Cakebread Cellars Dancing Bear Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed)
Jul 7th 2010 at 4:01PM

Cakebread Cellars, a recent Luxist Award winner,has a new release that is the culmination of 11 years of planning, planting and trial winemaking. The single-estate mountain-vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, Dancing Bear Ranch is named after the property which straddles 200 acres on Howell Mountain on the northeastern slopes of the Napa Valley. The land was acquired by the Cakebread family in 1998. The sloped vineyards looks out over Bell Canyon and the ranch is ringed with ridges of fir, oak and pine trees. Grapes in a challenging spot often yield some of the best wine and the unique position of the land has led to a distinctive wine with rich, ripe fruit flavors.

The 2006 Dancing Bear Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon is the first national release. It consists of mostly Cabernet Sauvignon (79% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Merlot and 4% Cabernet Franc) and 2,500 cases were produced. The bottle features the name of the ranch and the rendering of a golden bear. It sells for $106. It can be enjoyed now or for those interest in delayed gratification it can be aged 7-10 more years in your cellar.

Tags: cabernet sauvignon, Cakebread, Cakebread Cellars, napa valley wine, wine