities and ensure an extra dimension of complexity in the wine. After warm fermentations in both small and large stainless steel tanks to fully extract color, flavor and tannins – with each fermentation tailored to the character of the individual lot – the wines remain on their skins for several more weeks to further enhance color and flavor while softening tannins. In 2010, after pressing the wines off the skins, we transferred them to tight-grained French and Hungarian oak barrels (the latter provide a warm spice tone), 40% new, where they aged for seven months before the final blend was assembled the following spring. The finished wine then aged another eight months in barrel before bottling in February, 2012.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

Our 2007 Red Hills Lake County Zinfandel is perhaps a bit more open at this stage of its development than our three previous vintages. Its scented, almost floral nose of fresh strawberry, red cherry and blackberry fruit also boasts intriguing milk chocolate, wild herb and cracked pepper scents, creating a marvelously complex bouquet. On the full-bodied, smoothly textured palate, the wine’s mouthfilling cherry, raspberry and blackberry flavors mingle with pronounced briary spice, rich chocolate and toasty oak tones to create a delicious taste experience. While the forward fruit and supple tannins of this youthful Zinfandel make it delightful to drink now, especially with hearty, spicy fare, it will age well for another 3-5 years.

Excellent with roasts, barbecue or spicy foods.
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Vineyards

The Red Hills appellation of Lake County is prime Zinfandel country, and there’s no better site for it than Snow’s Lake Vineyard, whose 2,000-foot-plus elevation make it a unique growing site in Lake County. We have three distinctive clones of Zinfandel planted at Snow’s Lake, including heritage selections from Mendocino and Amador counties and a Primitivo clone. The vines are rooted in magnificent, red volcanic soils and enjoy a perfect southwestern exposure. Warm sunny days and nights cooled by breezes from nearby Clear Lake provide ideal conditions for California’s heritage grape variety.

Vintage

In 2007, a dry, mild winter and spring in Lake County led to early budbreak and bloom. The summer was largely temperate, but heat spikes in August accelerated ripening, leading to an early, fast-paced harvest of our Snow’s Lake Zinfandel grapes between August 22nd and 29th.

Winemaking

We harvested and fermented each of our three Zinfandel clones at Snow’s Lake separately. After a short, warm fermentation in stainless steel tanks to fully extract color, flavor and tannins, the wines remained on the skins for another two weeks to further enhance color and flavor extraction while softening tannins. After pressing the wines off the skins, we transferred the lots to French oak barrels, 42% new, where they aged before the final blend was assembled in May, 2008. The finished wine then aged another eight months in barrel before bottling in January, 2009.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

Our 2008 Red Hills Lake County Zinfandel offers a beguilingly fresh nose of ripe red and black fruits – cherry, wild raspberry and blackberry – supplemented by fragrant notes of mineral, mountain spice and vanilla. On the big-bodied, smoothly textured and beautifully balanced palate, juicy black cherry and wild berry flavors take center stage, with refreshing flint, mineral and dusty blackberry tones filling the long, complex finish. The wine’s supple, well-knit tannins and perfectly balanced acidity provide the structure for 3-5 years’ aging, while its wonderful mix of rich, forward fruit and Snow Lake’s distinctive terroir make it delicious for current drinking.

Excellent with roasts, barbecue or spicy foods.
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Vineyards

This is our 5th vintage of Zinfandel from Snow’s Lake Vineyard in the acclaimed Red Hills appellation of Lake County. Located at the foot of Mt. Konocti, an ancient volcano, this prime Zinfandel site boasts a 2,100-foot-plus elevation, a perfect southwestern exposure, and vines rooted in mineral-rich, red volcanic soils. Snow Lake’s hot sunny days, windy afternoons and nights chilled by breezes from nearby Clear Lake provide ideal conditions for California’s heritage grape variety. The vineyard is planted to three distinguished clones of Zinfandel, including Primitivo and heritage selections from Amador and Mendocino counties. In 2008, we harvested this choice fruit at ideal ripeness levels between August 29th and September 30th.

Vintage

2008 was a topsy-turvy vintage in northern California. The year began with heavy winter rains, segued into drought conditions in early spring, then erupted into the worst frost season in 35 years in March and April. Coupled with poor weather during bloom and stress-inducing heat during grape set, these conditions dramatically reduced the size of the crop in many vineyards, greatly concentrating flavors and accelerating ripening. Clear, mild summer weather, with warm days and cool nights, brought our Lake County grapes to fruition between August 29th and September 30th.

Winemaking

Our first four vintages of Snow’s Lake Zinfandel were 100% varietal. In 2008, we decided to blend 11% Petite Sirah from another block in an adjoining vineyard to deepen the wine’s color and enhance its complexity and longevity. All the fruit was night-harvested to maximize freshness and purity and to protect our vineyard workers from summer’s heat. Our three clonal selections of Zinfandel, plus the Petite Sirah, were harvested, fermented and aged separately. After a short, warm fermentation in stainless steel tanks to fully extract color, flavor and tannins, the wines remained on their skins for several more weeks to further enhance color and flavor extraction while softening tannins. After pressing the wines off the skins, we transferred the lots to French oak barrels, 46% new, where they aged before the final blend was assembled the following spring. The finished wine aged another eight months in barrel before bottling in February, 2010.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

Reflecting the unique character of the Red Hills appellation, our 2009 Red Hills Lake County Zinfandel explodes with layers of ripe boysenberry, black raspberry, blackberry and plum compote aromas coupled with loamy earth, sweet vanilla and toasted oak scents. Rich, round and concentrated on the palate, it delivers a beautifully structured and focused core of super-rich brambleberry fruit balanced by seamlessly integrated tannins, vibrant fresh black cherry acidity, and a long, savory finish echoing the vineyard’s distinctive clay mineral character. Delicious now with hearty repasts, this luscious Zinfandel will further unfold its charms with another 3-5 years’ aging.

Excellent with roasts, barbecue or spicy foods.
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Vineyards

We craft this enormously appealing Zinfandel from grapes grown at a 2,100-foot-plus elevation in the acclaimed Red Hills appellation of Lake County. Located at the foot of Mt. Konocti, an ancient volcano, this prime site boasts a perfect southwestern exposure and vines rooted in well-drained, mineral-rich, red volcanic soils. Its hot sunny days, windy afternoons and nights chilled by breezes from nearby Clear Lake provide ideal conditions for three distinguished clones of Zinfandel, including Primitivo and heritage selections from Amador and Mendocino counties.

Vintage

In 2009, plentiful spring rains in Northern California deferred the need for early irrigation, resulting in small berries with deeply concentrated flavors. Summer was consistently cool, which allowed for slow, steady ripening and the parallel development of grape sugars and flavors, fostering peak maturity at lower sugar levels and superbly balanced wines. We harvested our Lake County Zinfandel grapes on September 22nd with a beautiful balance of rich, ripe fruit flavors and bright acidity.

Winemaking

Night-harvesting our Lake County Zinfandel fruit in the cold early-morning hours maximized its freshness, purity and flavor concentration. We harvested, fermented and aged each of our three clonal selections of Zinfandel separately to maximize their distinctive personalities and ensure an extra dimension of complexity in the wine. After a short, warm fermentation in stainless steel tanks to fully extract color, flavor and tannins, the wines remained on their skins for several more weeks to further enhance color and flavor extraction while softening tannins. After pressing the wines off the skins, we transferred them to French oak barrels, 50% new, where they aged for seven months before the final blend was assembled the following spring. The finished wine then aged another eight months in barrel before bottling in February, 2011.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

Our 2011 Red Hills Lake County Zinfandel exudes fresh, ripe, generous aromas of jammy black cherry, red raspberry and plum fruit, complemented nicely by a whiff of toasted herbs. Rich and supple on the palate, its deeply concentrated cherry, black raspberry and red plum flavors extend into a long, savory finish mingling juicy cherry, briary spice and refreshing mineral tones. Beautifully structured with fine, well-integrated tannins and fresh acidity, this delicious mountain-grown Zinfandel drinks beautifully now, but will reward another 3-5 years of cellaring.

Excellent with roasts, barbecue or spicy foods.
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Vineyards

This is our tenth vintage of Zinfandel from a magnificent, high-elevation vineyard in the esteemed Red Hills appellation of Lake County, due north of Napa Valley. Located at the foot of Mt. Konocti, an ancient volcano, the vineyard tops 2,000 feet in elevation and boasts a perfect southwestern exposure, excellent air circulation, and well-drained, mineral-rich, red volcanic soils. Its hot, sunny days, windy afternoons, and nights chilled by breezes from nearby Clear Lake ensure full, even ripening of the three distinguished clones of Zinfandel we harvest from the site: Primitivo and heritage selections from Amador and Mendocino counties.

Vintage

2011 was an unusual vintage in California. Wet winter and spring weather extended into mid-June, delaying budbreak, bloom and fruit set and setting the stage for a cool summer growing season that culminated in a prolonged, occasionally rainy, harvest. Our Red Hills Lake County Zinfandel grapes were less affected by the wet conditions because high-elevation vineyards drain more easily, and Red Hills is a warm, breezy region that dries out quickly. The cooler growing season actually was a blessing, as it allowed our grapes to ripen slowly and evenly, developing deeply concentrated flavors.

Winemaking

We night-harvest our Lake County Zinfandel grapes to preserve their freshness, fruit purity and varietal expressiveness, then ferment and age each of our three clonal selections separately to maximize their distinctive personalities and ensure an extra dimension of complexity in the wine. After warm fermentations in both small and large stainless steel tanks to fully extract color, flavor and tannins – with each fermentation tailored to the character of the individual lot – the wines remain on their skins for several more weeks to further enhance color and flavor while softening tannins. In 2011, after pressing the wines off the skins, we transferred them to French oak barrels, 36% new, where they aged seven months before the final blend was assembled the following spring and aged eight months in barrel prior to bottling in February, 2013.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

Our 2012 Guajolote is redolent of sweet black cherry, black plum and blackberry with notes of earth, dark chocolate and oak vanillin. On the palate, the wine boasts lush dark cherry, pomegranate and cassis flavors, which culminate in a long, savory finish showcasing fine tannins, rich berry fruit and refreshing mineral tones. Delightful to drink now, our 2012 Guajolote will continue developing in bottle for another 2-3 years.

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Vineyards

Our Suscol Springs Ranch is located in southern Napa Valley on a 450-foot rocky ridgeline overlooking the famed Carneros district to the west. It is a cool, windy site with well-drained volcanic rock soils and a desirable southwestern exposure planted to a mix of Bordeaux and Rhône Valley varieties. We planted this ranch in 2008 and 2009. Its most impressive characteristic – aside from the views it affords all the way down to San Francisco – is its rocky soils, no surprise given that there’s a rock quarry just to the north. Partly as a result of this rocky soil profile, our Suscol Springs grapes boast intense varietal flavors balanced by bright acidity, fostering rich, vibrant wines.

Vintage

The 2012 vintage was one of California’s finest in recent memory. Consistently mild summer weather free of rain and significant heat spikes allowed for even, uninterrupted ripening and the opportunity to harvest our Suscol Springs grapes with an ideal balance of sugars and acidity.

Winemaking

Blending acumen is perhaps the important measure of a vintner’s skill, and our longtime winemaker, Julianne Laks, is a master of the art. Julianne is especially adept at taking small lots of disparate varieties and blending them seamlessly into wines that are far greater than the sum of their parts. Each component lot of Guajolote was hand-harvested at night to preserve the fruit’s freshness and purity and then fermented in small stainless steel tanks, using manual punchdowns to gently macerate the juice and skins and extract optimal color and flavor. The 2012 Guajolote aged 16 months in French oak barrels, 53% new, prior to bottling in April, 2014.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

Our 2014 Guajolote offers ripe, fragrant aromas of wild berry, black cherry and dark plum, with hints of blueberry and sage. Dramatically rich and concentrated on the palate, it boasts a deep core of intensely lush, dark cherry, black plum and blackberry flavors beautifully structured by lively acidity and supple tannins. The lengthy finish showcases bright cherry, mocha spice and mineral tones. Delicious now, the 2014 Guajolote will reward another 5-10 years of aging.

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Vineyards

Our Suscol Springs Vineyard is located in southern Napa Valley on a 450-foot rocky ridgeline overlooking the famed Carneros district to the west. It’s a cool, windy site, with a desirable southwestern exposure. The vineyard’s most impressive feature – aside from its spectacular views of San Francisco on clear days – is its rocky, well-draining soils, which yield grapes with intense varietal flavors balanced by bright acidity, a recipe for rich, vibrant wines.

Vintage

2014 was another in a series of excellent vintages in northern California. The season began with a warm, dry spring, which led to early bud-break and trouble-free vine flowering and grape set. Summer was consistently mild with few heat spikes, which allowed our Suscol Springs grapes to ripen slowly and evenly, developing impressively concentrated flavors. Given the early start to the growing season, harvest began several weeks earlier than normal, with the grapes for Guajolote harvested between September 7th and October 8th.

