About us

Cakebread Cellars is a family-owned winery in Rutherford, in the heart of California’s Napa Valley. Jack and Dolores Cakebread founded it in 1973 with a commitment to crafting quality wines and sharing them with others. Careful craftsmanship, family values and warm hospitality remain at the heart of the winery more than fifty years later.

Its story began a year earlier, when Jack Cakebread came to Napa Valley to take photographs for The Treasury of American Wines. At the time, he ran the family’s auto repair business in Oakland and pursued photography alongside his work. During lunch with friends in Rutherford, he casually offered to buy their ranch. When they accepted his offer that very afternoon, Jack and Dolores used the advance from his photography assignment as a down payment on the property. They then spent evenings and weekends tending the vines and building their own winery. Their first wine was a 1973 Chardonnay, released in 1974.

The small family business gradually grew into an established winery. Cabernet Sauvignon and other varieties joined Chardonnay, while the winemaking facilities and estate vineyards expanded. Important milestones included the purchase of land in Anderson Valley in 1995 and on Howell Mountain in 1998, where Dancing Bear Ranch took shape. These acquisitions allowed the family to grow grapes in diverse conditions and further develop the distinctive style of its wines.

Their sons, Bruce and Dennis, built on the founders’ work. After studying viticulture and enology at the University of California, Davis, Bruce spent many years overseeing winemaking before moving into winery leadership, while Dennis developed the business and its customer relationships. Both remain co-owners and serve on the winery’s board of directors. Today, the winemaking team is led by Niki Williams, whose approach focuses on elegance, balance and wines that develop gracefully with age.

The connection between wine and food is also an essential part of Cakebread Cellars. Dolores brought her love of gardening, seasonal ingredients and gathering around the table to the winery. Her garden and the tradition of culinary gatherings helped create a place where hospitality matters as much as the wine itself. That legacy lives on today, in the welcome extended to guests and in wines made to be shared around the table.