Cakebread Cellars Napa Valley Chardonnay 2024

We’re all pretty familiar with Cakebread at this point – especially their Chardonnay which is made in an unapologetically Californian style. It’s what has helped propel them in international stardom and restaurant fame. Its enormous tasting profile and overt brashness is part of what has catapulted the brand to international stardom and brought with it hundreds of thousands of Cakebread acolytes.

The newly released 2024 is absolutely beautiful and represents one of Napa’s finest white wines that I’ve had the pleasure of tasting so far this year. That makes sense as conditions were near perfect in Carneros. Early rains replenished the soils, and then conditions evened out into perfect harmony. No heat spikes kept growth nice and even – and then at the end of the season, the grapes were able to just be allowed to continue hanging. This vintage brings out a cooler-climate, higher altitude personality to this bottling – and the extra acidity and tension suits it incredibly well.

The Chardonnay bottling cherry picks the family’s favorite lots to blend into a harmonious explosion – nearing a sensory overload. The nose is like sticking your face in a freshly baked peach/apple cobbler pie. Equally assertive flavors of melon, apples, and pears swim around the palate.