93 points – 2 Puffs Connoisseurs' Guide to California Wines 09/01/2010 A long-time winner when it comes to Merlot, Duckhorn still ranks among the best. Rich, ripe and juicy with plenty of vanillin oak sweetening its way, this well-extracted offering shows off the varietal's supple side and yet sports a fairly firm underpinning of grippy young tannins. While it has just enough frontal richness to allow early drinking with heartier cuts of beef, this wine will show far better if given a chance to develop, and it should be left alone for four or five years.