Quick Review: Decoy Zinfandel 2010

US, CA, Sonoma, Decoy Zinfandel 2010
+ // Fruity // Strawberry, Caramel // Cherry, Cola, White pepper // Med

Paired with a mushroom, spinach and strawberry salad, it was a nice fruity complement to the meal. In this case, knowing what wine we planned to drink, I looked for a recipe with mushroom as an earthy counterpoint, and strawberry to complement the wine.

Back To The Wine

Finally, Tina can get back to exploring wine. Nine short months ago, she had to stop drinking wine. The surgeon general says pregnant women should not drink any alcohol. The research shows "moderate" consumption does not impact on a fetus, but the exact line isn't clear, and she wasn't about to experiment with our baby. So other than a few sips from some some of my better glasses, our exploration of wine has been pretty one-sided for a while.

Unfortuntely, Baby Vinacular did not get the correct time table, and was trying to hold out for an extra couple of weeks. So, following the sage advice of the internet, I offered to bring home a bottle so Tina could have a glass and hopefully induce labor. Directed by her to bring home a Zinfandel, I stumbled across something familiar: a California Zinfandel with a duck on the label, going by the name of "Decoy." Sure enough, it was the table wine label from Duckhorn. More pocketbook friendly than their high-end wines, its being a Duckhorn still gave me confidence in the quality of the product.

We were pleased with the choice. The wine was a little tight when first opened, but blossomed quickly with some ripe red fruit flavors, giving us a vibrant, juicy wine to enjoy. We finished our glasses then set the bottle aside. Little did we know that the next night would see us in the hospital, and we wouldn't be able to get back to it for several days. Imagine our suprise when we returned home with our new baby, and decided that we'd give the remainder of the bottle a go. The ripe fruit had grown even further, into a deep, almost jammy flavor. It isn't really ecommended to let a wine sit for that long, but we are glad it turned out like it did. It held up much better than expected to the aging process after 6 days.

With the new addition to our family safe and sound at home, we are looking forward to getting back to tryig new wines together. And for our first bottle, it was nice to be reminded of the fun learning experiences we can share.

Quick Review: Duckhorn Merlot Part 2

US, CA, Napa, Duckhorn Merlot 2003
++ // Fruity // Blackberry, Raspberry, Herbs // Oak, Coffee, Strawberry // Full
Big, bright flavors, but the tannins were starting to come through and hint that they might overpower the fruit flavors.

US, CA, Napa, Duckhorn Merlot 2002
++ // Fruity // Prune, Dried Berries, Hay // Chocolate, Cherry, Oak, Forrest Floor // Full
This was a difficult vintage, with a hot summer that seemed to come through in some over-ripe fruit flavors.

US, CA, Napa, Duckhorn Merlot 2000
++ // Spicy-Earthy // Blackberry, Cherry, Nutmeg, Fig // Pepper, Chocolate, Berry, Oak // Full
This was a great example of how a great wine can stand up to some aging. The flavors were more subtle and blended than the 2005, but were still huge in the mouth. It was just a bit more difficult to isolate any single flavor note.

Quick Review: Duckhorn Merlot Part 1

US, CA, Napa, Duckhorn Merlot 2009
++ // Fruity // Berry, Peach, Cola, Brown Sugar // Earth, Cherry, Currant, Fig, Oak // Full
This wine was just released, and definitely needed to spend some more time in the bottle to tone down its more astringent flavors, but it showed some great potential.

US, CA, Napa, Duckhorn Merlot 2007
++ // Spicy // Floral, Cherry // Blackberry, Oak, Chocolate, Green Pepper // Medium
This one too seemed like it could stand a little more aging, as there was still some "spikiness" to the flavors.

US, CA, Napa, Duckhorn Merlot 2005
++ // Smooth // Hay, Coffee, Dark Cherry // Cherry, Coffee, Cinnamon, Earth // Full
Apparently this was the largest vintage they have ever produced, by volume, and a perfect season. It was also the high point of the tasting, for us, as it seemed to be the perfectly balanced wine; fruit and earth notes still balanced against a strong tannic backbone.

2012 NYC Wine & Food Festival: Duckhorn Merlot

As the last of our three tasting events at the New York Wine and Food festival, we were invited to a vertical tasting of Merlot from Duckhorn Vineyard in Napa Valley. Duckhorn was the first winemaker in Napa valley to focus on Merlot, while most everyone else was looking at Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay. For the past 40 years, they have sourced grapes from the northern reaches of the Napa appellation, where the climate and soils are more conducive to Merlot.

In 1978, Dan and Margaret Duckhorn released their first Merlot, based on the Bordeaux style--more subtle flavors, with a balance of fruit and earth. Since then, they have been one of the premiere producers of Merlot in California. As demand for Californian wines grew, the demand for Merlot outstripped the supply...until the movie Sideways came along, and ruined everything. These days, the public's demand for Merlot has stabilized to be the second highest consumed varietal, after Cabernet Sauvignon, and Duckhorn continues to release a wide range of wines under a wide range of brand names (all focused on the duck theme), from simple table wines to complex and subtle single-vineyard wines.

We had a chance to try wines from one of their premier vineyards, the Three Palms vineyard, and from six vintages ranging from 2009 to 2000. Each was amazing in its own way, and we learned a few important things.

• These wines are made to be aged; they are held for 3 years before they are released, and will generally reach their peak in 3-5 years.
• Merlot has some big flavors, and pairs well with red meats; something simple with an older bottle, but big, strong flavors with a wine at its peak.
• They recommend we taste our wines from oldest to youngest, as the flavors get more subtle as the wine gets older and the young ones can kind of overwhelm the palette in comparison.

This was a great tasting for us, an opportunity to get a better understanding of what the best of Merlot can really taste like.