Duckhorn Vineyards is celebrating 50 years, and we are celebrating #MerlotThursday! Today, we’re drinking Merlot and raising a glass to founders Dan and Margaret Duckhorn. (Dan passed away earlier this year at the age of 87, just as this 50th anniversary edition was arriving in stores and restaurants. Margaret passed in 2022.)
Carole Hicke interviewed the Duckhorns in 1995 for an oral history of California winemakers kept in the UC Berkeley archives. In their conversation, the story emerges of how Merlot gained a foothold in Napa Valley.
Dan and Margaret, inspired by a trip to Bordeaux, secured Merlot grapes from the now-famous Three Palms Vineyard. Later, as their nursery operation expanded, they worked with certified cuttings from the University of California’s Foundation Plant Material Service.
The Duckhorns’ first Merlot vintage (of 800 cases) came in 1978. Dan describes the inaugural bottling as “all right” but “a little too soft.” They played with the composition of the blend, adding around 15% Cabernet Sauvignon from other Napa sites. They treated the Merlot gently, using new Bordeaux barrels and avoiding heavy maceration–an approach Dan contrasted with the stainless-steel-and-old-oak treatment common for red wines at the time.
American drinkers embraced it. Margaret later recalled that Duckhorn had enjoyed strong demand for its Merlot from the beginning, before the broader surge in American interest in the variety.
Duckhorn’s Merlot was described by critics as riper and fleshier than traditional Bordeaux blends, with plenty of fruit and subtle baking-spice character. It was not overly tannic, and was regarded as both easy-to-drink and capable of serious aging. Merlot’s rise as a varietal wine during the 1980s and 1990s is closely linked to the Duckhorn brand–so much that Dan acquired the nickname “Mr. Merlot.”
We all know what happened to Merlot next. But it doesn’t diminish the entrepreneurial story, or the virtue of the grape itself.
Uncorking the 2023 Duckhorn and pouring it for guests–even those who profess to not like Merlot–it’s easy to see this wine’s appeal. Fragrant red cherry and cherry blossoms soar from the glass, accented by cozy, baking-day aromas of cinnamon and crumbled graham cracker. The palate is medium-bodied and lightly grippy, with plum skins and lingering aromatics of rhubarb, cedar, and lavender.
This wine is not slight, but neither is it mean or muscular, the way Cab-based wines can be in their youth. It is fruity, undeniably. But it has a brightness that’s missing from the jammy, over-oaked Merlot straw man that’s so often invoked in arguments against the variety.
Nor was this wine created to please a simple American palate, as is sometimes implied. In the Hicke interview, Dan says, “There was no economic reason for starting out in Merlot. I wish [I could say] I was clairvoyant as to what subsequently happened, but all to the contrary: It was what I liked.”
On Merlot, he continues, “I like the softness, the seductiveness, the color, the fact that it went with a lot of different foods, it wasn’t so dominant like Cabernet and so bold, didn’t need to take the aging, and had this sort of velvety texture to it. It seemed to me to be a wonderful thing to drink.” Tasting this Merlot, it seems that way to us, too.
Further Reading:
Carole Hicke: Mostly Merlot: The History of Duckhorn Vineyards (1995 interview with Margaret and Dan Duckhorn, PDF file)
Duckhorn Vineyards: Remembering Dan Duckhorn: The Visionary Who Changed American Wine
Bottle: Duckhorn Vineyards “50th Anniversary” Napa Valley Merlot (2023) – California, United States
Variety: Merlot (78%), Cabernet Sauvignon (19%), Malbec (2%), Cabernet Franc (1%)
ABV: 14.5%
Suggested retail: $58
My rating: 9.3 (out of 10)
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.
On Thursdays, we Merlot! You can view archived #MerlotThursday reviews here.
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