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| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 89.7 pts. and median of 90 pts. in 83 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by awkiii on 1/1/2024 & rated 93 points: corked disintegrated; thought it was going to be a disaster. saw last posted said it was getting to end of lilfe.
after decanting for 1 -2 hour the wine was excellent. everyone liked it
3.0L gave it more life (184 views) | | | Tasted by PDavisMarble on 9/4/2021 & rated 91 points: Consistent with the prior bottles. Certainly aged, and heading down hill, but an elegant and lovely wine (1385 views) | | | Tasted by PDavisMarble on 1/9/2021 & rated 82 points: Unlike past bottles (including a few months ago) this bottle was stewed and well over the hill, showing no charm or complexity. (1680 views) | | | Tasted by PDavisMarble on 11/8/2020 & rated 90 points: Dark ruby with only the faintest hint of brown. Decanted, a bit of sediment. Nose of leather, raspberries, a hint of baking spice and cedar. Elegant attack -- leather and wet stones, with a bit of leather and tobacco. Some red fruits -- a bit of plum, raspberry and cherry. This has aged beautifully. (1690 views) | | | Tasted by bergkamp10 on 10/26/2018 & rated 88 points: Deep red, with good color in the glass. Stewed plums on the nose with the earthy sour note often noted with aged merlot. On the palate this showed it’s age. The hints of dark fruit and chocolate were overwhelmed by heat, and oak. (2741 views) | | | Tasted by Ha-wine on 6/21/2018: Half bottle.
Color still has a touch of ruby, with the expected rust as well.
Lots of old age funk in the nose upon opening, and it remains after five minutes.
Surprisingly soft and round on the palate, and while the fruit doesn’t hit first, or second, there isn’t any sense of scratchiness or tannins over fruit, just the funk of a bottle that should have been enjoyed sooner if you prefer the fruit forward. That being said, it’s definitely not a stand-alone quaffer, but with the right food pairing this could still satisfy. (2852 views) | | | Tasted by Tarpon222 on 11/22/2017 & rated 90 points: Smooth and elegant; color browning. Not going to get any better than it is now. (2708 views) | | | Tasted by woodsylord on 1/6/2017 & rated 91 points: Nose of black and blue fruits, some pastille notes, lavender.
Palate - elegant and powerful, well evolved. Vivid macerated blackberry and fresh blueberry. Some subtle cassis. Just a touch of leather and other very subtle earthy / bottle age notes, but overall very modern, classic, and clean. The theme here is clean, fruit forward profile. Bottle was purchased new at the winery in '06 and stored in my cellar ever since. Drank with lamb shanks & gremolata. Perfect accompaniment. Bottle faded significantly after a few hours and the next day was underwhelming. Drink now. (3456 views) | | | Tasted by Roggen on 6/23/2015 & rated 93 points: Waaauv... What an experience. Full of cherries, dark plum hint og leather and tobacco....drink up! (5120 views) | | | Tasted by Vinnut on 1/17/2014 & rated 91 points: Deep dark reddish-purple in color. Fragrant, attractive and complex nose of ripe dark fruits of cherries, blackberries & plums with earthy/dusty overtones, olives, herbs, tobacco, spices, tea, cocoa, mocha, mint and a hint of vanilla in the background. Full bodies with a very good concentration of developed, plush & polished ripe dark fruit flavors of sweet cherries, boysenberries & plums with herbs & spices, earthy, minerals, licorice with a touch of vanilla. Long lingering smooth finish. Drinks quite well at present but has the potential for further but limited development. (6058 views) | | | Tasted by Whinojb on 1/1/2013 & rated 89 points: this wine is fading - In it's peak, it probably would have gotten another 2-3 points. I could still taste the fruit but the nose was a bit more subtle than other Duckhorn Merlots. In my opinion, the Duckhorn Merlot is their best wine - as long as it stays within the price point, it's a CA merlot that is worth the time and money - while most, in my opinion, are not. (7039 views) | | | Tasted by rmgambrel on 1/22/2012 & rated 92 points: Good fruit, nice nose with fruit, cedar and tobacco. well done but on the downhill side of the peak. If you have any more drink it. (7992 views) | | | Tasted by bluedog on 1/16/2012 & rated 91 points: Nose of ripe blackberry. very good but fading fruit. Medium finish. Still some tannins rolling along. Drinking very well. Yummy. (6897 views) | | | Tasted by Brsed on 8/8/2011 & rated 91 points: Note a very pronounced nose but nice fruit that seemed to be receding a little into the background with some flavors of earth coming to the fore. Strong tannic back bone. I would drink up during next 12 months. (5971 views) | | | Tasted by redman77 on 4/7/2011 & rated 93 points: MAN IN THE BOAT OVERBOARD!!! Wow served next to Shafer Merlot 2004 along side with steaks. Stride for stride it was a photo finish...we lost photos and therefore we will call it a tie. Drink up..I doubt it can get