Duckhorn Vineyards, Napa Valley, Merlot, 2022

The original, groundbreaking and unchangingly excellent American Merlot, Duckhorn is a byword for being in the know about just how good Merlot can be.

Opening with trademark flavours of black cherry, plum and baking spices, with floral notes on top, this is a stunning glass of wine. The palate is supple and highly polished, seamlessly integrating tannin and fruit quality, with a long and balanced finish the remains vibrant and flavour-filled until the end.

This Merlot is blended with portions of its Bordeaux bed-fellows (13% Cabernet Sauvignon and 2% Cabernet Franc), which creates a depth and structure that will make you reassess Merlot as a varietal and California as a seriously fine place for excellent wine. 

True, the character of Miles in 2004's Sideways made a dent in global sales of the grape, but this wine was always the exception - it has everything that all fine wines require: structure, age-ability, depth, balance, intensity, complexity and length. 

Dan and Margaret have always pioneered Merlot's growth and championed its supremacy in their plans and vineyard developments. As an attitude and philosophy it is unparalleled in the world outside of perhaps one or two Tuscan wineries and a handful of Châteaux on the Right Bank of the Gironde. This is one of the best wines made from Merlot that you can get. 

The Duckhorn winery was established in 1976 by Dan and Margaret Duckhorn who set out with the aim of becoming one of the best producers in the Napa Valley. They were one of the first forty Napa wineries and have therefore pretty much seen it all, as well as having been part of the developments in the wider US wine movement. With only four winemakers in four decades and a landholding of just under 300 acres, theirs is a labour of determination with contextual awareness and appreciation of potential. There are other wineries doing similar things, but these have been at it the longest and (I reckon) still offer excellent value for money.

Names don't win prizes, but if they did, I'd give a prize to Dan Duckhorn. A hybrid Beano-Warner Brother's legend, he'd be feared for disrupting mayhem with his trusty fowl-imitation device that would render the culprit unable to continue in their misdemeanour upon hearing its mighty quack. But in truth Dan and Margaret set up their Duckhorn winery in 1976 and two years later released 800 cases each of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. From then they have become one of Napa's leading producers, specialising (almost uniquely for the region) as producers of spectacular Merlot.