Bears that Dance Wine that Sings – Cakebread’s Dancing Bear Ranch

While you have most certainly heard about the legendary wines of Cakebread, firmly planted into the Napa wine scene for over 35 years and counting, you may not be aware of it's other half. Perhaps due to its “up the mountain” locale, but there is another Cake in town, and boy is it a dandy, well actually a Dancing Bear Ranch. Just a short jaunt up Howell Mountain and its hugging twists and turns will park you in the middle of nowhere, quite wonderfully so. Imagine a Napa Valley without throngs of inhabitants crawling all over our streets. Just pure countryside and roads in their most native state. Close your eyes (after you’ve driven safely up the mountain, of course) and that is exactly where you will have landed in the Dancing Bear Ranch. Infamous bears have been known to dance for their meal of sweet, plucky-delicious grapes found only on this mountaintop. But who could blame them. After one swig of this beyond bodacious 2006 red blend of a wine, well a lady never reveals her secrets but dancing may have ensued. This wine is as hefty as those dastardly bears that once scooped up their fair share of grapes (until Dennis Cakebread, resident bear whisperer/head honcho, showed them who was boss), yet as elegant as a New York ballerina dancing her way through the Nutcraker. One sniff will reveal sweet scents of fig, chocolate and so much more. One sip will knock you off your seat, with the only foreseeable reason to get up being to slog down some more of this wine. But a little more about what one visit will grant…. A)You might bump into a black bear, how cool would that be? Wine country gone wild! B)This 200-acre sprawling vineyard is eye candy for the visually inclined. Steeps, flats, stellar views of the valley below, bird’s eye glance at a lake, and C) for you nature-preservationist out there, this ranch has been dubbed and awarded with the certification of “Fish Friendly Farming Vineyard” – translation they are not only respectful to the art of winemaking but also to the land that is responsible for delivering this special wine. Hats off to the Cakebread clan. You have done oh-so right by this wine swill’in gal. So get off your rump this harvest season and hop on up the hill to see some of the most spectacular views of this valley and enjoy some damn fine wine in the process. Wacky WineSense Rating: 5.0 Grapes!