Winemaking

Blending acumen is perhaps the important measure of a vintner’s skill, and our winemaker, Julianne Laks, is a master of the art. Julianne is especially adept at taking small lots of different grape varieties and blending them seamlessly into wines that are far greater than the sum of their parts. Each component lot of Guajolote is hand-harvested at night to preserve the fruit’s freshness and purity, then fermented in small stainless steel tanks, using manual punchdowns to gently macerate the juice and skins and extract optimal color and flavor. The 2014 Guajolote was aged for 16 months in French oak barrels, 50% new, prior to bottling in April, 2016.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

Our 2010 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon offers wonderfully fragrant, complex aromas of ripe blackberry and boysenberry fruit augmented by complementary scents of loam, spice-box, dark chocolate and toasty oak. Beautifully balanced and richly textured on the palate, its concentrated black cherry, wild berry, cassis and mocha flavors are supported by supple tannins and extend into a long, chocolate-y finish. The product of a cool growing season, this rich, elegant Cabernet Sauvignon is delicious now, but will develop greater nuance with another 5-7 years of cellaring.

An excellent companion to beef, rich pork dishes and game.
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Vineyards

Our Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is a blend of grapes sourced from top vineyards throughout the valley’s finest Cabernet Sauvignon appellations. Securing fruit from multiple, diverse microclimates allows us to craft a rich, yet elegant Cabernet Sauvignon marrying the lush black fruit and sturdy tannins typical of the valley’s warmer northern districts with the bright fruit and acidity characteristic of its cooler southern climes. In 2010, we included 5% Cabernet Franc, 4% Merlot, 4% Petit Verdot and 1% Malbec in the blend to create a classic Bordeaux-style cépage showcasing the rich, ripe fruit flavors for which Napa Valley is renowned.

Vintage

2010 was a notably cool growing season in California. The year began with substantial rainfall, which pushed back bud break, flowering and grape set by several weeks. After an unusually cool summer, heat spikes in late August kick-started full ripening. Cooler temperatures returned in early September, allowing our red varieties to hang on the vine an extra few weeks developing ripe, concentrated flavors.

Winemaking

Our Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is a blend of dozens of different lots of grapes, each separately harvested, crushed, fermented and barrel-aged. Each lot is also cold-soaked for two days prior to fermentation to enhance the extraction of color and flavor. Tank size, yeast strain, fermentation temperature and barrel type are tailored to the fruit character of each lot. Some of the wines undergo an extended maceration (keeping the fully fermented wine on its skins for several weeks to extract more flavor and soften tannins) while others are pressed off their skins immediately. Each lot spends six months aging in French oak barrels (35% new in 2010). After the lots are blended, the new wine ages another 12 months in barrel prior to bottling.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

Our 2007 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon grabs the taster’s attention immediately with enticingly fresh, fruit-forward aromas of black currant, blackberry and boysenberry, joined by seductive chocolate and roast coffee scents. Beautifully structured on the palate, it boasts intense, concentrated, dark berry and cassis flavors balanced by supple, well-knit tannins and a long, flavorful finish with fine acidity and savory mocha tones. Delightful to drink now, this rich, elegant Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon will blossom fully with another 5 to 7 years of bottle age.

An excellent companion to beef, rich pork dishes and game.
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Vineyards

Our Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is a blend of grapes from throughout the valley’s finest Cabernet Sauvignon appellations, ranging from Calistoga in the north to the Carneros district in the south. Sourcing fruit from multiple, diverse microclimates allows us to craft a sumptuous, elegant Cabernet Sauvignon melding the opulent black fruit character and firm tannins typical of the valley’s warmer northern microclimates with the bright fruit and crisp acidity characteristic of its cooler southern districts. In 2007, 95% of the fruit came from our up-valley vineyards with 5% from the Carneros district.

Vintage

The exemplary 2007 growing season commenced with a dry, mild winter and unusually warm spring, which prompted early budbreak and bloom. The summer was consistently mild, which enabled our modest crop of small-clustered Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon grapes to ripen slowly and evenly, developing rich, distinctive varietal flavors. Warm temperatures in early September, followed by classic California Indian Summer weather, allowed us to harvest our Cabernet Sauvignon fruit at optimum maturity between September 1st and October 15th.

Winemaking

To maximize the quality of our 2007 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, we cold-soaked each vineyard lot of grapes separately for between 36 and 48 hours to enhance extraction of color and flavor prior to fermentation. We then fermented and aged the lots separately, tailoring tank size, yeast strain, fermentation length and temperature, and barrel type and aging to the fruit character of each lot. Some of the wines underwent an extended maceration (the fully fermented wine remained on its skins for several weeks for greater extraction and/or to soften tannins), while others were pressed off the skins immediately. Post-fermentation and pressing, each lot spent six months aging in French oak barrels, 50% new, prior to blending. The blended wine then spent another 14 months in barrel prior to bottling in July, 2009.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

The wonderfully pure, pretty nose of our 2008 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is redolent of warm berry cobbler, with lovely toasted boysenberry and blackberry scents joined by hints of wild cherry, loamy earth and oak vanillin. On the supple, beautifully structured palate, the wine offers rich, vibrant blackberry, plum and black cherry flavors framed by perfectly integrated tannins and a long, savory finish. Delicious now, this elegantly sumptuous Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon will develop further nuance with another 5-7 years’ bottle age.

An excellent companion to beef, rich pork dishes and game.
View recipes that complement this wine

Vineyards

Our Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon blends grapes from throughout the valley’s finest Cabernet Sauvignon appellations. Sourcing fruit from multiple, diverse microclimates allows us to craft a sumptuous, elegant Cabernet Sauvignon that melds the opulent black fruit character and firm tannins typical of the valley’s warmer northern microclimates with the bright fruit tones and crisp acidity characteristic of its cooler southern precincts.

Vintage

The topsy-turvy 2008 growing season seesawed from heavy winter rains to early spring drought to severe frosts in late March and throughout April. Coupled with inclement weather during bloom and stress-inducing heat during grape set, these conditions significantly reduced the size of the grape crop throughout Napa Valley, greatly concentrating flavors. Clear, mild summer weather, with warm days and cool nights, provided ideal conditions for fully maturing our Cabernet Sauvignon grapes, which were harvested between September 26th and October 16th with a perfect balance of sugar and acidity.

Winemaking

The key to the quality of Cakebread Cellars Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is the specialized care we lavish on each component of the blend. The 2008 vintage is a cépage of 36 distinct lots of grapes, each separately harvested, crushed, fermented and barrel-aged. Each lot was cold-soaked prior to fermentation from 36 to 48 hours to enhance extraction of color and flavor. We then fermented and aged the lots separately, tailoring tank size, yeast strain, fermentation temperature and barrel type to the fruit character of each lot. Some of the wines underwent an extended maceration (keeping the fully fermented wine on its skins for several weeks to extract more flavor and soften tannins) while others were pressed off the skins immediately. Each lot spent six months aging in French oak barrels, 42% new, prior to blending. The blended wine aged another 14 months in barrel prior to bottling in July, 2010.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

Fragrant boysenberry, blackberry, dark cherry, cassis and Mission fig aromas comprise the fresh, fruitful nose of our 2009 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. The first sip of the wine reveals a big, boldly structured Cabernet with deeply concentrated black fruit flavors and intriguing dusty, loamy and mineral-y tones that add wonderful dimension and complexity. Boasting an undercurrent of soft, plush fruit that will emerge further with aging, this sophisticated, yet approachable Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon will reward another 5-7 years’ cellaring.

An excellent companion to beef, rich pork dishes and game.
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Vineyards

Our 2009 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is a blend of superior grapes from throughout the valley’s finest Cabernet Sauvignon appellations, with 95% coming from the warmer northern region of the valley and 5% from the cooler Carneros district in the south. Sourcing fruit from multiple, diverse microclimates allows us to craft a rich, yet elegant Cabernet Sauvignon that marries the lush black fruit character and sturdy tannins typical of the valley’s warmer northern microclimates with the bright fruit tones and crisp acidity characteristic of its cooler southern reaches. In 2009, we blended in 13% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc and 3% Petit Verdot to amplify the complexity of this classic Napa Valley red.

Vintage

In 2009, plentiful spring rains in Northern California deferred the need for early irrigation, resulting in small berries with deeply concentrated flavors. Summer was consistently cool, which allowed for slow, steady ripening and the parallel development of grape sugars and flavors, fostering maturity at moderate sugar levels and resulting in superbly balanced wines. We harvested the grapes for our 2009 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon between September 28th and October 21st with an exemplary balance of ripe fruit flavors, supple tannins and bright acidity.

Winemaking

The key to the quality of Cakebread Cellars Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is the specialized care we lavish on each component of the blend. Our 2009 bottling is a cépage of dozens of lots of grapes, each separately harvested, crushed, fermented and barrel-aged. Each lot was cold-soaked prior to fermentation for between 36 and 48 hours to enhance extraction of color and flavor. We then fermented and aged the lots separately, tailoring tank size, yeast strain, fermentation temperature and barrel type to the fruit character of each lot. Some of the wines underwent an extended maceration (keeping the fully fermented wine on its skins for several weeks to extract more flavor and soften tannins) while others were pressed off the skins immediately. Each lot spent six months aging in French oak barrels, 35% new, prior to blending. The blended wine aged another 12 months in barrel prior to bottling in May, 2011.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

Our 2006 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon bursts from the glass with fresh, smoky, cassis, blackberry and boysenberry aromas augmented by subtle cedar, black tea spice and sweet oak scents. Supple on entry, the wine’s big, extracted, black fruit flavors coat the palate, while its firm underlying structure transports the rich fruit and zesty black tea spiciness into a long, savory finish. Impressive now, this concentrated, yet elegant Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon will age gracefully in bottle for another 5-7 years.

An excellent companion to beef, rich pork dishes and game.
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Vineyards

Our 2006 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is a blend of grapes from prime vineyard sites stretching from the warm Calistoga region at the northern end of the valley to the cool Carneros district at its southern tip. Sourcing fruit from multiple, diverse microclimates enables our winemaker, Julianne Laks, to craft a rich, complex Cabernet Sauvignon displaying the opulent black fruit character and firm tannins typical of the valley’s warmer microclimates balanced by the bright fruit and crisp acidity characteristic of Napa’s cooler districts. In 2006, 92% of the fruit came from warmer up-valley vineyards with 8% from the Carneros district.

Vintage

The long, cool, 2006 growing season – in some respects more Bordeaux-like than Californian – fostered intense, finely structured flavors in our Napa Valley grapes. The growing season commenced with a wet winter, which delayed bud break and led to a late flowering of the vines. Fine weather in June was followed by a heat wave in July, but cool weather returned in August and continued throughout the harvest season, resulting in a long grape ripening period that developed deep, concentrated fruit flavors in our Napa Valley reds. The grapes for our 2006 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, a Bordeaux-style blend incorporating 16% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc and 2% Malbec, were harvested between October 3rd and October 27th.

Winemaking

After crushing and cold-soaking the grapes for 24-36 hours to enhance extraction, the juice from each vineyard lot was fermented separately in temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks, at warm temperatures, to fully extract color and flavor. Typically, fermentation completes in seven days, with the new wines left to macerate on the skins up to three additional weeks to maximize color and flavor extraction. Cool years like 2006, however, can result in Cabernet Sauvignons with elevated tannins, so we closely monitored evolving tannin levels during fermentation, using both quantitative and sensory analysis to determine the optimum maceration time for each lot. In 2006, each component of our Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon aged six months in French oak barrels, 35% new, with the lots chosen for the final blend aged another 14 months in barrel before bottling in July, 2008.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

Our 2005 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon boasts a fascinating mélange of aromas, including ripe black fig, blackberry, cassis, caramel, and mocha. On the richly textured palate, the wine’s intense black fruit flavors take on brambly spice, roasted coffee and dark chocolate tones, leading to a long, savory finish. Firmly structured and packed with layers of luxurious flavor, this lavishly endowed Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is a treat now with grilled red meats and other hearty dishes, but will develop beautifully in the bottle for another 5-7 years.

An excellent companion to beef, rich pork dishes and game.
View recipes that complement this wine

Vineyards

We craft our Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon from grapes grown in a range of prime vineyards stretching from the warm Calistoga region at the northern end of the valley to the cool Carneros district at its southern tip. Sourcing fruit from a variety of microclimates enables us to fashion a rich, complex Cabernet Sauvignon blending the opulent black fruit character and firm tannins typical of the valley’s warmer microclimates with the brighter fruit and crisper acidity of Napa’s cooler districts. In 2005, approximately 94% of the grapes came from warmer up-valley vineyards with 6% from the Carneros district.

