Winemaker who founded one of California's most recognizable estates and sparked the Merlot craze has died
Dan Duckhorn holds a bin of just-harvested grapes in an undated photo. (Provided by the Duckhorn Portfolio)
Dan Duckhorn, who founded one of Napa Valley's most internationally recognized wineries and sparked a craze for Merlot, died on Wednesday. He was 87.
The cause was congestive heart failure, according to his wife Nancy Andrus Duckhorn.
After founding Duckhorn Vineyards with his late ex-wife in 1976, Duckhorn "became the king of American Merlot," Linda Murphy wrote in an article naming him the Chronicle's 2005 Winemaker of the Year. He transformed what began as a small, homegrown operation into a major wine company, establishing other wineries including Goldeneye in Anderson Valley, Paraduxx in Napa Valley, Canvasback in Washington state and the value-oriented Decoy brand. (All of the Duckhorn-associated wineries have waterfowl-themed names.)
Vintner Dan Duckhorn, in an undated photo, died on Wednesday of congestive heart failure. (Provided by the Duckhorn Portfolio)
After experiencing enormous growth over three decades, Duckhorn Vineyards became a cautionary tale for what can happen when outside interests, especially private equity, take over a family winery. Since the Duckhorn family sold a controlling interest to a private equity firm in 2007, the business has been traded several times, including a three-year stint on the New York Stock Exchange that ended in 2024. Last year, its current owner, private equity firm Butterfly Equity, announced that it was shutting down two tasting rooms and restricting resources to its lower-performing brands.
Despite the company's recent chaos, Dan Duckhorn's contribution to the history and impact of California wine is significant. He was part of a wave of vintners who arrived in Napa Valley in the 1970s and changed the trajectory of the once-sleepy farming community. He and his wife at the time, Margaret Duckhorn, stood apart from many of their peers in their desire to champion not only Cabernet Sauvignon, which was quickly becoming the favorite wine of Napa vintners, but also Merlot.
Dan Duckhorn, second from right, was named the San Francisco Chronicle Winemaker of the Year in 2005. Here, he stands with his winemaking staff: Mark Beringer (far left), Bill Nancarrow (second from left) and Zach Rasmuson (far right). (Craig Lee/S.F. Chronicle)
While other Napa wineries tended to use Merlot as a minor component in their Cabernet blends, Duckhorn felt inspired by the great Merlots he'd tasted in Bordeaux's Pomerol and Saint-Emilion regions. "I liked the softness, the seductiveness, the color, the fact that it went with a lot of different foods," he told the Chronicle in 2005. "It wasn't so bold (as Cabernet) and didn't need to age so long, and it had this velvety texture to it."
Duckhorn's wine became a smash success and helped pave the way for a nationwide Merlot obsession in the 1980s and '90s. (That obsession famously crashed after the 2004 film "Sideways," though Duckhorn Merlot continued to enjoy success; Wine Spectator magazine named its 2014 vintage the Wine of the Year in 2017.)
Duckhorn Merlot, seen at the winery in 2017. (Preston Gannaway/For the S.F. Chronicle)
Daniel James Duckhorn was born in San Francisco on April 7, 1938, and grew up in Santa Rosa and Sacramento. He attended college at UC Berkeley as an undergraduate and earned his MBA there in 1962. He went into the business world, working as a manager for a shipping logistics company and a computing languages company before a role with a firm called Vineyard Consulting Corporation relocated him to Napa in 1971. While on the job, he learned about wine and the latest advancements in vineyard technology.
After that fateful trip to Bordeaux, the Duckhorns decided to try their hand at making Merlot. They purchased grapes from the Three Palms Vineyard in Calistoga in 1978, making about 800 cases of the varietal. From there, the winery took off.
Chef Michael Chiarello and vintner Shari Staglin congratulate Dan Duckhorn, seated, on his winning bid at Auction Napa Valley in 2011. (Craig Lee/For the S.F. Chronicle)
In 2000, Dan and Margaret Duckhorn divorced, but both remained in leadership roles at the business they'd co-founded. After selling to private equity firm GI Partners in 2007, then to TSG Consumer Partners in 2016, Dan Duckhorn stayed on as chairman of the board. He played an active role in the company's 2021 decision to go public, making it the first California winery to do so in nearly 20 years; he rang the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange in March 2021.
Duckhorn is survived by his wife, Nancy Andrus Duckhorn; his children, John Duckhorn, David Duckhorn and Kellie Duckhorn; his stepdaughter, Nicole Andrus; nine grandchildren; and two siblings. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to the California Waterfowl Association.
