2003 Paraduxx (Duckhorn) Tenth Anniversary Steller's Eider Red Wine, 1.5ltr

Paraduxx is part of the Duckhorn Wine Company, which owns 13 estates in Napa and Anderson Valleys. Like the Duckhorn, Goldeneye, Migration, Decoy and Canvas Back estates, Paraduxx is partly owned by a private equity firm, though founder Dan Duckhorn remains chairman of the board of Duckhorn Wine Company. Paraduxx opened its new winemaking facility in 2005 on the Silverado Trail, though Duckhorn had been making Paraduxx label wines since the 1990s. Paraduxx was started in order to create blends outside of Duckhorn’s traditional focus on Bordeaux style wines. Since then Paraduxx has made a wide variety of blends using Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Viognier and Chardonnay.

Napa Valley AVA is the most famous winemaking region in the United States and one of the most prestigious in the world. With nearly 43,000 acres of vineyards and more than 300 wineries, it is the heart of fine wine production in the United States. Winemaking started in Napa in 1838 when George C. Yount planted grapes and began producing wine commercially. Other winemaking pioneers followed in the late 19th century, including the founders of Charles Krug, Schramsberg, Inglenook and Beaulieu Vineyards. An infestation of phylloxera, an insect that attacks vine roots, and the onset of Prohibition nearly wiped out the nascent Napa wine industry in the early 20th century. But by the late 1950s and early 1960s Robert Mondavi and other visionaries were producing quality wines easily distinguishable from the mass-produced jug wines made in California’s Central Valley. Napa Valley’s AVA was established in 1983, and today there are 16 sub-appellations within the Napa Valley AVA. Many grapes grow well in Napa’s Mediterranean climate, but the region is best known for Cabernet Sauvignon. Chardonnay is also very successfully cultivated, and about 30% of the AVA’s acreage is planted to white grapes, with the majority of those grapes being Chardonnay,

74% Cabernet Sauvignon 26% Zinfandel