6:30 p.m.
The Sky Lodge Winemarker Dinner Series
With Dan Duckhorn of Duckhorn Vineyards, Paraduxx and Goldeneye

Join your host Karen Cakebread in welcoming Dan Duckhorn to The Sky Lodge for an evening of dining and wine featuring selected vintages from Duckhorn Wine Company.

This intimate 45-seat Winemaker Dinner Series event begins with a winemaker reception, followed by a 5-course dinner with wine pairings and remarks by the winemaker. Inspired by the evening’s wines, the evening’s one-night-only menu is lovingly created by The Sky Lodge’s talented chefs, lead by Executive Chef Scott Boberek.

$125 per person. Call early for pre-paid reservations
as Sky Lodge Winemaker Dinner Series
events typically sell out: 435-658-9420.

About Dan Duckhorn and Duckhorn Wine Company: Dubbed "Mr. Merlot" by Frank Prial of the New York Times, Dan has been a highly respected leader in the Napa Valley wine industry for over 30 years. A native of northern California, Dan earned his MBA from the University of California at Berkeley. Over the next decade, Dan held managerial positions with a variety of companies before becoming president of Vineyard Consulting Corporation (VCC) in 1971. As a major vineyard technical services company, VCC was deeply involved in viticulture consulting, vineyard management and grapevine propagation. It was here that Dan learned about wine growing from the soil up and honed his abilities for assessing vineyard sites and pairing varietals with their most suitable terroir. While at VCC, Dan began to see that a dramatic change was coming to the industry, with a gradual shift away from jug producers toward quality varietal wines, led by the planting of premium varietal grapes.

In 1976, Dan and his wife Margaret co-founded Duckhorn Vineyards with a small group of friends. Influenced by what he had learned on a journey to France, Dan decided that the Napa Valley was ideal for the cultivation of Bordeaux varietals. Going against the grain of what other local producers were doing, Dan decided against producing Chardonnay. Instead, he made the decision to focus his passion and resources on the production of a world-class Napa Valley Merlot. Though many other wineries were using Merlot as a blending grape, Dan pioneered the crafting of a premium stand-alone Napa Valley Merlot.

The first Duckhorn Vineyards harvest in 1978 consisted of 1,600 cases in two bottlings-800 Merlot and 800 Cabernet Sauvignon. Proving Dan's belief that great wines begin in the vineyard, 1978 turned out to be an excellent first vintage partly due to a wonderful growing season. "It was a great year," says Dan. "We could have made wine out of walnuts."

If a certain degree of luck helped out that first year, under Dan's leadership the winery has spent 25 years proving that Duckhorn's commitment to quality and excellence is real. In 1988, Dan began leading Duckhorn through a period of careful growth. With his meticulous selection of vineyard properties, Dan has worked to create an estate program that guarantees Duckhorn a continuous supply of the finest fruit. In addition, Dan has diversified Duckhorn Vineyards' parent company, Duckhorn Wine Company, to include a distinctive Napa Valley Red Wine blend called Paraduxx and an Anderson Valley Pinot Noir called Goldeneye.

Duckhorn.com