any better (5007 views) | | | Tasted by rmgambrel on 4/2/2011 & rated 92 points: Drank with steaks and it was drinking very nice. Opened about 30 minutes before serving and the fruit and nose was very nice. It was still warming a little as it was brought straight from the cellar but I was pleasantly surprised by the fruity, smooth, velvety flavors. Only one bottle left and wish I had more. If it's not at it's peak it has to be close. (3893 views) | | | Tasted by danscellar on 1/17/2011 & rated 89 points: Very well balanced wine, not much nose, very mellow and smooth with good fruit. Must admit I was a bit underwhelmed but you have to love the Duck on the cork!! (3835 views) | | | Tasted by JMeski on 9/4/2010 & rated 90 points: Duckhorn Merlot is... well, THE standard for California Merlots. This one is no exception. Soft, though bigger than French merlot, with berries on the tongue, but not super fruity. (4905 views) | | | Tasted by Niagara on 9/4/2010 & rated 92 points: Reference wine for Cali Merlot. Really well done, middle of the road, decent price point. Can't screw up by buying this one. (4665 views) | | | Tasted by kietkopelli on 5/13/2010 & rated 90 points: This is the quintessential wine for anyone who likes CA style Merlots. It's bigger than big but in some aspects it's rather one-dimensional: fruit-n-oak. On the nose it has dried cherries and a hint of sea-salt or those fresh strawberries you get some the sea side stand around the Half Moon Bay through Santa Cruz area. The alcohol does come through a bit hot but nothing the fruit can't handle. The mouth it's super lush, the creme de cassis is so thick you'd think it came from a spoon and not a glass. Oaky butter comes right behind followed by a hint of ripe bananas. Finishes nice and long.
This is a very nice wine but living in the Bay Area I have access to dozens of wines like it at half the prize. There are some Duckhorn specific nuances that I didn't mention but unless you compare this wine with similar Merlots those nuances aren't worth mentioning. Nice wine if you can afford it otherwise pickup a Pomerol for half the price.
Remember you don't drink the label. (4896 views) | | | Tasted by bowmanbc on 5/6/2010 & rated 89 points: liked this a lot. not much new to add considering all the other reviews. (4906 views) | | | Tasted by Loren Sonkin on 1/31/2010 & rated 92 points: Merlots on a Saturday Afternoon: The problem with tasting blind is that you might like a wine that wish you wouldn't. This was one of those guilty pleasures. Lots of fruit, mostly dark cherries and black raspberries. Lush, velvety texture. Not complex but interesting and lush to drink. I would have been surprised if this was not from Napa. A fruit lover's wine and while I wouldn't want to drink it all the time, it was very tasty this afternoon. (6237 views) | | | Tasted by shadow on 1/30/2010 & rated 90 points: A Merlot tasting for the back room group, humm, I liked this, but as is typical for the varietal, good merlot is like kissing your wife goodnight, this wine delivered (5536 views) | | | Tasted by mszig on 1/25/2010: Take to the desert for Patty & Dan Jan 2010 (5382 views) | | | Tasted by Aovalle on 12/27/2009 & rated 88 points: I'm not a merlot fan but thinone is very good. Full body lushious and juicy. Lots of dark fruit and oak nuances. Silky, some spice. Overall a very good merlot. (5502 views) | | | Only displaying the 25 most recent notes - click to see all notes for this wine... |
| Duckhorn Vineyards Producer website
Decoy Wines websiteMerlotMerlot is a dark blue–colored wine grape variety, that is used as both a blending grape and for varietal wines. The name Merlot is thought to be a diminutive of merle, the French name for the blackbird, probably a reference to the color of the grape. Its softness and "fleshiness", combined with its earlier ripening, makes Merlot a popular grape for blending with the sterner, later-ripening Cabernet Sauvignon, which tends to be higher in tannin.USAAmerican wine has been produced since the 1500s, with the first widespread production beginning in New Mexico in 1628. Today, wine production is undertaken in all fifty states, with California producing 84% of all U.S. wine. The continent of North America is home to several native species of grape, including Vitis labrusca, Vitis riparia, Vitis rotundifolia, and Vitis vulpina, but the wine-making industry is based almost entirely on the cultivation of the European Vitis vinifera, which was introduced by European settlers. With more than 1,100,000 acres (4,500 km2) under vine, the United States is the fourth-largest wine producing country in the world, after Italy, Spain, and France.California2021 vintage: "Unlike almost all other areas of the state, the Russian River Valley had higher than normal crops in 2021, which has made for a wine of greater generosity and fruit forwardness than some of its stablemates." - Morgan Twain-Peterson Napa Valley Napa Valley Wineries and Wine (Napa Valley Vintners)Napa ValleySt. Helena |
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