Mustard’s Grill on the St Helena Highway, Napa Valley, is a top spot. Self-described as a fancy rib joint with way too many wines, its most celebrated dish is the Truckstop Deluxe – ‘always meat, sometimes potatoes, rarely vegetables’. I can never get enough of it and have popped many a shirt button there.
It was in this glutton’s/lush’s paradise that I encountered the Decoy range of Duckhorn Vineyards. I was instantly smitten. They are impeccable wines from a great Napa estate. Expressly made to be enjoyed young, they ain’t cheap, but compared with other Napa wines of similar quality they are remarkably good value, especially with the discount that Mr Wheeler are generously offering. We rarely offer California wines, least of all of this quality, and I urge you to get stuck in.
The 2020 Duckhorn Decoy Sauvignon Blanc (1) is full, rich and concentrated, with notes of orange peel, lemon, apple, melon, grass and herbs. It’s a cracker and just one sip caused Mrs Ray (who has recently rather taken against Sauvignon Blanc) to beam the widest of beams. It has a weight, an almost buttery texture and slightly less acidity than one might expect, and just lashings of luscious fresh fruit. £27.50 down from £29.95.
Compared with other Napa wines of similar quality, the Duckhorn Decoy range is remarkably good value
The 2020 Duckhorn Decoy Limited Chardonnay (2) is 100 per cent Chardonnay from some of the best vineyard sites in Sonoma Coast. Part oak- and part steel-fermented and aged (with a touch of malolactic fermentation too), there’s depth and complexity here along with fresh, rich, lively, rounded citrus and white stone fruit and a long savoury finish. £36.50 down from £38.95.
The 2019 Duckhorn Decoy Cabernet Sauvignon (3) is rich, dark and intense with hints of mint, plum, blueberry and blackcurrant, and it’s no surprise to learn that there’s a hefty splash of softening Merlot. It’s gloriously enticing with spice, tobacco and vanilla on the finish and the softest of tannins. £27.50 down from £29.95.
The 2019 Duckhorn Decoy Zinfandel (4) is as pale a Zin as I’ve seen but warmly inviting with that inimitable Decoy freshness of fruit. With an added dash of Petite Sirah, there’s pepper and spice on the nose and, above all, oodles of raspberry jam. And it doesn’t disappoint in the mouth either, being as succulent as can be, with additional touches of vanilla and chocolate. Mrs Ray has always said she didn’t like Zinfandel; well she blooming loves this and there was quite a tussle over the bottle as we neared its end. £27.50 down from £29.95.
The 2020 Duckhorn Decoy Pinot Noir (5) will be right up any Pinot lover’s street. A pale cranberry red, it beckons you into its embrace with just one whiff of its fresh plum-cherry fruit. One mouthful and you’ll be as taken as I was. It’s slightly spicy with sour cherry along with the fresh, and strawberry and raspberry too. It’s soft and rounded with decent weight, slightly unexpected given its lightness of colour. And, yep, there’s that magnificent freshness again. £27.50 down from £29.95.
Finally, the 2018 Duckhorn Decoy Limited Red Wine (6), a deep, dark, brooding magenta. A resolutely non-European blend of Merlot, Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon and Tempranillo, it’s crammed with violets, cherries and chocolate with – yet again – that signature brightness of aroma and flavour. And it’s so soft. As Mrs R said, ‘If velvet had a smell, it would smell like that.’ It’s a proper grown-up-dinner-party wine. £36.50 down from £38.95.
For those who want a little extra treat, we’ve an extremely alluring Duckhorn Quartet (7), comprising one bottle each of 2019 Duckhorn Paraduxx Napa Proprietary Blend, 2020 Duckhorn Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, 2020 Duckhorn Migration Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir and 2021 Duckhorn Napa Valley Merlot in a limited-edition wooden box – yours for £220. The Decoy Dozen mixed case (8) has two bottles each of wines 1-6. Delivery, as ever, is free.
Order online today or download an order form.
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