The Wine Fairy

It’s time for some Merlot on this Merlot Thursday! 🍇

Today’s Merlot was tasted at a Duckhorn dinner at Carrabba’s Italian Grill in Dallas. Decoy by Duckhorn is one of the restaurant chain’s two permanent by-the-glass Merlots. (The other one is Bogle, which was our #MerlotThursday pick a few months ago).

Duckhorn has been a leader in Napa Valley Merlot for decades. They championed the variety from their very first release in 1978, when an 800-case batch of Merlot stood alongside their luxury Cabernet Sauvignon.

Duckhorn launched the Decoy second label in 1985 with the Napa Valley Red Blend. Now available almost anywhere you might “duck” in (sorry) for a dinner-party bottle, Decoy wines have a reputation for being fruity, moderately priced crowd-pleasers.

I have drunk (drank? have dranken? drake?) Decoy Merlot so many times. At first, I worry I won’t be able to be objective about it. But then again, this is wine tasting–so maybe that is a silly concern.

Bright medium ruby in the glass. A familiar, juicy-fruit nose with medium intensity. Red plum dominates, with red and black cherry, blackberry, and a halo of vanilla rounding out its soft and pleasant approach.

The palate is similar, with a medium-plus body and round tannins counter-balanced by bright acidity. Fresh berries-‘n-plums are joined by mint, light cedar, crushed dry oregano and just a touch of green pepper. The finish is smooth and gently toasty, with a final impression of roasted carob and baking chocolate.

One of the biggest strengths of Decoy is its generic completeness. If you were going to sketch out everything you expect to find in a mid-shelf domestic Merlot–all the flavor components, all the structural elements–you’d end up with a description that nearly mirrors what’s in this glass.

Maybe it’s because Decoy helped to define the category, but it really is archetypal: Abundant fruit, silky tannins, a little seasoning from the herb cabinet and the candy drawer. All wrapped up with a recognizable label that makes wine shopping a piece of cake. (“Honey, just get the one with the duck. No, not the French chicken–the duck.”)

Because I hadn’t tried Decoy Merlot in a while (and because it was being poured as the final wine), I expected it to register as quite sweet. But it’s an immaculately balanced product, sitting right in the is-there-or-isn’t-there zone for residual sugar. (My tasting buddy and I disagreed about the sweetness at the table and had to look it up later.)

I doubt there’s a huge amount of vintage variation in Decoy, but the 2022 tastes more red-fruited and greener than I remember. (A positive for me, generally.) The technical sheet’s vintage notes allude to an early harvest due to weather…perhaps accounting for the freshness and even the hint of mintiness that can be found in this Merlot.

The evening’s wines were presented by Duckhorn representative Caitlin Hartwigsen. She introduced each pairing with pride, despite the table with the drunk(?) suburban dads who kept quacking at her and hooting with laughter. (Really? Who raised you?)

As the Decoy brand hits 40 years of age, it’s still a high-performing wine in the $20-ish price bracket. As of the 2019 vintage, Decoy Merlot no longer falls under the Sonoma County appellation and is now labeled as “California.” (The grapes come from various sites in Sonoma County, Mendocino County, and San Luis Obispo County.) It is, however, still just ducky–staying consistent and approachable while sidestepping the trap of being jammy Merlot candy.

On food pairing: At the January 2026 Wine Dinner, Decoy Merlot was served with another throwback Carrabba’s menu item, the Chocolate Creme Brûlée with Strawberries.

Although I liked both the wine and custard, this pairing wasn’t my favorite. Chocolate + red wine is tough to pull off anyway–and Decoy, it turns out, is fairly dry for a big Cali Merlot, with ~5g/L residual sugar.

Too dry for a dessert pairing, IMO. The berries rob the Merlot of its fruit, and the mint and dark-chocolate garnishes on the creme brûlée had the effect of obscuring the wine’s subtle cocoa and mint notes, rather than amplifying them. (My local ‘Rabba’s no longer offers brick-oven pizzas–which is a shame because they still have a brick oven and Decoy Merlot is a helluva good pizza wine.)

The second course (Goldeneye Anderson Valley Pinot Noir with Shrimp Linguine Fra Diavolo) was more successful, the sweet-spice aromas of the Pinot complementing the sweetness of the shellfish and the wine’s substantial acids standing up to the tanginess of crushed Italian tomatoes.

The 2022 Decoy is 95% Merlot and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon. Aged 12 months in 100% French oak, 40% new and 60% neutral.

Bottle: Decoy by Duckhorn California Merlot (2022)

Variety: Merlot (95%), Cabernet Sauvignon (5%)

ABV: 14.1%

Suggested retail: $25 (It retails for about $18 in DFW.)

My rating: 8.7

On Thursdays, we Merlot! Pour yourself a glass and join in. (You can view archived #MerlotThursday reviews here.)

Review disclosure: I was not compensated or provided any free products for this review. Opinions expressed on The Wine Fairy blog are entirely my own.