Rob's "Wine of the Week" Archives
So here is my wine review for the week of November 10th...
DUCKHORN MERLOTS CURRENT RELEASES 2004-2006
Description: Years ago, Duckhorn was a solid go-to wine for Napa Valley red wine lovers. Sadly, they have fallen prey to the boom of the industry and branched out into making far too many wines, some under different labels and the quality has suffered greatly. Duckhorn wines are now so inconsistent that you can’t simply buy a bottle and know it will be good. In fact, many times it is quite horrible. And for a winery that can charge close to $100 for a bottle of merlot, that’s unacceptable.
Duckhorn does still make some great wines however. Finding them is the trick. If you go their website, you will see an array of currently available wines and no idea how to choose which ones to buy. I am here to help.
How and when I drank it: Over the course of the weekend of November 7-9 at my house.
How to get it: Some Duckhorn is widely, easily and readily available at almost all wine and liquor stores, many grocery stores, on numerous restaurant wine lists and of course at the winery in Napa. All of these wines were available through the Duckhorn winery website at the time of review.
How Much: The bottles range from $50-$90 from the winery
My Thoughts: I blindly wrapped all of the bottles I tasted and alternated between them over the course of the weekend and much to my chagrin found that nothing has changed; Duckhorn continues to produce spectacular wines right next to putrid ones and price is no guide to finding the right ones.
Overall Score: Howell Mountain 2004: Rot-gut wine at $75 per bottle that shouldn’t be drunk by anyone, let alone someone paying that much for a thin, headache inducing jaunt into a musty bottle of red. 0 Vines
2005 Three Palms: Better than the Howell mountain, but also $20 more expensive and still not worth it. You can taste the lack of attention being paid to the wine in the clear unbalanced presentation of this wine. The price increase offsets the slightly better quality. 0 vines.
2005 estate grown: This is the winner, hands down. Out of nowhere, a beautiful bottle of big, Napa valley red; it is perfectly balanced, lightly tannic, with a great, well rounded finish. A beautiful red to serve before heading into a massive Napa cabernet. It isn't cheap at $85, but it’s worth it. 5 vines.
DUCKHORN 2005 ESTATE GROWN = 
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