Cakebread Cellars

I was going to give three stars, because of all the wineries we toured this was in our bottom half. We did not take a tour, just did a tasting, which was lovely and our server did hook us up with additional tastings and was super nice and friendly and offered recommendations to other wineries based on what we liked, hence the additional star. We simply liked other wineries, smaller ones more off the beaten path as the experiences were more intimate and just felt better. That being said we left after buying a bunch of stuff because hey, it’s Cakebread and their wine is good.

We were excited to try Cakebread since they were recommended by one of our favorite wineries. We called and made an appointment for a reserve tasting. The woman that answered had a southern drawl and a bad attitude. She definitely left a bad taste in my mouth.
We got to our tasting and were greeted very nicely by our guide Nancy. She was very friendly and knowledgeable. The wines were not so great and not all of them were actual reserve wines. You would think that since the reserve tasting is $ 40, that they would at least make sure that the wines were actually reserve ones. We left with the 2011 Howell Mountain Dancing Bear Cab which definitely was not on the tasting menu.
Save your money and go a better winery like Pine Ridge or Del Dotto. You’ll thank me later.

My sister and I did a walk in tasting here. Nothing special, it was not very memorable but the wine was good and the family story was nice. The property seemed pretty but it was raining so we ran in and ran out and did get a chance to see much.

In the late winter we were able to call from the parking lot and get an appointment immediately. The tour was intimate, very great company, very great atmosphere and wonderful wines.

This winery is a must! Great location and great people! Ricky was a great tour guide and easy on the eyes ;) a great way to enjoy Napa! Thanks cakebread!

Nancy and Sean were awesome.
I love wine. This was my favorite winery by far. Nancy was so friendly, informative and not pretentious like other wineries. The wine is absolutely delicious. My husband is a Reds only person, but actually enjoyed their Chardonnay reserve and bought a bottle! It is a mistake to leave Napa without going to Cakebread Cellars.
FYI– need a reservation

Showed up for a cousins weekends without an appointment but Sean at the front was so kind to squeeze us in. They are extremely friendly and welcoming. Sipping on the first wine which is their chard and it’s amazing. Love their feel and hospitality.
Update: just finished the tour and Una was so knowledgable! Her scotshish accent was dreamy and added to the experience. She was helpful in answering all of our novice questions.
Definitely returning in the near future.

Best winery I have had the opportunity of touring. The tour was nice and short so we could get to the best part, the wine and food pairing. It was amazing. I came with a group of about 30 and we all had 4 wines paired with 4 small bites. The chef walked is through the tasting and he was great. The wine was a bit expensive to purchase but next time I will be sure to bring the boyfriend so he can spoil me. They also have a super cute organic garden where they get most the food they make.

Try the food pairing experience! It is unforgettable. I’ve been with smaller groups as well as a large group and both experiences were fantastic. Chef Tom Sixsmith leads an educational & enjoyable food & wine pairing. Also one of my favorite chardonnays in the valley!

The best part of our visit to Cakebread were the beautiful grounds and our tour guide, who was super knowledgeable and personable.
The downside was sitting in an upstairs tasting room with a long banquet table and loud kids running around and making tons of noise. I have to preface this comment with the fact that I’m a parent of young children — but would never take them to a winery without it being a private setting and making prior arrangements.
The tour was nice and let us see the grounds. They host private events at their locations and grow ingredients on the property. The kids were not a factor as we were walking around because they could play behind the pack and that was fine.
However, when we sat down, one parent tasted while the other watched the kids run around and make tons of noise. (Here’s what they should have done — taken the kids outside to play until the tasting was over.)
If you’re the winery, you need to step up and fix the situation. Recommend that the parents take their kids somewhere else so guests can enjoy their visit. They paid for one tasting and the rest of us paid for 12.
I was so annoyed, and apparently looked it, that our guide offered to have us go downstairs to their wine club members’ only tasting room where it was quiet. We declined. (Well, my wife did. I was ready to go.)
You can’t enjoy a winery if you have loud children running around you making loud noise. Wines were fine, nothing spectacular. May have tasted better had it not been so annoying.
The barrel room is beautiful — in fact the entire building is.
I also thought the long banquet table for tasting was bizarre. I had strangers sitting across from me and they took a group photo at the start. I tried not to look at the camera but was encouraged to. Enjoy my face in your Napa photo scrapbook, Canadian tourist.
It just wasn’t comfortable and I couldn’t really chat with my wife about the wines because everyone was sitting around the table. Awkward family dinner time with kids running around.
Pass.