Vintage

In 2005, a warm late winter spurred early bud break, but cool, wet, spring weather set back vine development. Atypically cool temperatures continued throughout the summer, which slowed ripening and prolonged the growing season. Fortunately, warm, sunny weather in September and October brought the harvest to fruition in fine fashion. Due to the early start to the season and its late conclusion, the grapes for our 2005 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, which includes 10% Merlot and 3% Cabernet Franc, enjoyed a long hang time on the vines, developing concentrated flavors at moderate sugar levels. We harvested the fruit in October with ideal sugar-acid balances.

Winemaking

After crushing and cold-soaking the grapes for 24-36 hours to enhance extraction, the juice from each vineyard lot was fermented separately in temperature-controlled stainless steel 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, 35% new, for aging. 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, 2007.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

Cakebread Cellars 2002 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon boasts an enticing aroma of ripe black cherry, berry and currant fruit complemented by scents of vanilla, sweet herbs, cocoa, and coffee bean. On the palate, the wine’s lush, deep, mouth-filling berry and cassis flavors carry a hint of tea-leaf spiciness and are seamlessly balanced by firm, supple tannins, leading to a lusciously long, rich, oak-enhanced finish. Delicious to drink now, this classic Napa Valley Cabernet will continue to develop for another 5-7 years in bottle.

An excellent companion to beef, rich pork dishes and game.
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Vineyards

The grapes for our 2002 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, blended with 11% Merlot and 2% Cabernet Franc, come from more than a dozen vineyards stretching from the cool Carneros district in the south to the warm Calistoga region at the northern end of the valley, with the majority from the mid-valley Rutherford appellation. Blending fruit from multiple clones and microclimates enables us to craft a complex Cabernet Sauvignon melding the bright, crisp fruit characteristic of Napa’s cooler regions with the lush, black-fruit flavors and firm tannins typical of the valley’s warmer climes. The grapes for the 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon were harvested between September 21st and October 14th, 2002.

Vintage

In 2002, Napa Valley enjoyed a long, mild growing season of consistently warm days and cool nights, with just a few manageable heat spikes in late September and early October. With an expectation of healthy yields, many growers significantly thinned their crops and pruned shoots and leaves extensively to guarantee the vines put all their energy into ripening the remaining grape clusters, ensuring highly concentrated, complex fruit flavors. Cakebread Cellars further maximized grape quality by using advanced soil moisture management techniques to precisely calibrate the amount of water required by the vines at critical junctures throughout the season.

Winemaking

After being crushed and cold-soaked for 24-36 hours, each vineyard lot was fermented separately in temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks, at warm temperatures, to fully extract color and flavor. The fermentations completed in seven days, with an extended maceration of 21 additional days to maximize extraction and enhance the wine’s structure. The free run juice of each lot was then drained and transferred to French oak barrels, 65% new, for aging. During this period, each lot was tasted regularly to assess its aroma and flavor development, varietal character, ripeness and richness levels, and oak character. In spring, 2003, the chosen lots were blended and aged an additional 14 months in barrel before bottling in July 2004.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

This 1999 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon has aromas of cedar wood and blackberry fruit. On entry, the flavors are full with subtle notes of black licorice, spice and pepper. The overall texture of this wine is supple and smooth. There are rich and well-integrated flavors of fruit such as plum, cherry, berry balanced by the vanilla of small French oak barrels’ aging.

An excellent companion to beef, rich pork dishes and game.
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Vineyards

As in recent years, the fruit for the 1999 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon came primarily from the Oakville-Rutherford appellations with smaller lots coming from neighboring Carneros and St. Helena districts. Diverse vineyard sources as well as clonal variations allow us to craft a finished wine of great complexity and structure. Similarly, small blended additions of Merlot and Cabernet Franc lend either a more defined structure of tannins, wonderful berry flavors, dark fruit character or earthy tones, depending on the vineyards’ locations.

Vintage

With our 1999 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, Cakebread Cellars celebrates twenty-five years of making top Napa Valley Cabernets. (The first red wine that Cakebread Cellars made was the 1974 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon.) Appropriately enough, this Cabernet Sauvignon, from an outstanding vintage, epitomizes Cakebread Cellars’ quarter century of top quality red winemaking. Our only problem with the vintage was that not much of it was produced. This was primarily due to the cool, wet effects of el niño during the spring of 1998 when the 1999’s vine crop levels were in large part determined.

Winemaking

The 1999 Vintage was a long, cool growing season with a perfectly timed heat wave occurring during the last week of September. These conditions caused the Cabernet Sauvignon grapes “to hang” for an extended period of time on the vines. This, together with low crop levels, produced a wine of great color, soft tannins, tremendous balance and a great depth of flavor.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

This 1998 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon has a clear, dark garnet color. Its spicy, cedar-like scents together with a background aroma of cassis are invitingly rich and complex. On the palate, the texture is rich and smooth with flavors reminiscent of cassis with a hint of chocolate. The overall taste-impression of this wine is one of rich black fruit in a delicious balance.

An excellent companion to beef, rich pork dishes and game.
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Vineyards

The fruit for the 1998 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon came primarily from here in Rutherford and neighboring Oakville appellations, with smaller lots from Stags’ Leap, Carneros and St. Helena growing areas. To add additional characters of dark fruit and earthiness we blended in 15% Merlot. A small amount of Cabernet Franc (7%), on the other hand, lent structure plus a wonderful berry-like flavor.

Vintage

Cakebread Cellars’ 1998 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is yet another classic vintage Cabernet of the Nineties. The vintage itself was challenging, to say the least. El Niño-generated weather patterns kept Napa Valley vineyards unusually cool and wet for most of the growing season, until two separate hot spells hit in mid-July and August. However, overall, the 1998 Vintage was the coolest one since 1994. While crop levels were down 20% from 1997’s bountiful yields, quality was kept high due to the prevalent cool temperatures plus “The October Miracle” of an “Indian summer.”

Winemaking

The determining factor in the Cakebread style of winemaking is taste, whether it is to decide when grapes are wholly mature to pick or when to “press-out” an individual lot of fermented Cabernet Sauvignon. In making this 1998 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, as is our practice, we fermented each vineyard lot separately. Then, we put half in new small French oak barrels and half in one and two-year old barrels for approximately six months. Throughout this initial aging process, we continually taste-analyze the various individual lots so as to put together a final blend. Once we assemble a final blend, it goes into the same French oak barrels to age for an additional year before being bottled.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

Our 2004 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon boasts enticing ripe blackberry, black cherry and blueberry fruit aromas, accented by subtle scents of chocolate, earth and leather. On the palate, the wine’s intense, concentrated, black fruit and wild cherry flavors are enriched by roast coffee and toasty oak tones, with ripe, supple tannins and refreshing acidity anchoring the long, fruitful finish. Delicious to drink now, this classic Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon will develop beautifully in bottle for another 5-7 years.

An excellent companion to beef, rich pork dishes and game.
View recipes that complement this wine

Vineyards

Our Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley fruit comes from an array of choice vineyards stretching from the warm Calistoga region at the northern end of the valley to the cool Carneros district at its southern tip. Sourcing fruit from a variety of microclimates enables us to craft a rich, complex Cabernet Sauvignon blending the opulent black fruit and firm tannins typical of the valley’s warmer climes with the bright fruit and crisp acidity characteristic of Napa’s cooler districts. In 2004, approximately 90% of the grapes came from warmer up-valley districts, with 10% from the Carneros district.

Vintage

In 2004, an unusually balmy late winter, consistently warm spring and summer temperatures, and several late-summer heat spells resulted in the earliest Cabernet Sauvignon harvest since 1981. The early budbreak, combined with light crop loads, produced grape clusters with small berries and intense, concentrated flavors, resulting in wines of great depth, concentration and structure. The grapes for our 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon, which was blended with 12% Merlot and 1% Cabernet Franc, were harvested between September 4 and October 27, 2004.

Winemaking

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 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.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

Cakebread Cellars 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon boasts enticing aromas of ripe black fruits and dark chocolate, with lush, concentrated, blackberry, black cherry and black fig flavors. A supple structure of fine tannins is well-integrated with the wine’s ripe fruit and fresh acidity, leading to a finish full of rich dark chocolate and blackberry flavors. Delicious to drink now, this classic Napa Valley Cabernet should develop beautifully in bottle for another 5-7 years.

An excellent companion to beef, rich pork dishes and game.
View recipes that complement this wine

Vineyards

The grapes for our 2003 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, which was blended with 11% Merlot, 0.7% Cabernet Franc and 0.3% Malbec, come from more than a dozen vineyards stretching from the cool Carneros district in the southern valley to the warm Calistoga region at its northern end. Blending fruit from multiple clones and microclimates allows us to produce a complex Cabernet Sauvignon melding the bright fruit characteristic of Napa’s cooler districts with the lush black fruit and firm tannins typical of the valley’s warmer climes. The grapes for our 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon were harvested between October 2nd and 29th at optimal ripeness.

Vintage

In 2003, a warm early spring gave way to cool, wet weather in April, which set back vine development. Seasonally temperate weather prevailed from May through July, but a cool pattern returned in August, delaying ripening. By early September, warm, sunny days and clear, cool nights were again the norm, and hot weather during the latter half of September sent us scurrying to harvest earlier-ripening varieties. October, however, brought classic autumn weather, with crisp mornings, warm afternoons and cool evenings, extending the harvest by several weeks and enabling us to pick our Cabernet Sauvignon grapes at moderate sugar levels. Red wines from the topsy-turvy 2003 harvest are rich and deeply colored, with excellent concentration and balance.

Winemaking

After crushing and cold-soaking the fruit for 24-36 hours, the juice from each vineyard lot was fermented separately in temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks, at warm temperatures, to fully extract color and flavor. The fermentations completed in approximately seven days, but we kept the wines macerating on their skins for an additional three weeks to maximize color and flavor extraction and enhance the wine’s tannic structure. The free run wine from each lot was then drained and transferred to French oak barrels, 55% new, for aging. During this period, winemaker Julianne Laks tasted each lot regularly to assess its aroma and flavor development, texture, and oak character. In spring, 2004, the lots chosen for our Napa Valley bottling were blended, and subsequently aged an additional 14 months in barrel before bottling in July, 2005.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

The product of a superb red wine vintage in Napa Valley, Cakebread Cellars 2001 Cabernet Sauvignon is a wonderfully rich, ripe wine with a nearly opaque ruby color and a seductive aroma of ripe, lavish black cherry and currant fruit enhanced by cedar and toasty, vanilla oak tones. On the palate, the wine’s lush berry and cassis flavors are impressively broad and deep with supple, seamlessly integrated tannins and a lusciously rich finish. Delicious to drink now, this marvelous red will continue developing for another 5-7 years in bottle.

An excellent companion to beef, rich pork dishes and game.
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Vineyards

The grapes for our Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, which is blended with 16% Merlot,
4% Cabernet Franc and 2% Malbec, come from more than a dozen vineyards stretching from the cool Carneros district in the south to the warm Calistoga region at the northern end of the valley, with the majority from the mid-valley Rutherford appellation. Blending fruit from multiple clones and microclimates enables us to craft a complex Cabernet Sauvignon melding the bright cherry fruit characteristic of Napa’s cooler regions with the intense black-fruit flavors and firm tannins typical of the valley’s warmer climes. The grapes for the 2001 Cabernet Sauvignon were harvested between September 18th and October 15th, 2001.

Vintage

The 2001 vintage in northern California was a climatic roller coaster ride. A warm March led to early bud break, followed by April frosts that significantly reduced the crop in some north coast regions. May and June were warm, but the weather turned cool again in July and August, slowing the ripening process and allowing the grapes to achieve full physiological development without dehydration. Ideal weather in early fall brought the season to fruition with a harvest of small-berried Cabernet Sauvignon grapes blessed with intense, balanced fruit flavors.

Winemaking

After being crushed and cold-soaked for 24-36 hours, each vineyard lot was fermented separately. Warm fermentations in temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks, to fully extract color and flavor, were completed in 7 days, with an extended maceration of 21 days to maximize extraction and enhance the wine’s structure. The free run juice was then drained and transferred to French oak barrels, 65% new. After blending in spring 2002, the wine aged an additional 14 months in barrel before bottling in August 2003.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

The 2000 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon displays a dark ruby/scarlet color and a classic Napa Valley Cabernet aroma of ripe black cherry and currant fruit. This is enhanced by well-integrated toast and vanilla oak tones. The wine’s rich, elegant, blackberry, cassis and plum flavors are beautifully structured by ripe, round tannins and persist through a long, fruit-filled finish. Enticing now, this lovely red will continue developing for 5-8 years and will age well up to 12.

