The Duckhorn Event

I drug my neighbor, Chris, over to Upstairs 2 at the Wine House for a Duckhorn event. In the past, this tasting has been mass chaos, with Duckhorn providing some library wines as well as virtually every label they produce. This particular event was much more low-key and had the winery focusing on their new Decoy label.

Up to this point, Decoy was simply a red wine blend. Duckhorn has diversified the label, sourcing quality fruit from other wineries. For example, the 2009 Chardonnay was purchased from Patz and Hall and includes Dutton vineyard fruit. Not bad. In addition, they showed the Decoy Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon.

The 2009 Sauvignon Blanc was consistent with past vintages, blending in 25% Semillon and dousing it with some oak. Clearly Californian, but modelled after the Bordeaux-style. Lots of tropical notes, banana, some citrus. Very drinkable but definitely not the style of SB I go for.

The Decoy line-up was good. I didn't particularly care for the Chardonnay, but that's no real surprise. The Merlot showed typical plum/cherry/spice, but lighter oaked than the big brother (Duckhorn) and, for that reason, I actually liked it. Same for the Cabernet - a bit cleaner with black/blue fruits and not masked under an ocean of spice. Thumbs up on this new value line-up, guys!

The Goldeneye Pinot Noir 2007 was a real surprise. I think I've grown into Anderson Valley Pinot over these past few years. Racy acidity, pomegranete, spice, black cherry, a little mushroom and bitter earth on the finish. I was kind of surprised by this one. And with the deals they're offering, you might be able to find this at a reaonable price.

The Duckhorn Merlot 2007 was pretty consistent, as well. Rich black cherry and dark plum, mocha, with the red fruits leaning into black a little. Lots of baking spice and pretty firmly structured. As Chris said, "a Cab-drinker's Merlot". And it is, since it's the only way anyone can sell Merlot these days.

Lastly, the Paraduxx 2007 was, despite being 70% Zin, decidedly not that Zinn-y. There is a raisined, jammy edge to the flavor, but it's fairly controlled and this seems to be a very good year for the Paraduxx. Dark blue/black fruits with tannin, but only a little. Straight-forward and easy to drink. Fairly seamless as this blend goes.

I fought the urge to go downstairs and shop. I did walk through to assess the state of the retail wine world. There were some fun Italian reds with some age on them that were calling out to me, but with 1400 bottles in the cellar, there was hardly a call to buy them and restraint prevailed for once.