This was actually our first stop of the day and we did enjoy the wines during our visit, specifically the more full body reds they had for the tasting that day. I believe one was called Dancing Bear and that I enjoyed very much. The ladies at the front that greeted us were very sweet and pleasant to work with which is greatly appreciated upon entry. Christian did our tasting and he was incredibly knowledgeable. We were really impressed with how in depth he understood the process, the different soils, the area, the wines, the harvest times, etc. Obviously you’re in Napa and all of the people or most of the people that do your tastings are knowledgeable but Christian was like one with the grape, lol! Great experience in general but hate to say it was not my favorite.

If you are looking for a fun tasting experience, this is the place. beautiful grounds, fun somme and really yummy wine. The only problem is that you have to have an appt for a tasting. But plan ahead and all should be fine.
We did have a little episode though, where we had not made an appt but were told they could accommodate us. When we got there, I told them I would be purchasing a case of wine and we wanted the full experience. They still charged us for the tastings. That was not appropriate.
But they made it up to us and we ended up having a pretty good time. I have actually been here 2 or 3 times since, so you know they made it right and I do enjoy the tasting room and vineyard a great deal. They are expanding a lot of it was fun last time to see the construction and planning they had going on for the expansion.
Their Chardonnay is really great and I recommend visiting. But get an appt and save yourself the hassle of trying to play the «but Im a regular and I purchase a case every time I am here» game.

We reserved a tasting at Cakebread Cellars, which is required since it is by appointment only.
We ended up 15mins or so early and was required to wait until our scheduled time. We did not have a tour of the property, strictly the wine.
The tasting took place at a stand up bar counter, as most do in the area. There were a total 5 of guests in the group for a tasting. Our guide was informative and outgoing, which made for a pleasant experience. I would have enjoyed a cheese pairing with their wines, but they do not have any food to purchase or order on the property. (Clearly, don’t come here hungry).
Cakebread has a great reputation with wines, especially their Chardonnay. However, I am not a white wine fan and prefer their reds better. Their Pinot Noir is divine, and you may want to buy a few before you leave because they do not produce many cases of it.
They do sell their own cookbooks which have wonderful recipes. There is not much of a gift shop, but you can leave with something for sure.

We were running super late because we were having so much fun at Phifer Pavitt… so our 3:45pm tasting at Cakebread was in jeopardy — especially since they close at 4:00pm and we were expected to arrive around 4:10pm…oops.
I tried to gain as much time as possible and dropped the girls off to run into the winery to announce our arrival… except, once I stopped the car, Andrea ran in the complete opposite direction. We were all yelling at her that she was going the wrong way… finally, once she had ran about 30 meters, she finally turned around.
We just made their last group tasting. They rushed a few of the tastings, but we weren’t too impressed by anything anyway. It was still fun and not bad for $ 15 tastings. However, this time, Jon was finishing my wine… unlike Del Dotto from earlier in the week.
On our trip, we purchased over 50 bottles of wine. Out of the 16 wineries that we visited, we would definately go back to four — in no particular order (Hendry, Viader, Hamel Family, and Phifer Pavit — they all get 5 star reviews). We would go back to four (Round Pond, Twenty Rows, Alpha Omega, and Stag’s Leap — all 4 or 5 star reviews). Once is enough for five (Tamber Bey, Del Dotto, Hestan, V. Sattui, Domaine Chandon — mostly 3 star reviews). And would never go back to three (Cline, B. Cellars, and Cakebread). I hope my math is correct. Feel free to check out my other reviews of all the wineries mentioned.

3-​stars means A-​OK, and that’s how I felt about the White Wine Tasting at Cakebread. I’m a fan of Cakebread’s Cabernet which sells out every year at the local wine shops back home. It’s also a huge seller at steak houses across the country. For this stop on our wine country visit, I wanted a white-​only experience since those bold red wines can trigger migraines with my girlfriend.
Make sure you read the description of the tours on the website. I was under the impression we would get some history and maybe a tour of the facilities. This was purely a tasting and was over in 15 minutes.
Truthfully, my favorite was the Sauvignon Blanc. I don’t drink a lot of Sauvignon Blanc outside of the occasional Sancerre or Cloudy Bay, but this was a refreshing white wine priced for daily drinking at $ 25.
The wine clubs are slightly discounted although their shipping prices were on the higher side. The benefit is gaining access to some of their smaller production wines like Dancing Bear Cabernet. The Cabernet Only Club will cost you almost $ 3,000 before shipping costs. The White Only Club (that sounds racist) is the most reasonably priced at $ 800; although I honestly don’t think I’d commit to buying 24 bottles of Cakebread whites.
There is no discount for buying wines at the winery and you’ll pay high shipping costs, so I’d recommend just buying them at your local liquor store back home.
They do offer longer tours as well as food pairings, so book one of those if you’re looking for a more unique experience.
I don’t think we will be back to Cakebread next year; however, I will continue to buy their wines.

