If I were to pool many of you about what you consider to be your top California Merlot, my guess is that I would get many responses who say their answer is the Duckhorn Merlot. There is good reason for this success. A brand that has been very immune to the Sideways Phenomenon, Duckhorn first pushed their Merlot wines back in the 1980s and were a huge part of Merlot’s major successes in the 1990s. People were immediately gratified by the approachability of these wines.
I have had many of these Duckhorn Merlots back to the 1990s and I have been so impressed how the wines aged. I even had my birth year wine from 1980 that was still singing albeit very old. The wines grow more soft and tend to hold their fruit really well. Even Duckhorn Merlots that are eight to ten years old can appear as very youthful. Today their Decoy wines and their Decoy Merlot offer some serious value at a very consumer friendly price point.
Over the past five plus years Duckhorn has achieved magical success with their Merlots, with their ‘Three Palms Vineyard’ even being named the #1 wine in the world by Wine Spectator a few years back. I recently had the chance to taste all of the new Merlots by Duckhorn and was really impressed. Their 2019 Decoy ‘California’ Merlot (OB, 90) offers good balance and structure with bright red and dark fruit flavors. Learn more about these great wines duckhorn.come and here are my reviews of the new Duckhorn and Decoy Merlots.
2019 Decoy ‘California’ Merlot- Soft, round and showing really good value, the 2019 Decoy Merlot offers ripe red and dark fruits with tobacco leaf undercurrents and a nice sense of viscosity. Medium-bodied and nicely balanced, enjoy over the next five years. Drink 2021-2026- 90
2018 Duckhorn ‘Napa Valley’ Merlot- Balanced and sturdy, the 2018 Duckhorn ‘Napa Valley’ Merlot is an outstanding effort that has some really good cellaring potential. Once on the nose this takes on layers of expresso bean and chocolate cake alongside dark currant tones that all meld in the glass. Full-bodied and delicious with its core of dark fruit favors, the 2018 Duckhorn ‘Napa Valley’ Merlot will cellar well over the next ten to fifteen years. Drink 2021-2033- 92
2018 Duckhorn ‘Three Palms Vineyard’ Merlot- A magical new wine, the 2018 ‘Three Palms Vineyard’ by Duckhorn is one of the best of its kind that I have eve tasted. The heady aromatics bring you back to the glass for more enjoyment as Turkish coffee, dark cherry cordial, tar and leather tones all brilliantly combine. Full-throttle, yet showing great acidity and texture, this intense, hedonistic style of Merlot is brilliant to enjoy now with its milk chocolate, creme de cassis and coffee ground flavors. I can imagine this cellaring well for another twenty years, but it is very hard to resist in its unadulterated youth. Drink 2021-2038- 95