An excellent companion to beef, rich pork dishes and game.
View recipes that complement this wine

Vineyards

The grapes for our Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, which is blended with 20% Merlot and 2% Cabernet Franc, come from more than a dozen vineyards stretching from the cool Carneros district in the south to the warm Calistoga region at the northern end of the valley, with the majority from the mid-valley Rutherford appellation. Blending fruit from multiple clones and microclimates enables us to craft a complex cabernet melding the bright cherry/berry fruit characteristic of Napa’s cooler regions with the intense black-fruit flavors and firm tannins typical of the valley’s warmer climes.

Vintage

The 2000 vintage featured a cool, even growing season culminating in a classic Indian summer, insuring that our Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc grapes developed fully ripened flavors prior to being harvested at optimum maturity between late September and mid-October.

Winemaking

After being crushed and cold-soaked for 24-36 hours, each vineyard lot was fermented separately, with 5% whole berry fermentation to accentuate the wine’s fruity characters. Warm fermentations in temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks, to fully extract color and flavor, were completed in 7 days, with an extended maceration of 14-21 days to maximize extraction. The free run juice was then drained and transferred to French oak barrels, 65% new. After blending in spring 2001, the wine aged an additional 14 months in barrel before bottling in August 2002.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

Our 2011 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon sports a beautifully fragrant, complex bouquet of ripe dark cherry and boysenberry fruit complemented by scents of cedar, olive, dried sage, dark chocolate and toasty oak. Rich and smooth on the palate with perfectly integrated tannins and balanced acidity, the wine’s sumptuous black cherry, blackcurrant and blackberry flavors are superbly balanced and persist into a long, elegant finish with hints of chocolate, mineral and savory oak.

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Vineyards

The grapes for our Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon come from top vineyards throughout the valley’s finest cabernet sauvignon appellations. Securing fruit from multiple, diverse sites, including our own estate vineyards, enables us to craft a rich, yet elegant cabernet sauvignon marrying the lush black fruit and sturdy tannins typical of the valley’s warmer northern districts with the bright fruit and acidity characteristic of its cooler southern climes. In 2011, we included small amounts of petit verdot and cabernet franc to create a classic Bordeaux-style blend showcasing the complex, ripe fruit flavors for which Napa Valley wines are renowned.

Vintage

2011 was a unique, challenging vintage. The year began with a wet winter and spring, followed by an atypically cool summer weather and several October rainstorms. Not surprisingly, the grapes ripened slowly, resulting in a prolonged harvest. At Cakebread Cellars, we took an aggressive approach to the situation, thinning fruit from the vines to ensure full ripening of the remaining clusters and sorting meticulously through the grapes at the winery so that only the best berries were sent to the crusher. This achieved our goal of making a classic Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon with distinctively varietal aromas and lush, concentrated flavors. It’s worth noting that this is our first vintage of Napa Cabernet this century under 14% in alcohol.

Winemaking

Our Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is a blend of dozens of different lots of grapes, each separately harvested, crushed, fermented and barrel-aged. Each lot is also cold-soaked for two days prior to fermentation to enhance the extraction of color and flavor. Tank size, yeast strain, fermentation temperature and barrel type are tailored to the fruit character of each lot. Some of the wines undergo an extended maceration (keeping the fully fermented wine on its skins for several weeks to extract more flavor and soften tannins) while others are pressed off their skins immediately.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

Our 2012 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon boasts alluring, complex aromas of dense dark cherry, boysenberry and blackcurrant fruit supplemented by enticing toasted oak and dark chocolate scents. Rich and lush on the palate with deeply concentrated cassis, blackberry and black fig flavors, the wine culminates in a remarkably long finish showcasing ripe fruit, dark chocolate and wood spice tones framed by finely grained tannins. Seductive now for its luscious fruit, this classic Napa Valley cabernet will evolve beautifully in bottle over the next 7-10 years.

View recipes that complement this wine

Vineyards

The grapes for our Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon come from top vineyards throughout the valley’s finest cabernet sauvignon appellations. Securing fruit from multiple, diverse sites, including our own estate vineyards, enables us to craft a rich, yet elegant cabernet sauvignon marrying the lush black fruit and sturdy tannins typical of the valley’s warmer northern districts with the bright fruit and acidity characteristic of its cooler southern climes. In 2012, winemaker Julianne Laks tasted each vineyard lot a dozen times, conducting eight blending sessions to determine the final blend.

Vintage

2012 was a near-ideal growing season in Napa Valley, with a warm, dry spring fostering early budbreak and trouble-free flowering and grape set. Consistently mild summer weather free of rain or unwelcome heat spikes allowed us to harvest our cabernet sauvignon grapes with an optimal balance of ripe, concentrated fruit flavors and lively acidity.

Winemaking

Each lot of our Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is separately harvested, fermented and barrel-aged before blending. Each is also cold-soaked for two days prior to fermentation to enhance color, flavor and tannin extraction. Tank size, yeast strain, fermentation temperature and barrel type are specifically tailored to the fruit character of each lot. In 2012, the component wines aged six months in French oak barrels, 54% new, before they were blended in May, 2013. The final blend then spent another 12 months in barrel before bottling in May, 2014.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

Dense, concentrated aromas of ripe boysenberry, blackberry, dark plum and cassis, with a hint of spice, preface intense, deeply concentrated, blackberry, blackcurrant and dark cherry flavors, culminating in a long finish shot through with a blackberry fruitiness. With a superb balance of rich fruit, bright acidity and polished tannins, this youthful cabernet sauvignon merits another 7-10 years of bottle aging, although no one who opens it sooner will be disappointed.

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Vineyards

The grapes for our rich, yet elegant Cabernet Sauvignon come from areas of the Napa Valley known to produce some of the finest Cabernet Sauvignons. There is no question that the character of this wine originates in the vineyard. Getting quality fruit from so many diverse microclimates allows us to craft a stylistically consistent and complex cabernet that marries the
the lush black fruit and sturdy tannins typical of the valley’s warmer northern districts with the bright fruit and acidity characteristic of its cooler southern climes. Each year, our winemaker, Julianne Laks, vinifies dozens of different small lots of cabernet, repeatedly assessing each one in order to select only the very best lots for our final blend.

Vintage

2014 was another in a series of excellent vintages in northern California. After a rainy February, which rejuvenated the vines, a warm, dry spring led to early bud-break, flowering and grape set. Summer was consistently mild with few heat spikes, allowing our cabernet sauvignon grapes to ripen slowly and evenly with impressively concentrated flavors.

Winemaking

Each lot of our Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is separately harvested, fermented and barrel-aged before blending. Each is also cold-soaked for two days prior to fermentation to foster early extraction of color, flavor and tannin from the skins. Tank size, yeast strain, fermentation temperature and barrel type are specifically tailored to the fruit character of each lot. In 2014, the component wines aged six months in French oak barrels, 59% new, before being blended in April, 2015. The final blend spent another 12 months in barrel before bottling on April 20, 2016

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

A dense, ripe, perfumed nose of blackberry, black plum and blackcurrant, coupled with intriguing lavender, loam, spice and mineral scents, prefaces an immensely concentrated palate packed with intense, potent, blackberry, cassis, mission fig and dark chocolate flavors beautifully structured by firm, supple tannins. Incredibly focused, with a spellbindingly long finish showcasing savory black cherry, spice and mineral tones, this remarkable cabernet sauvignon, among Napa Valley’s most distinctive, will age beautifully for a decade or more.

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Vineyards

Our 2012 Vine Hill Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon comes from three special blocks of vines – and two distinctive cabernet clones – in the acclaimed Vine Hill Ranch in Napa Valley’s western benchlands near Oakville. We have purchased these grapes from the Philips family, owner of Vine Hill Ranch, since 1981, and they have consistently produced superb, long-lived wines. Hand-harvested at night to preserve the fruit’s freshness and varietal purity, each of the three lots was fermented and barrel-aged separately. After assessing the distinctive personality of each wine, we blended the three to create a uniquely complex and intense cabernet sauvignon that speaks eloquently of its provenance.

Vintage

2012 was a truly spectacular growing season in Napa Valley, with a warm, dry spring fostering early budbreak and trouble-free flowering and grape set. Consistently mild summer weather free of rain or unwelcome heat spikes allowed us to harvest our Vine Hill Ranch grapes at peak maturity with a perfect balance of deeply concentrated fruit flavors, bright acidity and ripe, supple tannins.

Winemaking

Cakebread Cellars winemaker Julianne Laks employs traditional artisan winemaking techniques to maximize the extraction of color, flavor and tannin from our Vine Hill Ranch fruit. After the grapes are crushed, the juice from each lot is cold-soaked for 48 hours to enhance texture, depth and intensity prior to initiating fermentation with a cultured French yeast strain. Once fermentation completes, the wines enjoy an extended maceration on their skins to further extract color and flavor while softening tannins. The 2012 Vine Hill Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon spent 21 months in French oak barrels, 55% new, before bottling on July 28th, 2014.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

Our 2007 Vine Hill Cabernet Sauvignon offers a multifaceted bouquet of wonderfully bright, deeply concentrated black fruits – wild blackberry, black cherry and dark plum – complemented by fascinating dusty earth, cocoa, flint, mineral and toasty oak scents. On the full-bodied, seamlessly integrated palate, the wine’s intense and beautifully focused blackberry, cassis, dark cherry, plum and dark chocolate flavors gain a refreshing lift of acidity in the long, persistent finish. With great reserves of fruit, flawless structure, supple, beautifully integrated tannins and a distinctive personality derived from the unique attributes of Vine Hill Ranch, this stunning Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, from a great vintage, will age beautifully in bottle for a decade or more, although it drinks deliciously now.

Excellent with rich red meats and game.
View recipes that complement this wine

Vineyards

Our Vine Hill Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon comes from four distinctive blocks of vines – each planted to a different clone – in the acclaimed Vine Hill Ranch in Napa Valley’s gently sloping western benchlands near Oakville. We have purchased these grapes for nearly 30 years, and they have consistently produced superb, long-lived wines. Each block is hand-harvested separately at night to preserve the fruit’s fresh, pure character, and fermented and barrel-aged separately. After assessing the distinctive personality of each lot, we blend the four together to forge a uniquely complex and harmonious wine that speaks eloquently of its provenance.

Vintage

2007 was an exceptional vintage for cabernet sauvignon in Napa Valley. A dry, mild winter and unusually warm spring prompted early budbreak and bloom, followed by a perfect grape set in June. Summer was consistently mild, with warm days and cool nights, ideal conditions for achieving maximum ripening and flavor development while retaining healthy levels of acidity. A warm early September and a modest crop got the harvest off to an early, fast-paced start, allowing us to pick our four special blocks of Vine Hill fruit between September 18th and 25th.

Winemaking

To ensure maximum extraction of color, flavor and tannin from our Vine Hill grapes, Cakebread Cellars winemaker Julianne Laks employs traditional artisan winemaking techniques. After the grapes are crushed, the juice from each lot is cold-soaked for 48 hours prior to initiating fermentation with a cultured French yeast strain that enhances texture, depth and intensity. Once fermentation completes, the wines enjoy an extended, three-week maceration on their skins to further extract color and flavor while softening tannins. The 2007 Vine Hill Cabernet Sauvignon spent 22 months aging in French oak barrels, 54% new, prior to bottling in August, 2009.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

Our 2008 Vine Hill Cabernet Sauvignon boasts marvelously fresh, high-toned and complex aromas of blackberry, fig, floral spice, mineral, earth, flint and cocoa. This beautiful bouquet introduces intense, densely textured and finely focused black fruit flavors that track seamlessly across the palate and culminate in an extremely long, supple and fruitful finish enhanced by bright acidity and savory dark chocolate tones. Possessing deep reserves of fruit, classic structure and the inimitable personality of a truly great vineyard, this stunning Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, from a small-yielding, but fine vintage, will age beautifully in bottle for a decade or more, although it drinks beautifully now.

An excellent companion to beef, rich pork dishes and game.
View recipes that complement this wine

Vineyards

We craft our Vine Hill Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon from four special blocks of vines – each planted to a different clone – grown in the acclaimed Vine Hill Ranch in Napa Valley’s gently sloping western benchlands in the Oakville AVA. We have purchased these grapes for 30 years, and they have consistently produced superb, long-lived wines. Each block is hand-harvested separately at night to preserve the fruit’s fresh, pure character, and fermented and barrel-aged separately. After assessing the distinctive personality of each lot, we blend the four together to forge a uniquely complex and harmonious wine that speaks eloquently of its provenance.

Vintage

The topsy-turvy 2008 growing season seesawed from heavy rains in winter to drought conditions in early spring to severe frosts in late March and throughout April. Coupled with inclement weather during bloom and stress-inducing heat during grape set, these conditions significantly reduced the size of the grape crop throughout Napa Valley, greatly concentrating flavors. Clear, mild summer weather, with warm days and cool nights, provided ideal conditions for the full maturation of our Vine Hill Cabernet Sauvignon grapes, which were harvested between September 25th and October 11th with a perfect balance of sugar and acidity.