Warning: There is no cake nor bread at this winery lol
We booked a wine tour here, the grounds were beautiful! Our tour guide was very friendly and informative. After we toured the barrel room (which is super cold, bring a jacket) we were taken to the tasting room which was lovely, nice view of the vineyards. Alas, they had no dancing bear, one couple even left the tour because they were informed there was no dancing bear. Overall, nice tour of a beautiful winery.

Cakebread has some of my favorite wines from California. If you like Cabernet or Chardonnary you will love Cakebread wines. With that being said, I just had to check out the vineyard while in Napa.
The positives: they have 3 separate tastings, each one is vastly different and costs a different price. We did the Reserve tasting which was $ 40 pp, lots of vintage Cabs in this tasting. Clearly all the wines were super high end and delicious. The tasting took place in a small enclosed tasting room that held maybe 8 people max. Our tour guide (is that what I should call him?) was amazing, older gentleman who really knew the wines. The vineyard itself is also beautiful.
The negatives: Since I love their wines so much, I wanted to buy a bottle, sit outside in their vineyard, enjoy my wine and enjoy the beautiful day. Nope, not allowed. Why the heck can’t you buy a bottle and sit outside somewhere and drink it?! That really bothered me. We literally spent 15 minutes at this winery because we were only allowed to taste about 6 wines and that was it. Great wines, but I’ll just buy a glass at my local Capital Grill next time. Boo.

I was a big fan of this winery, as we were able to take a short tour after our tasting.
Our tasting took place at a table on an outside patio, so it was nice to be sitting down. There was an umbrella over our table, so we had some shade as well. We went through three different hosts serving our wine tastings, and each one was friendly and did their best to make conversation and bring the wines out at an appropriate pace.
The grounds of Cakebread were very nice. They had gardens of flowers around, and wine barrels out for decoration. It made for very nice photographs!
I have no complaints about any of the wines. Touring Napa helped me to develop a fondness for reds. I appreciate that very much!
There was also a gift shop (as there are with most wineries), and my boyfriend’s uncle bought me a Cakebread apron! A wonderful surprise when we got to the car.

Potty break that turned into wine tasting!
Atmosphere: ⁵⁄₅ Beautiful tasting room (they all have beautiful tasting rooms though). As soon as you walk in you are surrounded by several massive stainless steel tanks, which was pretty cool. Be warned it’s VERY well air conditioned inside the tasting room so bring your sweaters!
Service: ⁶⁄₅ Amazing!!! Rachel greeted us at the front desk and got us all set up with our tasting. She was friendly, very sweet, and helpful! It’s always nice being greeted by a friendly face. For our tasting Brian E. helped us. He was knowledgable, funny, and made us feel at home. Everyone had a great time!
Wine: ⁴⁄₅ The wine was pretty good, but has a typical Napa price tag. Although Cupcake is known for their Chardonnay, I wasn’t in love with their whites. I did quite enjoy the Pinot noir, merlo, and Cabernet Sauvignon though!
Overall: ⁵⁄₅ Very friendly and homie vibe. I would come back, but maybe try to get more of their reds!

Yummo!
One of my favorite wineries so far in Napa valley.
Six tastings for 15 bucks? Yes please!
They do have different tasting options (red wine only, reserve, etc…)
Must make a reservation, or else no tasting, which in my opinion, is a great idea, because it avoids the overcrowding.
Our guy (forgot his name, Brian?) was really good about explaining each wine, and the wineries history.
Cakebread is known for its chardonnay, but I fell in love with their apple barn pinot.
The only con here is I wish they had more than one tour. They only have it at 10:30 in the morning. Adding one in the afternoon would be nice!
Property is nice, smaller than others, but spacious enough. Will come back again!