Like all of our Decoy wines, our Decoy California Chardonnay benefits from the passion, skill and experience from The Duckhorn Portfolio team. Established more than 30 years ago by legendary vintners Dan and Margaret Duckhorn, our roots run deep at Decoy. From vine to bottle, we craft our wines to the highest standards, using grapes from exceptional vineyards, including from our own estate properties.
This beautiful Chardonnay offers luscious aromas of fresh lemon zest, Mandarin orange, honeysuckle, vanilla and caramel. On the palate, it is silky and rounded, with a creamy mouthfeel that adds depth and richness to the alluring citrus and tropical flavors. The finish is long and refreshing, with bright natural acidity carrying the wine to a vibrant fruit and spice finish.
The vintage began with a cool winter, with late rains, followed by a mild spring and early summer. As the weather turned hot over Labor Day, our Pinot Noir harvest commenced, with the vast majority of the grapes picked over a 10-day period. The late-summer heat also spurred our Cabernet Sauvignon to an early harvest, with our first grapes picked on September 16th. While the impact of smoke required us to be exacting in our grape selection process in both Monterey County and Paso Robles, Southern San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara County were largely unaffected. To ensure the absolute quality of our wines, only the finest grapes were used in 2020, yielding wines with great complexity and depth, generous layers of dark fruit and deep, rich colors.