Must say we were quite disappointed with this wine, which seemed to lack its usual robust flavor profile and tannic structure. It was soft and muted, with not much on the nose and a faint cherry aftertaste. Was decanted for an hour and seemed to add a little muscle as the evening wore on, but it is a mere shadow of the former Duckhorn merlots I've had. Will give my other bottles a year or so in the cellar before trying again. Had a 97 recently that was stupendous and I really have enjoyed most California merlots I've had from the 99 vintage.
Stretching to say 84-85 points.

Cheers!
And remember: Life's too short to drink bad wine.

Definitely sounds like a bad bottle.

Thanks KOH the Duckhorn is usually a very good pour and I too have had a couple bottles of the 97 in the last 5 months and both were excellant.
I usually have to pry my wallet open to buy this as its no cheapie so your notes make the buy/no buy decision much less stressful. Please let us know if it turns around but it doesn't sound to promising. Do you think you got a bad bottle or its just not their year?

An ounce of pretension is worth a pound of manure.

QPRKid,

Check out this thread:
http://forums.winespectator.com/eve/forums?a=tpc&s=9306023451&f=3146091161&m=4836038261

From what that particular bottle showed I'm hoping it was "off'' since I have five more.

Cheers!
And remember: Life's too short to drink bad wine.

Koh,

I am afraid that you are correct with the notes. I purchased 2 cases of this and gave as gifts to my customers a year ago. I had some left over and have tried 2 bottles. Your notes concur with mine. DOHH!

It used to be beer, the old lady, & TV. Now it's wine, American Express, & this stupid forum!

Thanks for the link and additional comments. Hope your Duckhorn stash gets there quality wise KOH. May wait till the 01 comes out before I try some more Duckhorn as the 99 still looks like a bit of a gamble. Of course there is always the business dinner to re-test the waters subsidized by our good friends at the IRS. Thanks for the decanting tip.

An ounce of pretension is worth a pound of manure.

King,

I hope it was a bad bottle, especially b/c you have 5 more. I had this recently, and I thought it was better than 84 points. Of course, there are better merlots under $45-50 to buy and drink.

Doc

I think this was a bad bottle. I have had the 97, 98, 99 and the 00. The 97 was the best of these although the 00 is showing better at its young age than any of these other vintages. I gave the 97 a 94. The 99 has less forward fruit than the 97 or 00 but with about 30 minutes of air shows a the trademark full-bodied black cherry, vanilla and toasty oak flavors. I would rate it a 90 ahead of the 98 vintage.