Winemaker Notes
Critical Acclaim
All VintagesThis is a Napa Valley cabernet that does everything right. Renee Ary blends fruit from Duckhorn’s estate with grapes from growers, including 12 percent merlot to point up the luscious texture, aging it for 16 months in French oak barrels (half of them new), without the wine becoming overtly oaky. It’s a wine of elegance and restraint, delicious in its sweet purple-plum intensity, succulent in its earthy tannins. Those mineral tannins retreat into the finish, allowing the savory fruit to move in. Accessible now, this will only improve with a few years in bottle.
Founded by Dan and Margaret Duckhorn in 1976, Duckhorn Vineyards has been crafting classic Napa Valley wines for nearly 40 years. This winemaking tradition has grown to include seven meticulously farmed Estate vineyards, located throughout the various microclimates of the Napa Valley. Focused on quality and consistency, these Estate vineyards are an essential element in making wines of distinction. Pioneering and perfecting Merlot as a premium varietal, Duckhorn Vineyards now makes several elegant Merlot and distinctive Cabernet Sauvignon bottlings that showcase its premium vineyard sites. Duckhorn Vineyards has been named one of the “Top 100 Wineries” in the world eight times by Wine & Spirits, and the 2014 Duckhorn Vineyards Napa Valley Merlot Three Palms Vineyard was named the “2017 Wine of the Year,” topping Wine Spectator’s annual list of the world’s “Top 100 Wines.”
