Winemaker Notes
For every vintage of our Chardonnay Reserve, we select the finest lots from our four Napa Valley estate vineyards in the Carneros region. This quintessential expression of cool-climate Carneros chardonnay offers concentrated flavors of creamy golden apple, ripe peach and baking spice, supported by pitch-perfect acidity.
Professional Ratings
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2019 Cakebread Cellars Reserve Chardonnay is lively, well-textured, and mouthfilling, with an excellent crisp finish. TASTING NOTES: This wine shows aromas and flavors of green apples, dried spices, oaky notes, and minerality. Serve it with grilled lobster in a decadent cream sauce. (Tasted: June 9, 2022, Napa, CA)
One of the most popular and versatile white wine grapes, Chardonnay offers a wide range of flavors and styles depending on where it is grown and how it is made. While it tends to flourish in most environments, Chardonnay from its Burgundian homeland produces some of the most remarkable and longest lived examples. California produces both oaky, buttery styles and leaner, European-inspired wines. Somm Secret—The Burgundian subregion of Chablis, while typically using older oak barrels, produces a bright style similar to the unoaked style. Anyone who doesn't like oaky Chardonnay would likely enjoy Chablis.
Known for elegant wines that combine power and finesse, Carneros is set in the rolling hills that straddle the southernmost parts of both Sonoma and Napa counties. The cooling winds from the abutting San Pablo Bay, combined with lots of midday California sunshine, create an ideal environment for producing wines with a perfect balance of crisp acidity and well-ripened fruit.
This cooler pocket of California lends itself to growing Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Syrah. Carneros is an important source of sparkling wines made in the style of Champagne as well.