Our History and Philosophy
Originally opened to the public in the fall of 2005, the Paraduxx winemaking facility is on the Silverado Trail in the Yountville appellation of Napa Valley. The property includes a purposebuilt, blend-focused winery, a barrel storage facility, and the luxurious Vineyard House for hospitality events-all of which were designed by Baum Thornley Architects LLP of San Francisco. Overall facility design was influenced by the historic farmstead enclaves found throughout the Napa Valley.
THE PARADUXX WINERY
The dramatic centerpiece of the Paraduxx Winery is a unique 10-sided fermentation facility. This distinctive decagon structure is an evolutionary reinterpretation of the area's traditional round barns. Although designed to be aesthetically appealing, this building houses a highly efficient, state-of-the-art winemaking facility.
Upon its completion, Dan Duckhorn, chairman of the board and founder of Duckhorn Wine Company, commented, "The creation of a separate winery for Paraduxx is the realization of a long-standing dream. In addition to having a hospitality center where visitors can taste the wines, the highly efficient layout of the winery will allow us to take the quality of our Paraduxx blends to an even higher level."
From the outside, the Vineyard House is a fresh take on a typical Napa Valley farmhouse, with a sweeping covered veranda overlooking the winery and the surrounding vineyard. Inside, natural light has been combined with exposed beams, contemporary finishes and comfortable furnishings to create an airy and inviting tasting environment. Our tasting experiences feature an array of innovative blends from the Paraduxx portfolio, as well as focused vertical tastings of our Paraduxx Z for club members, all served in Riedel's artful stemless 'O' glassware. Offered by appointment, our relaxing seated wine tastings are
complemented by an array of cheeses.
Since being founded in 1994, Paraduxx has earned acclaim as the only winery solely devoted to stylish Napa Valley blends. Artfully crafted to appeal to the modern palate, the visionary blends of the Paraduxx portfolio have established a reputation for their bold, expressive character and their food-friendly sophistication.
THE ART OF THE BLEND
As the winemaker for Paraduxx, David Marchesi is committed to the simple, yet bold idea that the Napa Valley-one of the great winegrowing regions of the world-is capable of producing truly exceptional blends that showcase a uniquely Californian personality. To this end, David combines a passion for viticulture and a love of blending with winemaking skills honed on two continents to produce wines of stature and sophistication.
Fusing the robust flavors of California's native Zinfandel with the grandeur of Cabernet Sauvignon, Paraduxx's premiere bottling embraced the best of both core varietals to produce a world-class blend with a decidedly Californian personality. With a nod to the great blends of the world-from the Super Tuscan wines of Italy to the Shiraz-Cabernet Sauvignon blends of Australia-this wine became Paraduxx's flagship bottling. It also became a template for future blends, creating a philosophy to guide Paraduxx's exploration of the union of different varietals. This philosophy can be seen across the Paraduxx portfolio, where every blend features at least one non-Bordeaux varietal. Stylistically, winemaker David Marchesi strives to create blends that capture the essence of their Napa Valley terroir—wines that are inherently ripe, robust and compelling, but that are also impeccably balanced, with the depth, complexity and acidity to complement great modern cuisine.
Dedicated to attaining new benchmarks for blends in California, David combines consummate Napa viticulture with a vibrant approach to winemaking. Understanding that each vineyard block is as one-of-a-kind as a fingerprint, David harvests and barrel ages each lot of fruit separately. These lots come from four acclaimed estate vineyards (Stout, Candlestick Ridge, Rector Creek and Monitor Ledge), as well as a selection of fruit from some of the finest growers in the Napa Valley. Reflecting the rich diversity of the Paraduxx portfolio, grapes come from an array of mountain and valley floor vineyards in some of the Napa Valley's most acclaimed sub-appellations (including Calistoga, Rutherford, St. Helena, Howell Mountain Yountville and Pope Valley).
To preserve the distinctiveness of this sought-after fruit, David does as many as 50-60 individual fermentations in a given vintage (some as small as two barrels). As part of the Paraduxx winemaking program, David utilizes upwards of 15 different coopers to age the 10 or more varietals he works with each growing season. Beginning with the 2009 vintage, Paraduxx unveiled a new label for its evolving lineup of Napa Valley blends. Replacing the winery's artist-label series, this new label debuted a simple and intuitive set of letter-inspired names for Paraduxx's flight of blends, with each letter corresponding to one of the blends core varietals:
All of the wines in the Paraduxx portfolio are made in a state-of-the art winery that was unveiled in 2005. The centerpiece of the Paraduxx winery is a unique 10-sided fermentation building inspired by traditional round barns. Flanking the fermentation building are two symmetrical barrel cellars, partially set below grade to allow gravity flow of the fermented wine to oak barrels for aging. The luxuriously appointed Paraduxx Vineyard House welcomes guests for an array of intimate sit-down tasting experiences.