Winemaking

Cakebread Cellars winemaker Julianne Laks employs traditional artisan winemaking techniques to maximize the extraction of color, flavor and tannin from our Vine Hill Ranch fruit. After the grapes are crushed, the juice from each lot is cold-soaked for 48 hours prior to initiating fermentation with a cultured French yeast strain that enhances texture, depth and intensity. Once fermentation completes, the wines enjoy an extended, three-week maceration on their skins to further extract color and flavor while softening tannins. In all, the 2008 Vine Hill Cabernet Sauvignon spent 22 months in French oak barrels, 48% new, prior to bottling in August, 2010.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

Our 2009 Vine Hill Cabernet Sauvignon boasts a beautifully deep, dark ruby hue and characteristically intense, youthfully brooding black fruit aromas complemented by wonderfully complex scents of earth, slate, mineral, spice and cocoa. Dense, sinewy and immensely concentrated on the palate, it offers extremely rich boysenberry, fig, wild blackberry, plum compote and cassis flavors accented by the intriguing earth, mineral and spice tones that suffuse its long, flavor-packed finish. Although this classic Napa Valley single-vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon is wonderfully appealing now, its incredible depth, length and intensity suggest it will develop beautifully in bottle for at least a decade.

Excellent with rich red meats and game.
View recipes that complement this wine

Vineyards

We craft our Vine Hill Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon from four special blocks of vines – each planted to a different clone – grown in the acclaimed Vine Hill Ranch in Napa Valley’s gently sloping western benchlands near Oakville. We have purchased these grapes for over 30 years, and they have consistently produced superb, long-lived wines. Each block is hand-harvested separately at night to preserve the fruit’s fresh, pure character, and fermented and barrel-aged separately. After assessing the distinctive personality of each lot, we blend them together to forge a uniquely complex and harmonious wine that speaks eloquently of its provenance.

Vintage

In 2009, plentiful spring rains in Napa Valley deferred the need for early irrigation, resulting in especially small Cabernet Sauvignon berries with deeply concentrated flavors. Summer was consistently cool, which allowed for slow, steady ripening and the parallel development of grape sugars and flavors, resulting in superbly balanced wines. We harvested the grapes for our 2009 Vine Hill Cabernet Sauvignon between September 28th and October 9th with an exemplary balance of ripe fruit flavors, supple tannins and bright acidity.

Winemaking

Cakebread Cellars winemaker Julianne Laks employs traditional artisan winemaking techniques to maximize the extraction of color, flavor and tannin from our Vine Hill Ranch fruit. After the grapes are crushed, the juice from each lot is cold-soaked for 48 hours prior to initiating fermentation with a cultured French yeast strain that enhances texture, depth and intensity. Once fermentation completes, the wines enjoy an extended, three-week maceration on their skins to further extract color and flavor while softening tannins. In all, the 2009 Vine Hill Cabernet Sauvignon spent 20 months aging in French oak barrels, 48% new, before bottling in July, 2011.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

The 2010 vintage of our Vine Hill Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon showcases the wine’s typically dense, complex aromas of ripe black fruits, plum compote, earth, slate, mineral and spice. Its intensely rich and deeply concentrated blackberry, fig, boysenberry and dark plum flavors – with undertones of mineral, spice and roasted coffee – are framed by firm, but supple tannins and culminate in a long, beautifully structured finish. Tightly wound in its youth, the Vine Hill Ranch is always impressive on release, but handsomely repays up to a decade of cellaring.

Excellent with rich red meats and game.
View recipes that complement this wine

Vineyards

Our Vine Hill Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon comes from four special blocks of vines – each planted to a different clone – in the acclaimed Vine Hill Ranch in Napa Valley’s gently sloping western benchlands near Oakville. We have purchased from this vineyard for over 30 years, and they have consistently produced superb, long-lived wines. Each block is hand-harvested separately at night to preserve the fruit’s fresh, pure character, and fermented and barrel-aged separately. After assessing the distinctive personality of each lot, we blend them together to forge a uniquely complex and harmonious wine that speaks eloquently of its provenance.

Vintage

2010 was a notably cool growing season in California. The year began with substantial rainfall, which pushed back bud break, flowering and grape set by several weeks. After an unusually cool summer, heat spikes in late August kick-started full ripening. Cooler temperatures returned in early September, extending the growing season and ensuring that our Vine Hill Ranch grapes were harvested with a perfect balance of sugar and acidity.

Winemaking

Cakebread Cellars winemaker Julianne Laks employs traditional artisan winemaking techniques to maximize the extraction of color, flavor and tannin from our Vine Hill Ranch fruit. After the grapes are crushed, the juice from each lot is cold-soaked for 48 hours prior to initiating fermentation with a cultured French yeast strain that enhances texture, depth and intensity. Once fermentation completes, the wines enjoy an extended, three-week maceration on their skins to further extract color and flavor while softening tannins. The 2010 Vine Hill Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon spent 19 months aging in French oak barrels, 32% new, before bottling in April, 2012.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

Our 2005 Vine Hill Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon boasts fresh, ripe, cassis, blackberry and black fig aromas complemented by dark chocolate, roasted coffee, briary spice and earthy mineral tones. Impressively dense and concentrated on the palate, with tightly woven, spicy blackberry and dark chocolate flavors, the wine showcases its depth and intensity in a dramatically lengthy, mineral-infused finish. Although this potent, single-vineyard Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is tempting now, it will blossom fully with 8-10 years of additional bottle age.

Excellent with rich red meats and game.
View recipes that complement this wine

Vineyards

Our 2005 Vine Hill Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon was crafted from four special blocks of grapes grown in the acclaimed Vine Hill Ranch along Oakville’s gently sloping western benchlands. We have been purchasing grapes from Vine Hill Ranch owner Bob Phillips and his family since 1981, and they consistently yield exceptionally intense, concentrated and complex Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignons, especially in great red-wine vintages like 2005.

Vintage

In 2005, a warm late winter spurred early bud break, but cool, wet, spring weather set back vine development. Atypically cool temperatures continued throughout the summer, which slowed ripening and prolonged the growing season. Warm, sunny weather in September and October, however, brought the harvest to fruition in fine fashion. Due to the early start to the season and its late conclusion, the grapes for our 2005 Vine Hill Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon enjoyed a long hang time on the vine and were harvested between October 15th and 20th.

Winemaking

Cakebread Cellars’ winemaker Julianne Laks utilizes traditional artisan winemaking techniques with our Vine Hill Ranch fruit to ensure maximum extraction of color, flavor and tannin. After crushing the grapes, the juice is cold-soaked for 48 hours before fermentation is initiated with a cultured French yeast strain that enhances mid-palate texture, depth and intensity. After fermentation completes, the wine enjoys an extended, 20-day maceration on the skins to further extract color and flavor while softening tannins. We then gently drain the free run wine from the skins and age it in French oak barrels. The 2005 Vine Hill Ranch aged 22 months in French oak, 35% new, before bottling in July, 2007.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

The 1998 Vine Hill Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon has aromas of red berries, cedar, vanilla and a touch of oak. Hints of blackberries, blueberries, herbs, black pepper and vanilla show on the palate. Following tradition, this Cakebread Cellars’ reserve Cabernet Sauvignon is a wonderful integration of rich, ripe black-fruit flavors, a soft, round texture and a finish of firm, lingering tannins.

Excellent with rich red meats and game.
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Vineyards

Since 1981, Cakebread Cellars has worked hand-in-hand with the Phillips Family, owners of the highly acclaimed Cabernet Sauvignon vineyards grown at their Vine Hill Ranch in Oakville. Their vineyards are situated along the gently sloping western foothills known as the “benchlands.” The grapes from this property have a long history of producing an elegant, rich wine that until now has been reserved exclusively for our finest Cabernet blends.

Vintage

Following the example of the outstanding 1997 vintage, the 1998 Cakebread Cellars Vine Hill Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon was harvested a vineyard block at a time over a two-week period. We then kept the wine made from each block separate as each one is grown on a different rootstock, creating decidedly different flavors and aromas. Working with separate, small lots of wine from this vintage, Winemaker Bruce Cakebread then assembled the best and most representative Vine Hill Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon possible.

Winemaking

More than simply highlighting the fruit from an exceptional vineyard in an excellent growing year, the Cakebread and Phillips’ families regard this second release of Vine Hill Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon as a tribute to their decades-long relationship.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

Our 2006 Vine Hill Cabernet Sauvignon offers fresh, deeply concentrated aromas of ripe black currant, dark cherry and wild blackberry fruit, with whiffs of cocoa, earth and mineral adding dimension and intrigue. On the palate, the wine’s remarkably focused blackberry, cassis, cherry, plum and dark chocolate flavors persist and expand throughout a long, fruitful finish, with mineral tones adding length and refreshment. A big structured wine, with full firm tannins, bright acidity and a core of intense fruit, this exceptional Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon will profit from up to a decade of bottle aging, although Vine Hill enthusiasts may be hard-pressed to resist it now.

Excellent with rich red meats and game.
View recipes that complement this wine

Vineyards

Our 2006 Vine Hill Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon was crafted from five specific blocks of grapes – each planted to a different clone – in the acclaimed Vine Hill Ranch along Oakville’s gently sloping western benchlands. We have purchased these grapes from Vine Hill since 1981, and they consistently yield exceptionally intense, concentrated, long-lived Napa Valley cabernet sauvignons. The blocks are hand-harvested separately at night to preserve the fresh, pure character of the grapes, and also fermented separately. After assessing the distinctive personality of each lot, the wines are blended the following spring to ensure a complex, harmonious wine.

Vintage

In 2006, a wet spring delayed budbreak and set back vine growth through June. A hot spell in mid-July quickened vine development and sugar accumulation, but August brought a return to cooler temperatures, which persisted through the balance of the growing season. This mild, classic late-summer and early-fall weather pattern allowed for slow, even ripening of our Vine Hill grapes, which were harvested on October 23rd and 24th.

Winemaking

Cakebread Cellars winemaker Julianne Laks utilizes traditional artisan winemaking techniques with our Vine Hill fruit to ensure maximum extraction of color, flavor and tannin. After crushing the grapes from the various vineyard blocks, the juice from each lot is cold-soaked 48 hours prior to being fermented with a cultured French yeast strain that enhances mid-palate texture, depth and intensity. Once fermentation completes, the wines enjoy an extended, 20-day maceration on their skins to further extract color and flavor while softening tannins. The 2006 Vine Hill Cabernet Sauvignon, blended in March, 2007, spent a total of 27 months aging in French oak barrels, 50% new, prior to bottling in April, 2009.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

Our 2004 Vine Hill Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon boasts intense, concentrated aromas of dusty black fruits, ripe figs, violets, dark chocolate, warm baking spices and minerals. The big, concentrated palate delivers impressively deep, expansive flavors of cassis, black fig, spicy blackberry, and chocolate with an intriguing streak of minerality asserting itself in the long, firmly structured finish. Although this powerful, single-vineyard Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is difficult to resist now, especially with grilled red meats, it will cellar beautifully for another 8-10 years.

Excellent with rich red meats and game.
View recipes that complement this wine

Vineyards

Our single-vineyard Vine Hill Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon is produced from several special blocks of grapes grown in the acclaimed Vine Hill Ranch along Oakville’s gently sloping western benchlands. We have been purchasing these grapes from Vine Hill Ranch owner Bob Phillips since 1981, and they consistently yield exceptionally intense, concentrated and complex Cabernet Sauvignons that annually rank among Napa Valley’s finest.

Vintage

In 2004, a balmy late winter, consistently warm spring and summer temperatures, and several late-summer heat spells resulted in the earliest Cabernet Sauvignon harvest in Napa Valley since 1981. The early budbreak, combined with light crop loads, produced grape clusters with small berries and intense, concentrated flavors, resulting in wines of great depth, concentration and structure. The grapes for our 2004 Vine Hill Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon were harvested with a superb balance of ripe fruit flavors and fresh acidity between September 4th and September 17th.

Winemaking

We utilize traditional artisan winemaking techniques with the Vine Hill Ranch fruit to ensure the maximum extraction of color, flavor and tannin. After crushing the grapes, the juice is cold-soaked for 48 hours before fermentation is initiated with a cultured yeast strain. In 2004, we used a single French strain that enhances mid-palate texture, depth and intensity. After fermentation completed, and the wine enjoyed an extended maceration on the skins to further extract color and flavor while softening tannins, we gently drained the free run wine from the skins and aged it in French oak barrels for 22 months, 63% new, before bottling in August 2006.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

Our 2003 Vine Hill Cabernet Sauvignon opens with complex, come-hither aromas of ripe blackberry fruit mingled with notes of milk chocolate, fig and sweet brown spices. On the palate, the wine delivers intense, concentrated, spicy blackberry flavors full of the classic ‘dusty’ character for which mid-Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is famed. Youthfully compact, with sturdy, well-integrated tannins, this classic Napa Valley Cabernet is difficult to resist now, but it should be cellared for a minimum of five years to ensure maximum enjoyment, and will continue developing in the bottle for at least five years after that.

