09-05-2025
- Business
- San Francisco Chronicle
Duckhorn discontinued this classic Napa wine brand. What will happen to its flashy new tasting room?
This week, the Duckhorn Portfolio announced plans to phase out several wine brands, including Paraduxx. But the timing couldn't have been worse for the 30-year-old Napa Valley winery: Paraduxx was set to reveal a major, multi-year renovation of its tasting room in June.
The news has ignited uncertainty over the future of Paraduxx's tasting room and winery, which sits on some of the most premium Cabernet Sauvignon land in Napa Valley. While Duckhorn said it will close three tasting rooms next month — Migration in Napa, Sonoma-Cutrer in Windsor and another in Washington — Paraduxx was not on the list.
Paraduxx has been working on its luxe and modern transformation — complete with a massive new patio — for years. In 2020, Napa County approved the winery's proposal to increase its annual production capacity by 50%, increase annual winery visitation by 87% and remodel its hospitality spaces. But last fall, just as Paraduxx was hitting the final stretch of construction, Duckhorn sold to private equity firm Butterfly Equity.
Once the winery revamp wraps up next month, the tasting room will continue to host tastings of Paraduxx; even though it has stopped producing wine, it needs to move through its remaining inventory. But the space will also offer visitors add-on tastings of Duckhorn's Pinot Noir stalwarts: Anderson Valley's Goldeneye, Central Coast Pinot Noir legend Calera and Sonoma's Kosta Browne. In a statement to the Chronicle, the company said this will 'enable club members and fans of our wineries to experience more of the wines that they love at one of Napa Valley's premier winery locations.'
A much bigger change will take place later. In 2026, timed with Duckhorn Vineyards' 50th anniversary, the company will close its storied Lodi Lane tasting room in St. Helena for a year-long renovation. Paraduxx will become the new hub for Duckhorn Vineyards visits; when the Lodi Lane tasting room reopens in 2027, it will host higher-end Duckhorn tastings and events while the Paraduxx site will focus on more casual, entry-level options. The Paraduxx estate will continue to offer tastings of Duckhorn's other brands.
Paraduxx was a radical concept when Duckhorn founders Dan and Margaret Duckhorn launched it in 1994. Focused on unconventional blends — crossing Bordeaux varieties like Cabernet Sauvignon with outsiders like Zinfandel — it represented the experimental nature of Napa Valley compared to its Old World counterparts. In 2000, winemaker Dave Phinney took a similar approach with his edgy wine brand the Prisoner, crafting an unusual blend of mostly Zinfandel and Cabernet, just like Paraduxx's flagship. But while the Prisoner took off, selling to Constellation Brands for roughly $285 million in 2016, Paraduxx never fully broke out of Duckhorn's shadow.
The winery, alongside several other brands Duckhorn will phase out, was 'underperforming' and accounted for just 3.9% of Duckhorn's gross profit, the company said.
Paraduxx is set on Duckhorn's famed Rector Creek Vineyard, just north of Yountville and right off the Silverado Trail. 'It's a spectacular piece of dirt. That ground is some of the most hallowed ground for Cabernet in the world,' said Tony Biagi, Paraduxx's founding winemaker, who left the winery in 2001. 'It has the same dirt as Screaming Eagle,' he added, referring to Paraduxx's neighbor and one of Napa Valley's most noted cult Cabernet brands.
Some Rector Creek grapes are used in Duckhorn's highest-end wines. 'There was always a fight in-house for them,' Biagi said. 'The winemaker at Duckhorn and I would fight over who got the blocks.'
