Hey , it's Domain Dave , cheapwinefindercom . We're doing another summer white wine today Decoy Chardonnay 2023 . Found it for $14.99 . It does list on Duckhorn's website for $20 . Duckhorn's website for $20 . So this isn't a cheap wine , but it is a value price and that is their entry level to what they do .
Duckhorn has been around since 1976 . They're an established Merlot producer , one of the best Merlot producers in the world . Two years ago though not too long ago they got bought out by a private equity company , but the winemakers are still doing it . Duckhorns are no longer the company . They were there for decades , but it's now owned by an equity company . I think they're doing some different things . They're getting rid of some of the brands .
Speaker 1I'm not all sure . I know they're looking to move some vineyards that they didn't need . There's trouble going on in California and Washington . Wine just winds down , but it doesn't mean that wine isn't good .
Speaker 1So what do we have with this decoy Chardonnay 2023
? It's a duck decoy , because duck horn that's their actual name and this is a Chardonnay . It's from about 40% from Sonoma , 30% from the Central Coast , about 13% from Mendocino , 8% from Yolo County , which is the northern part of the Central Valley . From the Central Valley , there's Clarksburg and there's Lodi , and then the northern part of that is Yolo , and the 8% they don't know . I don't know how , they don't know , but I'm gonna take a sip . It's soft on the palate and then it kind of bursts with flavor , which is really a nice thing , having all those different locations where the grapes come from . It's 100% Chardonnay . All those grapes coming from the different growing regions all have different characteristics . So you put them all together and all of a sudden you've got different flavors competing your glass , depending on how the winemaker decides to balance the wine out , how to get a little bit of this and a little bit of that , and it's pretty nice .
Speaker 1Another thing that's kind of interesting this is an oak for eight months , but 30% of it is new French oak and that 30% of the new French oak it's malolactic fermentation
. Malolactic fermentation is where they change the acid in the wine , the actual naturally occurring wine , from tart to rounded lactic lactose and that helps bring the oak influence into the wine . And then the other 70% is neutral . Neutral doesn't give you any flavoring French oak . Neutral . Neutral doesn't give you any flavoring French oak , but it gives you a little bit of a difference than stainless steel . Stainless steel is airtight . Oak barrel is watertight but it's not completely airtight , so that little bit of air in there changes things . So you get this really nice .
Speaker 1A lot of , you know , 30% new French oak is kind of . You don't see that in these value price wines . This is $20 wine , according to them . There you see it more . But usually they try to do a balance a little bit here , a little bit . They know first , you second use , third use that type of thing . But here you getting that oak , but it's french oak and french oak is more subtle .
Speaker 1French oak doesn't , uh , really bring the chocolate and vanilla and all those things that american oak does that people really like . I'm gonna take a sip , though I do get a little bit of creamy vanilla . And this wine has flavor . I mean it really does have flavor . It's got really great acidity . The acidity gives it enough structure that all these flavors unfold . I mean I was getting tangerine , nectarine , anjou , pear , apple , lemon , you know , tropical fruit . I was getting all these flavors . None of them jump out , none of them are ripe and juicy . This isn't a fruit bomb , this has just got a lot of flavor . And I know since it's got eight months of oak , and new oak too , for 30% of it .
Speaker 1You know a lot of people think , oh no , it's going to be a butter bomb . No , it's not that either . The the oak is actually kind of uh , subtle . I mean , that little bit of cream does come in and yeah , and you get the spice . But it's really nice . And one other thing about it it's got
a body . So if you're looking to , um , a white wine to pair with some food , something outside , whatever you're going to have , maybe shrimp on the grill or whatever this thing has enough body to stand up to some fairly intense foods Thai food , chinese food . You want some spice ? Well , this will cool it down , and you know . So take a sip and get inspired , you know .
Speaker 1So it's a good bottle of wine . It's a nice Chardonnay . It's not the same old , same old . It's got a few production details . You know that a $10 bottle wouldn't have , and it shows . And it shows in the price and it shows in the flavor . So there you go . This is the Decoy Chardonnay 2023 from Duckhorn . The Duckhorns aren't around anymore , but the winemakers I think they're only on their fourth winemaker in 50 years . So the quality still goes on , even though it is oh . And when they sold Duckhorn , they sold for $2 billion . So there you go . Domain Dave , cheap Wine F finder . Keep it cheap . Adios , I'll be talking to you bye .