Excellent with rich red meats and game.
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Vineyards

The grapes for our Vine Hill Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley, which is produced in very limited quantities, come from two special blocks of the acclaimed Vine Hill Ranch along Oakville’s gently sloping western benchlands which is owned by the Phillips family. We have been working with Bob and Alex Phillips since 1981 and continue to do so with Bruce Phillips. These blocks produce fruit with exceptionally intense, concentrated flavors. In 2003, the grapes were harvested on October 16th and 17th at peak maturity.

Vintage

In 2003, a warm early spring gave way to cool, wet weather in April, which set back vine development. Seasonally temperate weather prevailed from May through July, but a cool pattern returned in August, delaying ripening. By early September, warm, sunny days and clear, cool nights were again the norm, and hot weather during the latter half of September sent us scurrying to harvest early-ripening varieties. October, however, brought classic autumn weather, with crisp mornings, warm afternoons and cool evenings, extending the harvest by several weeks and enabling us to pick our Cabernet Sauvignon grapes at ideal sugar levels. Red wines from the topsy-turvy 2003 harvest are rich and deeply colored, with excellent concentration and balance.

Winemaking

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, the 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.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

Our 2002 Vine Hill Cabernet Sauvignon reveals a wealth of toasty blackberry fruit in the nose overlaid with a pronounced creamy, milk chocolate tone. In the mouth, the wine is deep and concentrated, with intense black fruit and chocolate flavors that turn spicy in the long finish. Compactly structured, with firm, balanced tannins, this beautiful Napa Valley Cabernet should be cellared for a minimum of five years for maximum enjoyment and will continue developing in the bottle for at least five years after that.

Excellent with rich red meats and game.
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Vineyards

The grapes for our Napa Valley Vine Hill Cabernet Sauvignon, which is produced in very limited quantities, come from the acclaimed Vine Hill Vineyard along Oakville’s gently sloping western benchlands. The vineyard has long been owned by grower Bob Phillips and his family, and we’ve been fortunate to work with them for over two decades, using Vine Hill grapes in our Benchland Select Cabernet Sauvignon since 1995. In 1997, we decided the fruit from this exceptional vineyard merited its own bottling, so we began producing a Vine Hill Cabernet Sauvignon from two special blocks of Bob’s vines. Vine Hill has since become one of Cakebread Cellars’ most coveted wines. In 2002, the fruit was harvested October 4th - 8th in ideal condition.

Vintage

In 2002, Napa Valley enjoyed a long, mild growing season of consistently warm days and cool nights, with just a few manageable heat spikes in late September and early October. With an expectation of healthy yields, many growers significantly thinned their crops and pruned shoots and leaves extensively to guarantee the vines put all their energy into ripening the remaining grape clusters, ensuring highly concentrated, complex fruit flavors. Cakebread Cellars further maximized grape quality by using advanced soil moisture management techniques to precisely calibrate the amount of water required by the vines at critical junctures throughout the season.

Winemaking

After the fruit was crushed, the juice and skins were moved to tank and allowed to cold soak for 72 hours before fermentation was initiated, a procedure designed to extract color and enhance flavor. Once fermentation got underway, the juice was 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 was splashed back into the tank. Known as rack-and-return, this procedure helps diffuse pigment and tannins from the grape and also converts short-chain (harsh) tannins to long-chain (suppler) tannins. After an extended, four-week maceration, the wine was transferred to French oak barrels, 75% new, where it spent 18 months aging before being bottled in August 2004.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

Our 2001 Vine Hill Cabernet Sauvignon displays the deep, rich fruit and superb tannin structure characteristic of this magnificent Oakville vineyard. The aroma is classic Napa Valley: ripe, dusty blackberry, black plum and black currant fruit laced with a hint of briary spice and a whiff of sweet, toasty oak. At first taste, the wine reveals a big, thick, harmonious texture followed by waves of deep, concentrated black fruit that expand on the palate and take on a spicy, licorice-like tone in the remarkably lengthy finish. Truly “hedonistic,” but with a splendid balance of supple tannins and bright underlying acidity, this immensely generous Cabernet is hard to resist now, but will develop and provide pleasure for another decade.

Excellent with rich red meats and game.
View recipes that complement this wine

Vineyards

The grapes for our acclaimed Vine Hill Cabernet Sauvignon, which is produced in very limited quantities, come from the Vine Hill Vineyard, situated along Oakville’s gently sloping western benchlands. The vineyard has long been owned by grape grower Bob Phillips and his family, and we’ve been fortunate to work with them for over two decades, using Vine Hill grapes in our Benchland Select Cabernet Sauvignon since 1995. In 1997, we decided the fruit from this exceptional vineyard was so special it merited its own bottling, so we began producing a Vine Hill Cabernet Sauvignon from two special blocks of Bob’s vines. Vine Hill has since become one of Cakebread Cellars’ most sought-after wines. In 2001, the fruit was harvested between October 4th and October 8th in ideal condition.

Vintage

The 2001 vintage was a bit of a roller coaster ride. A warm March led to early bud break, followed by April frosts that reduced the crop in some north coast regions. May and June were warm, ensuring a healthy bloom and grape set, but the weather turned cool in July. A brief mid-August heat spell reignited the ripening process, which slowed again with cool weather in late August and early September. Fortunately, a classic California Indian summer ensued, bringing the harvest to fruition in October with a moderate crop of fully ripened, small-berried Cabernet Sauvignon grapes blessed with ripe, intense flavors.

Winemaking

After the fruit was crushed, the juice and skins were moved to tank and allowed to cold soak for 48 hours before fermentation was initiated, a procedure designed to extract color and flavor. Once fermentation got underway, the juice was 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 was splashed back into the tank. Known as rack-and-return, this procedure helps extract more color and flavor and also converts short-chain (harsh) tannins to long-chain (suppler) tannins. After an extended, four-week maceration, the wine was pressed and then transferred to French oak barrels, 75% new, where it spent 23 months aging before being bottled in August 2003.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

The 2000 Vine Hill Cabernet Sauvignon displays the superb fruit and tannin structure characteristic of cabernets produced from the Oakville appellation. The wine offers intensely focused fruit, from its complex, layered aromas of blackberry, boysenberry, plum, cassis and spice to its deep, opulent, mouth-coating flavors. Delicious to drink now, it will age gracefully for another 5-8 years.

Excellent with rich red meats and game.
View recipes that complement this wine

Vineyards

Fruit for our Vine Hill Cabernet Sauvignon comes from four blocks of the Vine Hill Vineyard, situated along Oakville’s gently sloping western benchlands. The vineyard is owned by long-time grape grower Bob Phillips and his family. We’ve been fortunate to work with them since 1981, using grapes from their vineyard in our Benchland Select Cabernet Sauvignon. In 1997, we decided the vineyard was too special not to have its own bottling, so we began producing a Vine Hill Cabernet Sauvignon, which has become one of our most sought-after wines.

Vintage

In 2000, Napa Valley benefited from a cool, even growing season, enabling us to harvest our Vine Hill Vineyard cabernet sauvignon grapes at full maturity between September 27th and October 12th. Although a brief heat spike hit the valley in June, the region for the most part enjoyed cool summer temperatures, keeping the ripening process on an even keel. Some light rain in September served to preserve a high level of acidity in the grapes and to further extend their “hang time” on the vine, resulting in fruit with deep color and ripe, intense flavors. Small cluster and berry sizes further concentrated flavors, enabling us to produce an especially deep, focused 2000 Vine Hill Cabernet Sauvignon.

Winemaking

After the fruit was crushed, the juice and skins were moved to tank and allowed to cold soak for 72 hours before fermentation was initiated, a procedure designed to extract color and flavor. Once fermentation got underway, the juice was 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 was splashed back into the tank. Known as rack-and-return, this procedure helps extract more color and flavor and also converts short-chain (harsh) tannins to long-chain (suppler) tannins. After an extended, four-week maceration, the wine was pressed and then transferred to French oak barrels, 75% new, where it spent 26 months aging before being bottled in December 2002.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

Following in the tradition we established with our first vintage in 1997, our 1999 Vine Hill Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon is layered and complex. From the deep, dark color to the intense aromas of blackberry, plum, vanilla and cassis, to the mouthwatering flavors of dark berries and chocolate, each layer unfolds slowly and deliberately. The smooth texture, firm tannins and long finish complete the picture. Although this wine drinks nicely when young, it would also benefit from 4 to 8 years of bottle age.

Excellent with rich red meats and game.
View recipes that complement this wine

Vineyards

This Cabernet Sauvignon comes from Vine Hill Ranch, owned by long-time grape grower, Bob Phillips, and his family. We’ve proudly worked with the Phillips since 1981, using grapes from their vineyard situated along Oakville’s gently sloping western hillsides in our Benchland Select Cabernet Sauvignon. In 1997, we decided that the vineyard was too special not to be bottled as a single vineyard wine so we bottled a small amount that year. That bottling confirmed our belief in the quality and uniqueness of this special site and exemplified the Phillips’ dedication to it.

Vintage

Each growing season is unique. 1999 was certainly no exception, and will be remembered as one of the coolest seasons of the decade. It kicked into gear with a long, cold winter, followed by a moderate spring. Bud break came in late March and early April, with bloom complete by mid-June. A cool, dry summer resulted in a rather late harvest, giving the vines extra “hang time” and allowing the grapes to reach optimum ripeness. The end results were wines with deep color and an excellent balance of fruit and tannins.

Winemaking

Cakebread’s winemaker, Julianne Laks, combines traditional and innovative wine making techniques in crafting our red wines. For starters, she cold soaks the juice and skins, or must, prior to fermentation to intensify color and flavors. During the fermentation process, Julianne uses pumpovers and, whenever necessary, a technique called “rack and return,” whereby the must is transferred from tank to tank to stimulate the production of phenolic compounds that help to balance and round out the wine’s tannins. Four weeks of extended maceration and daily tastings also aid in crafting the most complex wine possible. Our Cabernet Sauvignons are then aged in 80% new French oak for 26 months prior to bottling, and aged an additional year before release to the public.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

Distinctively high-toned, concentrated and complex aromas of earthy black fruits, violets, slate, dark chocolate and spice characterize the nose of our 2011 Vine Hill Cabernet Sauvignon. Deep, dense and powerful on the firmly structured palate, the wine’s intense, dramatically concentrated blackcurrant, blackberry, dark plum and mineral flavors are bolstered by firm, yet refined tannins and balanced acidity, leading to a long, savory finish accented by earth, mineral, chocolate and toasted oak tones.

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Vineyards

Our Vine Hill Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon comes from four special blocks of vines – each planted to a different clone – in the acclaimed Vine Hill Ranch in Napa Valley’s gently sloping western benchlands near Oakville. We have purchased these grapes for over 30 years, and they have consistently produced superb, long-lived wines. Each block is hand-harvested separately at night to preserve the fruit’s fresh, pure character, and fermented and barrel-aged separately. After assessing the distinctive personality of each lot, we blend them together to forge a uniquely complex and harmonious wine that speaks eloquently of its provenance.

Vintage

2011 was a challenging vintage. The year began with a wet winter and spring, followed by atypically cool summer weather and several October rainstorms. Not surprisingly, Napa Valley’s grapes took a long time to ripen, resulting in a prolonged harvest. To address the situation, we thinned fruit from our vines to ensure full ripening of the remaining clusters, and sorted meticulously through the grapes at our winery so that only the best berries were sent to the crusher. This reduced our red wine production for the year, but achieved our goal of making characteristically intense, beautifully structured cabernet sauvignons.

Winemaking

Cakebread Cellars winemaker Julianne Laks employs traditional artisan winemaking techniques to maximize the extraction of color, flavor and tannin from our Vine Hill Ranch fruit. After the grapes are crushed, the juice from each lot is cold-soaked for 48 hours prior to initiating fermentation with a cultured French yeast strain that enhances texture, depth and intensity. Once fermentation completes, the wines enjoy an extended, three-week maceration on their skins to further extract color and flavor while softening tannins.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

This sumptuous, exquisitely structured Benchland Select Cabernet Sauvignon displays bright, ripe blackberry, boysenberry and plum fruit aromas mingled with seductive scents of loamy earth and dark chocolate. On the full-bodied, beautifully composed palate, the wine delivers wonderfully fresh, deep and concentrated blackberry and dark plum flavors framed by round, supple tannins and a long, succulent finish enriched by savory cocoa and mocha tones. Dense, lush and seamless, with perfect underlying structure, this delicious Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon drinks beautifully now, but will display even greater complexity with another 6-8 years’ aging.

