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... it's always fun to sit next to a winemaker / winery owner during a wine dinner at a top restaurant like Park Avenue Spring in New York City. It was the first time I would meet Dennis Cakebread, and it was a thrill to be able to taste the wines and pepper him with questions about the winery's history.

So here's the story: In the 70s Dennis's father (the whole family consider themselves co-owners) visited the Napa Valley and mentioned his interest in owningg a vineyard to some family friends who had a ranch in Rutherford. When he returned home that afternoon, the phone rang and it was the family friends offering to sell their property. He headed back up to the valley that same afternoon to make his best offer, and Cakebread Cellars was born.

"So what did the first winery look like?" I asked Dennis, who promptly laughed and said there was only land for many years. In 1973 he and his brother worked the land and sold their first vintage--157 cases of 1973 Chardonnay  - to Phil Faight of Groezinger's Wine Shop in Yountville who in turn sold to a small audience of premium wine drinkers who visited Napa on weekends. Park Avenue Spring was a wonderful venue to showcase the wines - a creamy 2008 Chardonnay with a long crisp finish that paired well with the oyster, refreshing 2008 Sauvignon Blanc (tank-fermented and aged in neutral French Oak barrels), 2004 Pinot Noir (everyone's favorite!) served with pasta and ultra-fresh peas and morels, 2004 Merlot (the real winner)and the 2006 Syrah paired with Steak, and the 2008 Zinfandel served with the dessert course shown below. 

cakebread cake

All the wines were spectacular, yet I thought the 2004 was just out of this world, balanced, supple, elegant -- this Merlot had real personality and complexity and if you can find it, buy it! The Pinot Noir was another favorite. Of course the big news was that after 11 years of planning, planting, and trial winemaking, they are now releasing a prestigious single-estate mountain-vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon called Dancing Bear Ranch, named after the property which straddles 200 acres on Howell Mountain. The wine is expensive ($110) as only 2500 cases are made.

Now you know that I had to ask Dennis about the Cakebread name, predicting that the delicious sounding, fun, and memorable name probably helped push sales early on.  It's possible the Layer Cake and Cupcake brands jumped on the wagon to emulate their success yet there is clearly only one Cakebread. I asked what it's like for his name to be his brand, and he told me about his kids.'"In their world, it's normal to go to school with the children of other 'brands."  If you go to the Cakebread web site you will find lots of fun things like cooking classes, wine notes, and their club, where you can buy wine at a discount and participate in very fun sounding club events at the winery.

Dennis Cakebread is a very genuine, likable man who has a passion for his family's wine. When I pointed to the room, bursting with Cakebread fans who've paid  to come to this pricey Cakebread vintners dinner, and asked him if these road shows and nightly dinners exhausted him, he surprised me by his answer.

Even though he'd been flying around the country, meeting with restaurants/winestores/trade accounts during the day and consumers at night, he said he was energized by the dinners and the fans response to his wines. Fabulous event -- you can find Cakebread wines across the country.

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