Danielle Cyrot

Coming Up

At University of California, Davis, the framework for winemaking was built into a formal education, then tested in the field through internships at Schramsberg and Artesa. For Danielle Cyrot, those placements established a method that prizes repetition, observation, and the slow accumulation of judgment. Roles at St. Clement and Stag’s Leap added more weight to that method, moving from assistant winemaker to winemaker and sharpening a style that reads as exacting without being heavy-handed. The progression points to a craftsperson who works by close reading rather than display, with each step reinforcing attention to detail. Since 2012, Danielle Cyrot has been winemaker of CADE Estate Winery.

Where They Are Now

At CADE Estate Winery in Angwin, United States, the scale of the work allows for complexity, but the philosophy stays plain: the vineyard leads, and the cellar follows. Danielle Cyrot describes the role in terms of varietals, soil types, and appellations, then returns to the basic task of carrying grapes through to finished wine. “Being a winemaker in Napa Valley is a dream job for me. I get to work with several different grape varietals, grown on different soil types, and from very diverse appellations. Then I get to turn grapes into an amazing bottle of wine.” The useful part of that description is not the romance of the setting, but the range of material and the discipline required to handle it. Different varietals, different soils, different appellations: the work asks for a steady hand, and the ability to keep variation legible all the way to the bottle. That same logic carries into her view of intervention. “I take what the fruit gives me and make it the best that it can be. I don’t try to make an apple pie a lemon meringue pie.” The comparison is plain, and that is what makes it useful: the winemaker’s job is to shape, not overwrite. For Danielle Cyrot, the point is not substitution but fidelity.

Signature

Danielle's signature wines include 2016 CADE Estate Cabernet Sauvignon and TwoTone Farm. The pair shows the range of her work while staying aligned with the same rule she states plainly: the vineyard sets the terms, and the winemaking should hold to them.

In Their Words “Being a winemaker in Napa Valley is a dream job for me. I get to work with several different grape varietals, grown on different soil types, and from very diverse appellations. Then I get to turn grapes into an amazing bottle of wine.” “A little bit of technology and a little bit of tradition. I believe that wine is made in the vineyard.”

Honors

In 2019, Cyrot’s 2016 CADE Estate Cabernet Sauvignon was named to Jeb Dunnuck’s Top 100 Red Wines of 2019. The recognition tied her CADE work to a specific bottling and vintage, and to the Cabernet Sauvignon that marked a public high point in her tenure. It also echoed the line running through her work: start with the grapes, and keep the finished wine true to them with precision.