Pairs well with rich beef, pork or lamb dishes.
View recipes that complement this wine

Vineyards

Our Benchland Select Cabernet Sauvignon is crafted from several prime vineyard sites in Napa Valley’s gently sloping western benchlands. These sites enjoy ideal eastern sun exposures, well-drained soils and mild afternoon temperatures, resulting in uniform fruit ripening and cabernet sauvignons of impressive depth and elegance. In 2007, 54% of our Benchland Select Cabernet Sauvignon grapes came from the acclaimed Rutherford appellation, with 46% from its equally esteemed southern neighbor, Oakville. Each lot of grapes was hand-harvested at night to ensure the freshest flavors, and then fermented and aged separately prior to blending.

Vintage

2007 was an exceptional vintage for Cabernet Sauvignon in Napa Valley. A dry, mild winter and unusually warm spring prompted early budbreak and bloom, followed by a perfect grape set in June. Summer was consistently mild, with warm days and cool nights, an ideal scenario for achieving maximum grape ripening and flavor development while preserving healthy levels of acidity. A warm early September and a modest crop got the harvest off to an early, fast-paced start, allowing us to pick our Benchland Select Cabernet Sauvignon grapes at optimal maturity between September 21st and 29th.

Winemaking

To maximize color extraction, tannin structure and vineyard personality, Cakebread Cellars winemaker Julianne Laks employs a mixture of small and larger tanks to ferment the components of our Benchland Select Cabernet Sauvignon. Julianne carefully tailors tank sizes, yeast strains, fermentation temperatures and maceration techniques to the attributes of each wine lot, which vary by location, ripeness level and clonal type. Such specialized fermentations, combined with lot-specific barrel aging regimens, ensure that the finest attributes of each vineyard site are reflected in the final blend. Our 2007 Benchland Select Cabernet Sauvignon spent a total of 22 months aging in French oak barrels, 54% new, before bottling in August, 2009.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

The 2008 Benchland Select Cabernet Sauvignon bursts from the glass with vibrant dark fruit aromas (blackberry, boysenberry and dark plum) complemented by seductive spicebox, cocoa, loamy earth and leather scents. Rich, juicy and mouthfilling on the palate with deeply concentrated blackberry and plum flavors, its luxuriously supple mouthfeel and long, elegant finish are abetted by savory toasted oak and dark chocolate tones. Dense, lush and seamless, this opulent Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon drinks beautifully now, but will reveal even greater dimension with another 6-8 years’ aging.

Pairs well with rich beef, pork or lamb dishes.
View recipes that complement this wine

Vineyards

Our Benchland Select Cabernet Sauvignon is crafted from two exceptional vineyards in Napa Valley’s gently sloping western benchlands, including Jack Cakebread’s Hill Ranch in the heart of the famed Rutherford appellation not far from the winery. These sites enjoy ideal eastern exposures, well-drained soils and mild afternoon temperatures, resulting in uniform fruit ripening and wines of impressive depth and elegance. In 2008, 60% of our Benchland Select Cabernet Sauvignon grapes came from the Hill Ranch, with 40% from the esteemed Oakville appellation.

Vintage

The topsy-turvy 2008 growing season seesawed from heavy rains in winter to drought conditions in early spring to severe frosts in late March and throughout April. Coupled with inclement weather during bloom and stress-inducing heat during grape set, these conditions significantly reduced the size of the grape crop throughout Napa Valley, greatly concentrating flavors. Clear, mild summer weather, with warm days and cool nights, provided ideal conditions for the full maturation of our Benchland Select Cabernet Sauvignon grapes, which were harvested between September 25th and October 11th with a perfect balance of sugar and acidity.

Winemaking

To maximize color extraction, tannin structure and vineyard expression, Cakebread Cellars winemaker Julianne Laks employs a mixture of small and larger tanks to ferment the components of our Benchland Select Cabernet Sauvignon. Julianne carefully tailors tank sizes, yeast strains, fermentation temperatures and maceration techniques to the attributes of each lot of grapes, which vary by location, ripeness level and clonal type. Such specialized fermentations, combined with lot-specific barrel aging regimens, ensure that the finest attributes of each vineyard site are reflected in the final blend. Our 2008 Benchland Select Cabernet Sauvignon spent a total of 22 months in French oak barrels, 48% new, before bottling in August, 2010.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

The 2009 Benchland Select Cabernet Sauvignon displays a beautifully deep, dark ruby color and a characteristically lavish nose of dense ripe boysenberry, blackberry and blackcurrant fruit mingled with pronounced loam and mocha scents. Full-bodied and lush on the palate, its deeply concentrated boysenberry, blackberry, cassis and dark chocolate flavors have a wonderful freshness and purity that extend into a long, savory finish framed by ripe, supple tannins and sumptuous toasted oak tones. Although this opulent Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon drinks beautifully now, it will reveal even greater dimension with another 6-8 years’ aging.

Pairs well with rich beef, pork or lamb dishes.
View recipes that complement this wine

Vineyards

Our Benchland Select Cabernet Sauvignon is crafted from two exceptional vineyards in Napa Valley’s gently sloping western benchlands, including Jack Cakebread’s Hill Ranch in the heart of the famed Rutherford appellation not far from the winery. These sites enjoy ideal eastern exposures, well-drained soils and mild afternoon temperatures, resulting in uniform fruit ripening and wines of impressive depth and elegance. In 2009, 80% of our Benchland Select grapes came from the esteemed Oakville appellation, while 20% came from the Hill Ranch in Rutherford.

Vintage

In 2009, plentiful spring rains in Napa Valley deferred the need for early irrigation, resulting in especially small Cabernet Sauvignon berries with deeply concentrated flavors. Summer was consistently cool, which allowed for slow, steady ripening and the parallel development of grape sugars and flavors, resulting in superbly balanced wines. We harvested the grapes for our 2009 Benchland Select Cabernet Sauvignon between September 29th and October 9th with an ideal balance of ripe fruit flavors, supple tannins and bright acidity.

Winemaking

To maximize color extraction, tannin structure and vineyard expression, Cakebread Cellars winemaker Julianne Laks employs a mixture of small and larger tanks to ferment the components of our Benchland Select Cabernet Sauvignon. Julianne carefully tailors tank sizes, yeast strains, fermentation temperatures and maceration techniques to the attributes of each lot of grapes, which vary by location, ripeness level and clonal type. Such specialized fermentations, combined with lot-specific barrel aging regimens, ensure that the finest attributes of each vineyard site are reflected in the final blend. Our 2009 Benchland Select Cabernet Sauvignon spent a total of 20 months in French oak barrels, 36% new, before bottling in July, 2011.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

Our 2010 Benchland Select Cabernet Sauvignon boasts a wonderfully fragrant, captivating nose of dark cherry, fig, boysenberry and blackberry enriched by scents of loam, milk chocolate and brown spices. Sumptuous and mouthfilling on the palate with supple tannins and deeply concentrated black cherry, blackberry, boysenberry and plum flavors, this opulent Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon culminates in a long, lush finish full of savory chocolate and toasted oak tones. Delicious now, it will develop even greater allure with another 6-8 years of bottle aging.

Pairs well with rich beef, pork or lamb dishes.
View recipes that complement this wine

Vineyards

Our Benchland Select Cabernet Sauvignon is crafted from two exceptional vineyards in Napa Valley’s gently sloping western benchlands, including Jack Cakebread’s Hill Ranch in the heart of the famed Rutherford appellation not far from the winery. These sites enjoy ideal eastern exposures, well-drained soils and mild afternoon temperatures, resulting in uniform fruit ripening and wines that are simultaneously opulent and elegant.

Vintage

2010 was a notably cool growing season in California. The year began with substantial rainfall, which pushed back bud break, flowering and grape set by several weeks. After an unusually cool summer, heat spikes in late August kick-started full ripening. Cooler temperatures returned in early September, extending the season and allowing us to harvest our Benchland Select Cabernet Sauvignon grapes at full maturity.

Winemaking

In order to maximize color extraction, tannin structure and vineyard expression, we use a mixture of small and larger tanks to ferment the components of our Benchland Select Cabernet Sauvignon. Our winemaker carefully tailors tank sizes, yeast strains, fermentation temperatures and maceration techniques to the attributes of each lot of grapes, which vary by location, ripeness level and clonal type. Such specialized fermentations, combined with lot-specific barrel aging regimens, ensure that the finest attributes of each vineyard are reflected in the final blend. Our 2010 Benchland Select Cabernet Sauvignon spent a total of 19 months aging in French oak barrels, 41% new, prior to bottling in April, 2012.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

This sumptuous Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon offers fragrant aromas of blackberry, boysenberry and ripe fig coupled with seductive loam, leather, dark chocolate and spice scents. Full and well-rounded on the palate, its lavish blackberry, black cherry and dark chocolate flavors are framed by powerful, yet supple tannins and extend into a long, lush finish. Seamlessly structured, with dense, concentrated fruit, this latest edition of our luxurious Benchland Select Cabernet Sauvignon drinks beautifully now, but will reward another 5-7 years of bottle aging.

Pairs well with rich beef, pork or lamb dishes.
View recipes that complement this wine

Vineyards

Our 2006 Benchland Select Cabernet Sauvignon was crafted from two prime vineyard sites in the heart of Napa Valley’s gently sloping western benchlands, with 63% of the grapes coming from the Oakville appellation and 37% from the Rutherford appellation. These sites enjoy ideal eastern exposures, mild afternoon temperatures and well-drained soils, ensuring their fruit ripens slowly and evenly throughout the growing season. We hand-harvest, ferment and age each block separately to capture its unique qualities, then blend the lots to create a Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon of exceptional fragrance, depth and character.

Vintage

In 2006, a wet spring delayed budbreak and set back vine growth through June. A hot spell in mid-July quickened vine development and sugar accumulation, but August brought a return to cooler temperatures, which persisted through the balance of the growing season. This mild, classic late-summer and early-fall weather pattern allowed for slow, even ripening of our Benchland Select Cabernet Sauvignon grapes, which were harvested between October 23rd and October 25th.

Winemaking

To craft our Benchland Select Cabernet Sauvignon, Cakebread Cellars winemaker Julianne Laks ferments the fruit from each vineyard site separately, employing the tank sizes, yeast strains, fermentation temperatures and maceration techniques best suited to each lot, which vary not only by location and ripeness level, but also by clonal type. These specialized fermentations and the lot-specific barrel aging regimens Julianne employs ensure that the finest attributes of each vineyard site are reflected in the final blend. Our 2006 Benchland Select Cabernet Sauvignon spent a total of 21 months aging in French oak barrels, 47% new, before bottling in July, 2008.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

This rich, suave Benchland Select Cabernet Sauvignon offers lavish aromas of ripe dark fruits (blackcurrants, blackberry and boysenberry) mingled with loamy earth, dark chocolate, vanilla cream and briary spice scents. Full and lush on the palate, its dense, mouthfilling, black fruit and dark chocolate flavors are framed by fine, ripe tannins, which give the wine a seamless, sumptuous texture and long, savory finish. Beautifully structured, with great reserves of lush, ripe fruit, this luxurious Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is delicious now, but will age well for another 7-10 years.

Pairs well with rich beef, pork or lamb dishes.
View recipes that complement this wine

Vineyards

Our 2005 Benchland Select Cabernet Sauvignon was produced from three prime vineyard sites located along the gently sloping western benchlands of Napa Valley’s Oakville appellation. These sites enjoy ideal eastern exposures, mild afternoon temperatures and well-drained soils, ensuring their fruit ripens slowly and evenly throughout the growing season. We hand-harvest, ferment and age each block separately to capture its unique qualities, then blend the lots to create a Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon of exceptional fragrance, depth and character.

Vintage

In 2005, a warm late winter spurred early bud break, but a cool, wet spring set back vine development. Atypically cool temperatures continued throughout most of the summer, which slowed ripening and prolonged the growing season. Warm, sunny weather in September and October, however, brought the harvest to fruition in fine fashion, enabling us to harvest our benchland grapes at perfect ripeness between October 15th and 17th.

Winemaking

To craft our Benchland Select Cabernet Sauvignon, Cakebread Cellars winemaker Julianne Laks ferments the fruit from each vineyard site separately, employing the tank sizes, yeast strains, fermentation temperatures and maceration techniques best suited to each lot, which vary not only by location and ripeness level, but also by clonal type. These specialized fermentations and the lot-specific barrel aging regimens Julianne employs ensure that the finest attributes of each vineyard site are reflected in the final blend. The 2005 Benchland Select Cabernet Sauvignon aged a total of 21 months in French oak barrels, 38% new, before bottling in July, 2007.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

Our 2001 Benchland Select Cabernet Sauvignon offers a seductive aroma of perfectly ripened black fruits laden with scents of black figs, chocolate and smoky, toasty oak. On the palate, the wine delivers opulent, mouth-filling, ripe blackberry and black plum flavors balanced by firm tannins and crisp natural acidity. This lavishly flavored Napa Valley Cabernet, packed with deep, lush fruit, is delicious to drink now, but will handsomely repay 7-10 years of cellaring.

