best white wine

Cakebread Cellars Wins the Readers' Choice Award for Best Domestic White Wine

Filed under: Wine

Cakebread Cellars, in Rutherford, Ca., is the winner of the Readers' Choice Award for Best Domestic White WIne.

The winery, renowned for its Chardonnay wines, is owned by the Cakebread family, who are known for being among the most creative and successful winemaking families in Napa Valley.

The winery has a reputation for producing world-class wines. Cakebread attributes its success to its focus on quality, consistency and continuity, characteristics which are applied to the grapes, its wines, its staff and the operation of the winery, itself.

Gallery: Cakebread Cellars

Cakebread's roots date back to trip Jack Cakebread made in the early 1970's when he came to photograph the Napa Valley and casually mentioned his interest in one day owning a vineyard to family friends who owned a ranch in Rutherford. When he returned home that afternoon, the phone rang---it was the friends offering to sell their property. Cakebread headed back up to the valley that same afternoon to make his best offer, and Cakebread Cellars was born. Today a team of seven Cakebread family members leads the winery.

Cakebread Cellars has vineyard properties located throughout Napa Valley in addition to a recently added parcel in the Anderson Valley. The winery owns 13 sites totaling 420 acres, 340 of which are currently planted. Unlike many other wineries, Cakebread feeds its white grapes directly to a press where the juice is gently extracted without crushing (called whole cluster pressing) and only the juice is fermented.

All tours and tastings are made by appointment. They are conducted in various venues around the winery--in barrel rooms, in the fermentation room and occasionally alongside the vineyard or on a patio when production schedule and weather permits. Call ahead to make appointments, as weekends and holidays book quickly.

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Chateau d'Yquem Wins the Readers' Choice Award for Best International White Wine

by Carrie Coolidge (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wine

Many French wines boast an extensive history, but the sweet dessert wine of Chateau d'Yquem traces its heritage all the way back to the 16th Century. Chateau d'Yquem is the winner of the Readers' Choice Award for Best International White Wine.

In 1593, a nobleman named Jacques Sauvage gained control of the feudal territory of Yquem, where noteworthy winegrowing techniques were starting to take root. Toward the beginning of the 17th Century, the Sauvage family consolidated the vineyards and built the chateau that still stands today.

Gallery: Chateau d'Yquem Sauternes

As the years went on, Chateau d'Yquem's reputation made its way around the world. In the 19th Century, the wine became a favorite in Meiji dynasty Japan and in Imperial Russia, where the Tsar's brother paid 20,000 gold francs for a barrel of Chateau d'Yquem. At the start of World War I, the chateau was temporarily converted into a military hospital; during World War II, the head of the family was taken prisoner for two years before returning to France to bring Chateau d'Yquem to new heights.

Luxury goods conglomerate LVMH became the house's main shareholder in 1999, installing Bordeaux wine expert Pierre Lurton as the estate's manager. Other than that, not much has changed – and today, Chateau d'Yquem Sauternes remains one of the most beloved dessert wines in the world.

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