Napa Valley's Cakebread Cellars announces25th Annual American harvest Workshop Celebration

The workshop will take place on August 18-20, 2011

Press Release: Cakebread Cellars, the celebrated Napa Valley winery founded by Jack and Dolores Cakebread in 1973, is pleased to announce the date and initial details for its 25h Annual "American Harvest Workshop" Celebration, to be held August 18-20, 2011.

Started in 1986 by Jack and Dolores Cakebread and now overseen by Cakebread's Culinary Director Brian Streeter, the American Harvest Workshop (AHW) is the longest continuously running winery culinary program of its kind in the Napa Valley.

At a typical American Harvest Workshop, Streeter and the Cakebreads host five chefs from around the world at the winery for five days of learning, tasting, cooking, grape-picking (workshop always takes place during wine grape harvest), purveyor-visiting, and more. A small number of non-chef attendees--including Cakebread wine club members and a handful of members of the trade and media--participate alongside the chefs.

But this year, to mark the 25th Anniversary of the program (and in lieu of hosting a traditional workshop), the Cakebreads have invited every chef who had attended the program in the past to return to the winery to attend a special workshop and cook at several celebration events.

An astounding 51 chefs accepted the offer and will participate in this year's AHW, including culinary luminaries from across the country (and around the world) such as:

Rick Moonen (RM Seafood, Las Vegas, NV)
Kevin Taylor (Restaurant Kevin Taylor, Denver)
Pascal Oudin (Pascal's on Ponce, Coral Gables, FL)
Ken Frank (La Toque, Napa, CA)
Scott Gottlich (Bijoux, Dallas, TX)
Sujan Murkherjee (Taj Bengal, West Bengal, India)

For a complete list of all 51 participating chefs, click here.

The three-day celebration of AHW will involve tastings, seminars, and purveyor visits for the attending chefs, as well as private lunches and dinners for Cakebread wine club members and guests. The centerpiece of the program is the Grand Chefs' Tasting on Friday, August 19, which is open to the public (tickets, $75/person, are now available). At this walk-around tasting, featuring dishes by 24 of the participating chefs, attendees will have the chance to explore the entire winery, eating and sipping along the way. Details for the Grand Chefs' Tasting can be found here.

"We were thrilled--and humbled--by the response to the invitations for this 25th Anniversary celebration," says Culinary Director Brian Streeter. "We'll have chefs here who attended the very first workshop in 1986, all the way through chefs who attended last year's harvest workshop. The chefs hail from dozens of states and three continents. The American Harvest Workshop has always been about bringing together chefs to learn about, taste, and experiment with great American food and wine--and having so many alumni return to celebrate the program is an honor. It's going to be a truly special event."

The American Harvest Workshop is the centerpiece of Cakebread Cellars' year-round culinary program, which includes frequent cooking classes and food events at the winery, led by Streeter and his staff. In addition, Streeter works with winemaker Julianne Laks on monthly recipes and wine pairings, which are featured as text and videos on Cakebread's web site and Facebook page.

Indeed, food and cooking-and how they relate to wine-have been integral to Cakebread Cellars' mission since the winery opened in 1973. Dolores Cakebread's famed vegetable and herb garden at the front of the winery is further testament to the family's emphasis on the links between food and wine, and their longtime culinary focus sets Cakebread apart from other major wineries in the region.

Cakebread Cellars is located at 8300 St. Helena Hwy, Rutherford, CA.