usa appellation napa valley ava founded 1976 first vintage 1978 key people dan duckhorn founder and chairman of the board renee ary winemaker alex ryan ceo parent company duckhorn wine company cases yr 100 000 known for three palms vineyard merlot varietals merlot cabernet sauvignon sauvignon blanc chardonnay distribution national tasting by appointment open to public website www.duckhorn.com duckhorn vineyards is a boutique winery in st. helena california specializing in premium merlot wines . contents 1 history 2 production 3 references 4 external links history edit founder dan duckhorn a santa rosa native and berkeley graduate toured the pomerol and saint milion in the bordeaux region of france in the mid 1970s with ric forman 1 who as winemaker of sterling vineyards had introduced vintage dated merlot wine to california . he returned to california with his then wife margaret the couple divorced in 2000 to promote a new market for merlot . they founded duckhorn vineyards in 1976 . 1 production grew from 1 600 cases of cabernet sauvignon and merlot in 1978 to more than 20 000 cases in 2006 . beginning in 1988 duckhorn purchased seven estate vineyards on howell mountain and the valley floor 2 for a total of 168 acres 68.0 ha in napa valley and four vineyards totaling 153 acres 61.9 ha in the anderson valley mendocino county . 1 in july 2007 gi partners a private equity firm purchased a controlling interest in duckhorn wine company and with it duckhorn s various brands and operations 3 at a valuation believed to exceed 250 million . 1 4 production edit duckhorn vineyards produces several single vineyard merlots and cabernet sauvignons as well as a highly regarded sauvignon blanc . in 2005 the san francisco chronicle proclaimed dan duckhorn its winemaker of the year and named four of his wines to its list of top 100 wines of 2005 . in addition to duckhorn duckhorn wine company also operates goldeneye a maker of pinot noir in anderson valley and paraduxx a blend of zinfandel and cabernet sauvignon made at a winery on the silverado trail between yountville and oakville california . 5 the company also labels under the names decoy migration and canvasback . 1 some of duckhorn s napa vineyards in the pope valley region are managed by oscar renteria . 6 references edit a b c d e james laube & daniel sogg july 31 2007 . new investor takes control of duckhorn wine co. . wine spectator . retrieved 2007 07 06 . continuing the tradition . retrieved 2007 07 06 . steve heimoff july 2007 . duckhorn wine company sells controlling share . wine enthusiast . retrieved 2007 08 01 . jon bonn 2007 08 01 . napa valley stunner famed winery sold . san francisco chronicle . retrieved 2007 08 01 . linda murphy 2005 12 08 . winemaker of the year duckhorn takes wing . san francisco chronicle . retrieved 2007 08 01 . alan goldfarb tending the vines of the napa valley an interview with salvador and oscar renteria appellation america november 1st 2006 external links edit duckhorn vineyards official site duckhorn wine company official site retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title duckhorn vineyards & oldid 649882793 categories wineries in napa valleycompanies based in napa county californiast . helena california navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages add links this page was last modified on 4 march 2015 at 19 52 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; additional terms may apply . by using this site you agree to the terms of use and privacy policy . wikipedia is a registered trademark of the wikimedia foundation inc. a non profit organization . privacy policy about wikipedia disclaimers contact wikipedia developers cookie statement mobile view