Pairs well with rich beef, pork or lamb dishes.
View recipes that complement this wine

Vineyards

The grapes for our Benchland Select Cabernet Sauvignon come from two outstanding vineyards in the Oakville (55%) and Rutherford (45%) appellations of Napa Valley. Both are located in the benchlands of the Mayacamas Mountain Range, on the western side of the valley. The eastern exposures of these gently sloping, well-shaded hillside vineyards allow the grapes to mature at a slow, even pace, and their gravelly loam soils provide excellent drainage, permitting a precise calibration of the amount of water required to nourish the vines. Because of the superb quality of these vineyards, we’ve used them since 1995 to produce our Benchland Select Cabernet Sauvignon bottling. In 2001, we harvested the fruit at full ripeness between October 4th and October 10th.

Vintage

The 2001 vintage was a bit of a roller coaster ride. A warm March led to early bud break, followed by April frosts that reduced the crop in some north coast regions. May and June were warm, ensuring a healthy bloom and grape set, but the weather turned cool in July. A brief mid-August heat spell reignited the ripening process, which slowed again with cool weather in late August and early September. Fortunately, a classic California Indian summer ensued, bringing the harvest to fruition in October with a moderate crop of fully ripened, small-berried Cabernet Sauvignon grapes blessed with ripe, intense flavors.

Winemaking

After the grapes were crushed, the unfermented juice and skins (must) were cold-soaked in tank for two days prior to fermentation to enhance color and flavor extraction. After fermentation commenced, the juice was drained from one stainless steel tank to another and back again (a technique known as rack-and-return), to foster even more color and flavor extraction and encourage the formation of the phenolic compounds that produce smoother tannins. After fermentation completed, the juice and skins were allowed to macerate for an additional 3.5 weeks, with daily pumpovers, to further extract flavor and soften tannins. The wine was then pressed and transferred to French oak barrels, 75% new, where it aged 23 months prior to bottling in August 2003.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

The 2000 Benchland Select Cabernet Sauvignon displays an elegance that derives from the loamy soils and afternoon cooling enjoyed by vineyards located in the western hills of Napa Valley. It exhibits a deep, dark ruby color with a rich, complex aroma of ripe black fruits, cedar, dusty chocolate, tar and leather. On the palate, the wine is round and supple, with soft, rich, dark fruit flavors of black cherries and cassis mixed with hints of chocolate. Although this wine will reward several years of additional bottle age, it is delicious to drink now.

Pairs well with rich beef, pork or lamb dishes.
View recipes that complement this wine

Vineyards

Fruit for the Benchland Select Cabernet Sauvignon comes from two outstanding vineyards in the Oakville and Rutherford appellations, both located in the rolling hills, or benchlands, of the Mayacamas Mountain Range, on the western side of Napa Valley. The eastern exposures of these gently sloping, well-shaded hillside vineyards allow the grapes to mature at a slow, even pace, and their gravelly loam soils provide excellent drainage, permitting a precise calibration of the amount of water required to nourish the vines. As a result of their superb quality, we’ve highlighted these magnificent vineyards since 1995 in our Benchland Select bottling, which is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon.

Vintage

The 2000 growing season in Napa Valley was atypically cool, which resulted in the grapes for our Benchland Select Cabernet Sauvignon ripening slowly and evenly before being harvested at optimum maturity between September 27th and October 19th. With the exception of a brief heat spell in June, the valley experienced cool summer temperatures and an early fall. Combined with a few days of light rain in September, these conditions kept the grapes fresh, maintained high levels of acidity, and allowed the fruit extended “hang time” on the vine, which produced deep colors and ripe, bright flavors. While the crop size was healthy, the clusters themselves were small, as were the berries, ensuring impressively concentrated cabernet flavors in the grapes.

Winemaking

After the grapes were crushed, the unfermented juice and skins (must) were cold-soaked in tank for three days at 52 degrees prior to fermentation to enhance extraction of color and flavor. After fermentation commenced, the juice was drained from one stainless steel tank to another, and back again (a technique known as rack-and-return), to foster even more color and flavor extraction and encourage the formation of the phenolic compounds that produce smoother tannins. After fermentation completed and the juice and skins were allowed to macerate for an additional few weeks, the wine was pressed and transferred to French oak barrels, three-quarters new, where it aged for 26 months prior to bottling in December 2002.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

The 1999 Cakebread Cellars Benchland Select is a stunning example of the power and beauty of Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. If the deep, dark ruby color isn’t enticing enough, then the rich aromas of ripe black cherries, dusty chocolate and cedar certainly will be. On the palate, ripe, dark fruit flavors of cherry, blueberry and cassis mix with hints of chocolate and dried herbs. Supple tannins and a long, smooth finish are the final rewards.

Pairs well with rich beef, pork or lamb dishes.
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Vineyards

Our Benchland Select Cabernet Sauvignon is made from specially selected vineyards planted on the rolling hillsides, or benchlands, of the Mayacamas Mountains on the Napa Valley’s western side. An eastern exposure, which provides for slightly cooler temperatures, combined with well-drained gravelly loam soils creates the perfect environment for growing slow-ripening, high-quality Cabernet Sauvignon fruit. For this reason, since 1995, we’ve chosen to highlight these magnificent vineyard sources in this enticing 100% varietal blend.

Vintage

At Cakebread Cellars, we find that each growing season is unique. 1999 was certainly no exception; it turned out to be the coolest season of the decade. The season kicked into gear with a long, cold winter, followed by a moderate spring. Bud break came in late March and early April, with bloom complete by early June, a week earlier than the previous year. A cool, dry summer resulted in a rather late harvest, with 124 days from bloom to harvest. This extra “hang time” allowed the grapes to reach optimum ripeness. Additionally, due to rain during bloom in 1998, the 1999 yields were extremely low. The end results were wines with deep color and an excellent balance of fruit and tannins.

Winemaking

Cakebread’s winemaker, Julianne Laks, uses a variety of techniques to create our signature red wines. For starters, she keeps all vineyard lots separate prior to blending so that she can monitor their individual progress. She then can pick and choose the best lots from the Benchland vineyards to create the final blend. Additionally, she cold soaks the juice and skins (must) prior to fermentation to intensify color and flavors and racks the wine from tank to tank during fermentation to stimulate the production of phenolic compounds that help to balance and round out the wine’s tannins. Four weeks of extended maceration and daily tastings also aid in crafting the most well rounded wine possible. Aging in 80% new French oak for 26 months prior to bottling adds another layer of complexity to the wine.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

The resulting wine reflects the exceptional quality of the fruit sourced from three select vineyards in the Napa Valley’s western foothills; including Jack and Dolores Cakebread’s own “Hill Ranch.” The 1998 Benchland Select Cabernet Sauvignon displays aromas of an intense red fruit character and the spiciness of mocha, cocoa and nutmeg. The flavors seamlessly echo those of its aromas, showing a soft, elegant wine that offers plenty of ripe fruit with a lingering balance of vanilla, cedar and supple, well-integrated tannins.

Pairs well with rich beef, pork or lamb dishes.
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Vineyards

Our Benchland Select Cabernet Sauvignon is made from specially selected vineyards planted on the rolling hillsides, or benchlands, of the Mayacamas Mountains on the Napa Valley’s western side. An eastern exposure, which provides for slightly cooler temperatures, combined with well-drained gravelly loam soils creates the perfect environment for growing slow-ripening, high-quality Cabernet Sauvignon fruit. For this reason, since 1995, we’ve chosen to highlight these magnificent vineyard sources in this enticing 100% varietal blend.

Vintage

The 1998 Benchland Select Cabernet Sauvignon represents the fourth vintage of this wine. It was produced with fruit specifically selected from the gently rolling foothills (or “benchlands”) of the Mayacamas Mountains on the western side of the Napa Valley. The vineyards’ eastern exposure offers cooler temperatures that allow the grapes to mature slowly while the gravelly loam soil provides excellent drainage.

Winemaking

Our winemaking regimen for the Benchland Select included using the “rack and return” process of draining the fermenting juice off the skins and then returning it to the stainless steel tanks. This procedure greatly reduces the young wine’s astringency by softening its tannins while deepening its dark color. As the wine was fermented dry, it was taste-tested for optimum flavor levels before it was separated from the skins and then aged for twenty-six months in a combination of new (65%) and one year old (35%) French oak barrels.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

Our 2004 Benchland Select Cabernet Sauvignon displays forward, fragrant aromas of concentrated blackcurrant, blackberry and black plum fruit with fascinating secondary scents of cocoa powder, hazelnuts, earth and warm spices. On the densely packed palate, rich black fruit, dark chocolate and briary spice flavors are framed by supple, elegant tannins, leading to a long, savory finish. With a firm, deep structure and great reserves of lush, ripe fruit, this well-endowed Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon will drink deliciously for another 7-10 years.

Pairs well with rich beef, pork or lamb dishes.
View recipes that complement this wine

Vineyards

The grapes for our 2004 Napa Valley Benchland Select Cabernet Sauvignon, which contains 3% Syrah, came from several prime hillside vineyards in the Oakville and Rutherford appellations, including our own Hill Ranch in Rutherford. Situated along Napa’s gently sloping western benchlands, these superb sites enjoy ideal eastern exposures (resulting in cooler afternoon temperatures) and well-drained soils, allowing their grapes to mature at a slow, even pace. We hand-harvest, ferment and age each vineyard block separately to optimize its distinctive character, then blend the lots to create a Cabernet Sauvignon of exceptional fragrance, depth and character.

Vintage

In 2004, an unusually balmy late winter, consistently warm spring and summer temperatures, and several late-summer heat spells resulted in the earliest Cabernet Sauvignon harvest in Napa Valley in over 20 years. The early budbreak, combined with light crop loads, produced grape clusters with small berries and intense, concentrated flavors, resulting in wines of great depth, intensity and structure. The grapes for our 2004 Benchland Select Cabernet Sauvignon were harvested between September 4th and September 8th.

Winemaking

We fermented the fruit from each vineyard site separately, using the tank sizes, yeast strains, fermentation temperatures and maceration techniques best suited to each lot. During fermentation and maceration (the period after fermentation when the juice and skins remain in contact), winemaker Julianne Laks daily assessed color, flavor and tannin extraction. After draining the wine off the skins, the 2004 Benchland Select was aged for a total of 22 months in French oak barrels, 48% new, selected to maximize the wine’s character, development and expression of terroir. It was bottled in August, 2006.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

Our 2003 Benchland Select Cabernet Sauvignon displays a warm, inviting aroma of coffee, dark chocolate and ripe black fruits, with subtle hints of earth, tar and sweet oak. Plump and round on the palate, it offers lush, broad flavors of black figs, currants, plums and chocolate, balanced by supple tannins and a long, luxurious finish. Precocious, yet beautifully structured, this plush, generous Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is delicious to drink now, but will handsomely reward another 7-10 years of cellaring.

Pairs well with rich beef, pork or lamb dishes.
View recipes that complement this wine

Vineyards

The grapes for our 2003 Benchland Select Napa Valley, which is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, came from vineyards in Oakville (75%) and Rutherford (25%) that lie on Napa’s gently sloping western benchlands. The eastern exposures of these well-drained hillside vineyards enjoy cooler afternoons than many Napa vineyards, allowing the grapes to mature at a slow, even pace. Each vineyard block is hand-harvested and the fruit processed separately to maximize its singular character, enabling us to craft a blend boasting an exceptional concentration of color, fragrance and flavor. In 2003, the grapes were harvested at optimal ripeness between October 16th and 21st.

Vintage

In 2003, a warm early spring gave way to cool, wet weather in April, which set back vine development. Seasonally temperate weather prevailed from May through July, but a cool pattern returned in August, delaying ripening. By early September, warm, sunny days and clear, cool nights were again the norm, and hot weather during the latter half of September sent us scurrying to harvest early-ripening varieties. October, however, brought classic autumn weather, with crisp mornings, warm afternoons and cool evenings, which extended the harvest by several weeks, enabling us to harvest our Cabernet Sauvignon grapes at ideal sugar levels. Red wines from the topsy-turvy 2003 harvest are rich and deeply colored, with excellent concentration and balance.

Winemaking

The fruit from each vineyard was processed separately, so we could employ the tank size, yeast strain, fermentation temperature, and maceration technique best suited to each lot. During fermentation and maceration, the wine was tasted daily to assess color and flavor extraction and tannin levels. The 2003 Benchland Select was aged 22 months in French oak barrels, 40% new, with the barrels for each lot carefully selected to maximize that wine’s character, development and expression of terroir prior to blending. The finished wine was bottled in August, 2005.