Duckhorn Vineyards, December 21, 2013

Winery - 8 / Wines - 7
Range:  1 to 9 (9 is best, 5 is average)
Classic Napa Valley experience.  Cabernet, Merlot, and Sauvignon Blanc.  By reservation only.
www.duckhorn.com

My friend has been a wine club member at Duckhorn for about a year now and wanted to share the experience with me.  I had been to the Goldeneye tasting room in Anderson Valley and really enjoyed the experience, so I had high expectations for the actual Duckhorn tasting room in Saint Helena.  I have to admit that the experience is quite similar, although the Duckhorn experience is a little less intimate due to the sheer volume of customers they attract.  Clearly, the wine-club experience is different from the first-time visitor’s experience, namely in the number of wines that you get to experience.  Wine-club members will have the opportunity to taste a broader selection of wines, including a few limited-release wines, both from Duckhorn and from Goldeneye.  I expect that even the non-club member tasting offers plenty of wine to enjoy – if you are curious about something special, you might want to ask about it.

The entry to Duckhorn Vineyards tasting room

The Duckhorn tasting room is located just off of the Silverado Trail at Lodi Lane, though the winery is easily missed if you are not looking for it.  Signs do mark the turn and the driveway entrance, and the building can be seen from the road (as you drive by).  The building is architected to resemble an old farm house, though on a much larger scale.  Inside, there is nothing old or yesteryear about the place.  Rather, each room is decorated with modern taste and works to blend ideal elements from both the old world and the new.  A crackling fire greets guests in the winter as they wait to be seated for their tasting.  Rich cherry-wood accents are found everywhere providing a gentle contrast to the light oak flooring.  A large, glass, temperature-controlled bottle room provides a visual distraction to the waiting area and the inside seating area.  A large circular service bar occupies the middle of the tasting room where the staff assembles your wine-tasting experience.  Plenty of natural light streams into the tasting room should you prefer to taste indoors, and ample windows connect you with the outside.  In warm weather, guests may choose to be seated outside on the veranda overlooking the garden and vineyards, though you can expect to wait for one of these spots during busier weekends. 

Inside the tasting room at Duckhorn Vineyards

The first thing you will need to visit here is a reservation.  The second thing you will need (if you are a wine club member) is a designated driver.  Duckhorn has a number of wines in their portfolio, and they want you to experience as much of it as possible.  (You should allow a little extra time to do so.)  Upon arrival, each guest is handed a pour of their Sauvignon Blanc, in this case, the 2012 vintage, which I enjoyed while we waited for our table.  Once seated, we were poured a number of wines in quick succession so that you could enjoy a sip of one before the next was poured, but you ended up with all of the wines in front of you for comparison.  We started off with the 2010 Goldeneye Pinot Noir, then enjoyed the 2010 Three Palms Merlot, the 2010 Atlas Peak Merlot, the 2010 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, and ended with the 2010 Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon.  The Three Palms Merlot stood out from the others and was my favorite of the lineup.  Because my friend is a wine-club member, we were also offered a couple pours from other limited bottlings, but as the driver, I had to draw the line for myself.

In good weather, it's worth waiting for a seat on the Veranda at Duckhorn Vineyards.

Based on this experience, I would rate the winery as an 8 and the wines as a 7.