Decoy Wines

Decoy Wines is a label established in the 1990s as a second brand of the Napa Valley-based Duckhorn Vineyards. Decoy now produces a number of value wines from a variety of grapes from Sonoma County and in specific vintages, Napa Valley.

Decoy initially came about as a single wine, a red Bordeaux-style blend, within the Duckhorn catalogue. Its success grew into a wholly new brand with a focus primarily on Sonoma County instead of the Napa Valley Merlot that Duckhorn had been known for. The Decoy Red blend is still the flagship, but the winery has grown to include single-variety Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Zinfandel, Pinot Noir, Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay.

In 2012 and 2013, Decoy acquired its first estate vineyards, the Ridgeline Vineyard and Brownell Vineyard, both in the Alexander Valley AVA. Ridgeline sits at a high elevation on the slopes of Oak Mountain and grows Bordeaux varieties. Brownell Vineyard is in the valley floor on gravel soils that retain heat well and allow the vineyard to grow ripe, robust Cabernet Sauvignon. The wines are made from a combination of estate and grower fruit.

Duckhorn also owns the labels Paraduxx, Migration, Goldeneye and Canvasback. The wineries employ a collaborative approach and, as a result, a number of wines from different catalogs are the product of consultation between different labels' winemakers.