OAKVILLE: The problem the winery set out to solve is not cooking. It is the bill. Napa Cellars announced on Thursday, Nov. 5, that it has launched a Friendsgiving Registry, an online platform where a host chooses a menu, claims the main dish and the wine to pair with it, and then shares the registry so guests can claim a side, a salad, an appetizer or a dessert and a wine of their own to bring. The stated goal is that everyone arrives with something different, and no single person carries the full burden of hosting and costs.
The tool grew out of the winery's own research. Its 2026 Friendsgiving Trends Report puts the rising cost of food at the top of this year's hosting worries, and the figure at the top of the announcement is a household one: 65 percent of respondents want to spend less of their own money on the gathering. The registry is the winery's answer to the two questions it says hosts field every year, about what a guest should bring and what that guest should spend.
Three menus, twenty adults each
The registry offers three themed menus, each planned for 20 adults with buffet style quantities, and each curated by Chef James Houghton, the winery's director of culinary. The first, Pass the Mac, turns the survey's favorite side into a six dish tasting bar built around a Truffle and Charred Onion Mac and Cheese, with five Thanksgiving staples reimagined in the same form. The second, Y2K Throwback Thanksgiving, serves the traditional plate, roast turkey, classic stuffing, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole and pies, with a Napa Valley polish. The third, Brunch-Giving, moves the meal to late morning with shareable plates and small bites, led by sweet corn blini with creme fraiche and chives.
The registry turns the oldest question in hosting, what can I bring, into the plan itself.
Houghton's own summary of the approach was plain. "Friendsgiving should feel like a celebration, not a chore," he said in the announcement. Each menu also carries a suggested Napa Cellars pairing, from the winery's Chardonnay beside the mac and cheese bar to its Sauvignon Blanc beside the brunch menu, and hosts can start a registry now at the registry site ahead of Friendsgiving celebrations this November.
What the survey says about the table now
The trends report behind the launch describes a holiday meal that is moving earlier and getting simpler. In the winery's survey, 67.2 percent of respondents prefer a daytime celebration, split between brunch gatherings at 35.6 percent and late afternoon sip and graze gatherings at 31.6 percent. At 40 percent, elevated mac and cheese was the side respondents called essential most often, ahead of mashed potatoes at 25.2 percent and traditional stuffing at 10.4 percent. Spending follows the food: 79.6 percent said they will spend extra on food, while fewer than 10 percent will spend extra on decor. On wine, respondents put food versatility first at 48.4 percent, followed by value in the $20 to $35 range at 31.2 percent.
The winery making the pitch is one of the valley's everyday names rather than one of its trophy estates. Napa Cellars says it has made wine since 1976, working from its own estate ground and from grower partners it has relied on for years across the valley, with a portfolio that includes Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Noir and Merlot. Its own site gives the same Oakville address the announcement lists for its tasting room, 7481 St. Helena Highway South, and describes the winery in terms of its Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay and its sourcing from vineyards across the valley. A registry for a shared holiday meal fits that self description, which the winery states simply in its announcement: its wines are meant to be opened and shared.
