In 1972, Jack Cakebread was under commission as photographer for Nathan Chroman's photographic history "The Treasury of American Wines." He stopped one day in the Napa Valley to see family friends, the Sturdivants, an elderly couple who acquired their 22-acre Rutherford ranch in 1946, and had decided to sell it. With the understanding that the Sturdivants could live on the ranch as long as they wished, Jack and Dolores Cakebread purchased it, founding Cakebread Cellars.

So, at age 43, Jack Cakebread embarked on his fifth career, winemaking. Born in 1930, his first pursuits were on his family's orchard ranch and in 1948 as partner with his father in Cakebread's Garage. In 1950 Jack married Dolores Cakebread and while in the Air Force with the Strategic Air Command in North Africa, he developed an interest in photography. In 1959, he undertook photographic studies under the master of landscape, Ansel Adams, and established Cakebread Photography. A 14-year photographic career followed, pursued simultaneously with the family auto repair business, which Jack had purchased from his father in 1963.

Cakebread Cellars started from scratch in 1973. The property was predominantly pasture; the few existing Sauvignon Vert, Malvasia, Early Burgundy and other obscure vines were not only useless for fine wine production but in some cases unidentifiable. Consultation with the University of California at Davis determined that the best varieties to plant were Cabernet Sauvignon and Sauvignon Blanc. While his construction of a small laboratory and winery building progressed over the next two years, Jack enrolled in the Viticulture and Enology program at University of California at Davis. Until 1978, when his youngest son, Bruce, joined his father in winemaking, Jack Cakebread produced all his own wines; the first was a 1973 Chardonnay followed by a 1974 Cabernet Sauvignon. During this period, a number of vintages of Zinfandel were also produced; suspended in 1981, production of this varietal was resumed with the 1993 vintage.

The first harvest from Cakebread's own vines yielded a small harvest of 1976 Sauvignon Blanc. During this period, Jack Cakebread decided to blend his Cabernet Sauvignon with a special clone of Cabernet Franc rather than with Merlot: the original plot of vines, planted in the proportion of ten percent Cabernet Franc to 90 percent Cabernet Sauvignon, provided the basis for two decades of vintages of Cakebread Cellars Rutherford Reserve.

The present Cakebread winery is a natural extension of a meticulous frame of mind which goes to remarkable lengths to ensure the quality of the wine. In 1977, the original 3,500 case winery was expanded, and in 1978 an existing barn was refurbished to create a press and barrel-aging room. In 1980, the winery expanded again with a new structure designed to merge architecturally with the barn/press room, increasing capacity to 28,000 cases; as of 1995, capacity has risen to 45,000 cases. The exterior, which preserved the character of the older building, is covered in vertical raw redwood siding incorporating sliding panels which, when closed, give the impression of a seamless facade. The wood blends with the landscape, naturally weathering from year to year. In 1985, another phase of the property's expansion was completed with the refurbishment of the 100 year-old winery home, of which the focal point is a fully-equipped professional kitchen used for entertaining winery guests.

In 1995, the final phase of construction was begun. A new structure in the style of the existing buildings, again designed to blend with the property's natural landscape, was planned to return all production to within the estate proper. Certain operations, primarily barrel aging, had been moved off-site as volume expanded. The expansion allows complete control over, and tremendous flexiblity in production, as well as experimentation with specialized lots of wine. It also obviates unnecessary and detrimental movement of wines, creating a stable, efficient and fully temperature- and humidity-controlled environment for all post-fermentative operations from aging through bottling. These measures all contribute to enhancement of quality, consistency and future possibilities for innovation. The winery's simple, fluid exterior conceals a highly-efficient, state-of-the-art system incorporating the most technically advanced equipment with a number of very original Cakebread innovations, some of which physically extend into the vineyards. The fermentation tanks, set on canted slabs, have been surrounded by skylit turrets; the cooling jackets around the tanks have been connected to the air conditioning so that the propylene glycol coolant serves both systems. The adjacent cooperage bay consists of double racks of 60-gallon French oak casks, stacked from floor to ceiling and bolted to the wall, accessible by fork lift for topping off, racking and cleaning without displacing the cask. Flanking the entry are several upright oak tanks commissioned specifically for Cakebread to Jean-Jacques Nadalie, one of France's finest coopers, who crafted them in France and personally reassembled them at the winery. The whole interior is lined in red tile, and the slightly inclined, guttered floor allows complete drainage within minutes after a throrough hose-down. The physical tasks are streamlined by wall-mounted dual-voltage electric boxes, water plugs and air valves at regular intervals; and a two-way intercom/telephone system linking various points in the winery as well as exterior points via direct lines.

The most remarkable of Cakebread's system is invisible. To compensate for the Napa Valley's high, variable water table, a network of gravel and drain tiles, designed to Jack Cakebread's specifications, have been woven through the vineyard deep beneath the vines. Precisely graded to draw excess water to the southwest corner of the property, they lead to a well emptied by three automatically-triggered electric pumps which expel the water either into the reservoir behind the original winery or passively into a stream feeding the Napa River. The water in the reservoir is recycled for frost protection and irrigation. There is also a two-cell waste water pond which recycles all water from winery operations for irrigation. The system is backed up by 14 subterranean neutron probe sites which give weekly readings of the level of ground moisture. The probe system shows data in tabular and graphic form, allowing perfectly efficient use of water resources.

To Cakebread Cellar's original 22 acres, an additional twelve, adjacent to the original property, were added in 1982 and planted in Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc for Cakebread's Rutherford Reserve. In 1985, eleven more acres in the Rutherford area, called the Cakebread Hill Ranch, were acquired and also planted in Cabernet vines. In mid-1987, the purchase of the 25-acre River Ranch brought total acreage to 75, all of which lies in the Rutherford appellation. The ranch was entirely replanted in 1991, 1992 and 1993 in the wake of California's phylloxera crisis. In 1999, an acquisition added substantial vineyard acreage on Howell Mountain, now called Dancing Bear Ranch, from which a single-vineyard red wine is produced.

Cakebread also draws on 400 acres of vineyards of Cabernet Sauvignon, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Zinfandel, Merlot and Pinot Noir over which the Cakebreads exercise either complete control or start-to-finish management and decision-making authority. Approximately half of these, located in the cooler microclimates to the south in Carneros, are the source of the winery's Chardonnay grapes; roughly half of the remaining acres are in Sauvignon Blanc vineyards located in Rutherford near the Cakebread winery and the other half are in Cabernet Sauvignon vineyards in the Stag's Leap, Rutherford and Oakville areas . Among the Cabernet Sauvignon grapes purchased, special blocks from the acclaimed Vine Hill Ranch in Oakville yield the single-vineyard Vine Hill Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon.

As of 2002 Bruce Cakebread assumed the role of COO and President, while Jack Cakebread remains as CEO. Dennis Cakebread is SVP of Sales and Marketing and is a founding board member of the Rutherford Dust Society, a group of the Rutherford appellation's growers.

Cakebread Cellars' reputation for generous hospitality and exceptional, fresh cuisine are due to Dolores Cakebread's expertise as hostess and chef in her role as VP of Ambience and Culinary. Her interest in garden farming and cooking led her first to pursue cooking classes in the San Francisco area and later to complete the professional cooking curriculum at Le Cordon Rouge in San Rafael. She has tailored the skills and techniques she learned there to the fresh produce from the family garden and Cakebread Cellar's portfolio of wines.

Julianne Laks, Bruce’s’ assistant winemaker for 14 years, became Winemaker with these changes.