Duckhorn Vineyards

This was the third winery visited on day 2 out of our 4 magical days in Napa.

Unfortunately this visit was far from the magical experience we anticipated, we were running 10 minutes late since our visit at Joseph Phelps went over, my girlfriend called them to let them know, their response was that after 30 minutes we may lose our spots and they would have to see if there was anything available upon arrival.

We arrived and luckily didn't lose our space, we sat outside with overlooking the nice view, enjoying the nice weather. Our server Jenny was nice and friendly, and were served 5 current vintages.

I must say that all of these wines are good, but I have all of them in my cellar at home, so I didn't want to fly 3,168.4 miles to taste something I'm able to drink at home. I asked Jenny if we could have a taste of the wine of the year and she said that they didn't have a single bottle left... Then I talked to a manager to see if they can pull something out, or at least something older and more exclusive, this guy said that unfortunately they didn't have anything, so Jenny said "let me see what I can do for you" and I was immediately savoring for something good...

Like 10 minutes passed by and we were about to leave since we had another appointment at Merus Wines, when Jenny appeared with 2 glasses she said, "This is xxxxx" and immediately left... There was no explanation given as to the type or year of the wine. I didn't even know what "was so special in those glasses", they seemed annoyed over the request. We wanted to purchase a nice wine bag, but because there was nobody at the register to pay, we left without it.

Despite this tasting being complimentary because of being a member of their club, it was totally unworthy and unmemorable. We paid $30 for a cheese platter that was smaller than others we received free of charge at Alpha Omega and Ovid. I don't see myself returning to this winery, my visits to Napa are too short to be wasted, instead I will keep discovering new and smaller wineries with a more personal touch where I will feel appreciated. I felt as if I was just a number and they didn't value my presence.

To end on another note:

Duckhorn has always been one of my favorite wines, in particular their Merlots, many years ago I was a fan of the Duckhorn Three Palm Merlot, and I believe it was the 2011 vintage which is no secret was a tough one. I joined their wine club over 3 years ago, I have been buying their periodic wine shipments plus many other additional bottles, I can say with confidence that I have spent over $5,000 in Duckhorn wines. When Wine Spectator selected the 2014 Duckhorn Three Palms Merlot as wine of the year I was really happy for them and for the future of Merlot in general, as a funny side story, 3 weeks before that day I was drinking with my friends from a monthly blind tasting and I joked "that I had a Three Palms Merlot inside my wine bag", since many people still remember the movie Sideways, some wine connoisseurs rather stay away from Merlot when matching up with bold, serious wines. So one of the members at the table supported me and said, "I have also drank that wine and I like it a lot". Three weeks after when the news came out I received a call from a good wine friend present that night to apologize!

Just after I hung up with him I called Duckhorn and placed an order of 3 Three Palm Merlot 750ml, 1 Three Palm Merlot 1.5L and another 3.0, plus a few other cheap ones to complete the case and get the discount. When they shipped the wine only 1 of the 3 Three Palm Merlot 750ml arrived. I immediately emailed them and called, I got a reply from Sasha Braden (Membership Manager) implying that my story was fabricated. So I emailed her with all the weights of each package based on FedEx tracking's and the total weight of one of the boxes was at least 9lbs below what it should be if all bottles were in there. They then immediately shipped out the missing bottles, I never got an apology, nor a concession for their mistake.