A Proprietary Red Blend
Paraduxx is a unique Napa Valley Red Wine in the tradition of the world's great blends. From the Super Tuscan wines of Italy to the Shiraz-Cabernet Sauvignon blends of Australia, each great winegrowing region has created its own authentic varietal pairings. Paraduxx's goal is to craft a world-class blend with a distinctly Californian personality by using Zinfandel, a grape synonymous with California, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon.
Duckhorn Wine Company originally created Paraduxx to allow its winemakers the opportunity to explore other styles without detracting from Duckhorn Vineyards' focus on Bordeaux varietals. In 1994, Paraduxx sourced four tons of Zinfandel from the 100-year-old vines of Napa's Korte Vineyard. This Zinfandel was blended with Duckhorn Vineyards' own Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Petite Sirah to create the first Paraduxx vintage. Since then, Paraduxx has grown to include grapes from the Rector Creek Vineyard in Yountville, which benefits from well-drained rocky alluvial soils and Napa's temperate climate. The winemaking team has been so pleased with the fruit from Rector Creek that Paraduxx has used this Zinfandel as the basis for the development of its proprietary red.
From the first vintage, Paraduxx has dedicated itself to finding the optimum blend, using combinations of Merlot and Cabernet Franc to enhance the core pairing of Zinfandel and Cabernet Sauvignon. Noting the jammy quality of valley Zinfandel, versus the tannic spiciness of mountain grown grapes, Paraduxx also experiments with blending fruit from distinct vineyard lots at differing elevations.
The Art of the Blend
For Paraduxx winemaker David Galzignato, the art of the blend represents both his greatest challenge and joy. While producers of Cabernet Sauvignon or Zinfandel have hundreds of wines to use as reference points, the Paraduxx blend must create its own benchmark. To achieve this, David harvests and barrel ages each lot separately. Next, individual Cabernet Sauvignon and Zinfandel blends are made. Once a base blend of these two varietals is achieved, several trial blends are made using additional varietals to see if they enhance the final wine.
Using a combination of French and American oak to provide flavor complexity, Paraduxx is barrel aged for 18 months. This allows a full integration and softening of the barrel flavors and wood tannins to occur. The result of Paraduxx's experimentation and careful craftsmanship is a complex, structured wine with intense aromatics that naturally pairs with a wide array of international cuisines.
