Stunning news today with Duckhorn Vineyards winding down its Canvasback, Migration, Paraduxx, and Postmark brands. The changes will also include closing the tasting rooms for Canvasback (Walla Walla, WA), Migration (Napa, CA), and Sonoma-Cutrer (Windsor, CA).
More info here:
Just dialing back to a core portfolio. The demand is just not there. Need your best competitive for forward if they want to survive.
Bob Dylan could add a verse.
There’s will be more.
Will be interesting to see how long Decoy survives.
Or Goldeneye
Decoy is what is keeping the lights on.
Missed the $NAPA ticker
I think Goldeneye is mainly estate, which would probably save it from an earlier demise. Although, unfortunately, Anderson Valley Pinot isn’t as competitive.
Ah. Didn’t know that. I’m not a fan (don’t generally care for AV Pinot) but it’s a big favorite of a dear friend,
Decoy is Duckhorn’s most successful brand at the moment and has been the one silver lining for the company for the last 3-5 yrs.
There is a poetic irony to that.
If Goldeneye was the benchmark, I wouldn’t like AV Pinot either! They seem to really nail the ‘very warm RRV Pinot’ style. But they have a gorgeous tasting setup and the corporate polish that some people enjoy.
@Jeff_M1 and so it continues… Too big to fail until they do…
Their letter stated that the 4 brands they are shuttering accounted for just 3.9% of total gross profits over the past 9 months.
Interestingly, they didn’t list the paraduxx tasting room under their tasting room closures. Curious what their plan is for that space, especially since it’s been under renovation the past year.
It’s not just theirs. Almost all (Peay has been an exception) AV Pinot hits me the wrong way, even from producers (Rhys, Ceritas) where I love their other wines.
Weren’t they rumored to have been in the running for part of the Constellation sell off?
Wondering if some of this was tied to that?
I think Decoy destroyed the needs for these brands. Migration and Paraduxx were up market from this, but I think they just got swallowed up by the Decoy machine.
Interesting development for sure. As a big Washington wine consumer, I never once tried their Canvasback label. It could be a character flaw in me, I supposed, but my attitude mainly came from a carte-blanche rejection of a major California brand coming into Washington.
I had it once. It was serviceable, but not interesting. Tasted like a typical factory produced wine. Inoffensive but tailored for the masses, perfect for a less expensive chain restaurant wine list.
This is me, exactly, and if you can’t sell the wine in Washington, out of state sales won’t make up any difference.
Send us your talented and UC-Davis graduate winemakers, but keep your brands in CA. 
I used to buy a couple bottles of Paraduxx every year. Some years it worked, and some it didn’t.
Exactly this and it will continue to be as it is priced for the masses and delivers an experience worth the price and a couple bucks more at their price point that consumers can return to without getting their wallet hammered.
I’d expext to see a ramp up for Sonoma Cutrer too.