Jan 31: Bruce Cakebread, the President of Cakebread Cellars from Napa Valley was in India last week to meet customers, writes Arun Batra who had an exclusive chat with him at a wine dinner hosted by Brindco at the Imperial New Delhi
 I first heard of Cakebread Cellars when I attended the 200th wine dinner of the Delhi Wine Club in Sept 2012 and learnt that Bruce Cakebread, the President and CEO of Cakebread Cellars in Napa Valley had sent, free of cost, a reasonable quantity of their superb Napa Valley Chardonnay 2010 to enable the organizers to include this wine on the wine list for the 250 odd diners to sample that evening. Of course, thanks to the archaic laws, the Club had to pay extensive excise duty and VAT on the entire cost including the wine cost and customs duty.
I was reminded once again last week of the pleasant memory of this high quality Chardonnay when I received an invitation from Aman Dhall, the suave and sartorially elegant head of Brindco, to meet Bruce Cakebread and celebrate 40 years of quality winemaking at Cakebread Cellars at an exclusive winemaker’s dinner at the Imperial New Delhi.
Bruce Cakebread comes across as not only an extremely knowledgeable about his wines but also exudes a major passion about it also. He should, considering that after graduating in Viticulture in 1978, he joined the family business full time replacing his father Dennis as the wine maker- a position he held for the next 25 years before becoming President.
There is justifiable pride when Bruce talks about the modest beginnings by his father, who incidentally owned an auto repair shop and their growth from a 20 acre vineyard and winery to some 500 acres under vine cultivation producing some of America’s best wines. They ship 175,000 cases a year at an average price of around $50 with American sales accounting for nearly 90%.
Asked about the key success factors instrumental in building Cakebread Cellars reputation as a top notch quality wine producer, Bruce mentioned two - continuity of people and technology. “In the last forty years we have had only 3 winemakers, one of them myself, so there has been continuity in the wine making department which has helped us develop and maintain the style statement that we wish to achieve for each of our wines ” says Bruce.
Use of the latest technology whether in the vineyard or the winery has been of immense value in constantly upgrading vineyard and winery processes. “We have a game plan prepared every summer for each block in every vineyard –this plan covers minutiae such as hour of harvest, pressing and fermentation instructions and even the type of barrels the wine from a block will be placed in”.
Asked about how Cakebread positioned itself at the top end of the wine market –their wines range from the Sauvignon Blanc which sells for $25 to their premium offering the Dancing Bear Cabernet Sauvignon at $110 – Bruce says “My Dad told me that if your wine doesn’t sell, then you got to drink it, so it had better be good”
Admitting that the demand for their wines is relatively price inelastic given the clientele profile, Bruce notices a subtle change in buyer behaviour in the last couple of years towards people drinking more at home rather than paying inflated prices for the same wine in a restaurant. And that’s where online sales have come into their own –Cakebread have a well-developed wine club and loyalty program to tap into this new channel.
Cakebread is their single corporate umbrella brand and Bruce led a tasting of the following wines
· Sauvignon Blanc 2011 – a very fresh wine with citrus on the nose, balanced acidity and a refreshing finish
· Chardonnay 2011,2003,1998- in this unique vertical tasting one could see how as we go back in time the wine has changed colour from a straw yellow to a more golden hue, the acidity becomes more balanced and the mouthfeel more rounded. All three top class Chardonnay’s, though the 2003 was my favourite.
· Pinot Noir 2010 – a intense fruit forward ,plush and well-structured wine with an oaky finish
· Cabernet Sauvignon 2009 – a ruby coloured wine which is medium bodied with black fruit flavours and smooth tannins
· Dancing Bear Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 Awarded 92 points by the Wine Spectator, this sophisticated wine is an absolute delight to drink. The fruit flavours of blackcurrant and blackberry were intense, the tannins were almost silky and a lengthy finish justified its flag bearer status for Cakebread Cellars.
 There is no doubt that Cakebread Cellars is at the top of the heap but what about its prospects in India? Given the multiplier effect of the Indian duties and taxes on their already premium price levels, Bruce Cakebread is down to earth about the future journey of his wines in the Indian market. According to him, the hard work put in by Brindco is now bearing results with regular orders and he is now looking to seeing an upward trend. We wish him good luck!
Arun Batra
Arun Batra is a Delhi based food and wine enthusiast and an old member of the Delhi Wine Club |
