This Major Wine Company Just Got Into the Seltzer Business.

It's really no wonder that Decoy, a wine brand produced by the Duckhorn Wine Co., exploded during the Covid-19 pandemic. The wines had great nationwide retail distribution already, they're great quality wines, and for the most part priced under $25 a bottle. The brand was perfectly positioned for the pandemic, in which restaurants were shut down and consumers were looking for decent wine at home, at times spending a bit more than they usually would on retail wine.

This summer, Decoy unveiled a line of wine-based seltzers, putting a very interesting twist on the recently behemoth hard seltzer category. Where most of the existing hard seltzers are jacked up to 5.5% alcohol with neutral spirits, Decoy fuels their seltzers with wine.

For me, the greatest difference between Decoy's wine-based hard seltzers and something like White Claw is that the Decoy seltzers are FAR more aromatic, in a very positive way. The fruity esters from grape fermentation really deliver a lot more aromatic complexity. 

I don't even want to drink these spritzers from a can. They're far better served in a glass with or without ice so that you really get the full impact of the wine. 

So far, there are four flavors of Decoy wine seltzers. Here are my impressions of each:

Chardonnay with Lemon and Ginger. I really liked this one. Yes, the wine adds aromatics, and the ginger only amps the aromas up that much more. It's refreshing, light, and complex. 

Chardonnay with Clementine Orange. This one works really well, too. That lil' cutie orange note works perfectly with the Chardonnay, and the 'natural' flavoring seems very high quality. 

Sauvignon Blanc with Vibrant Lime. I like this one, too. The lime flavoring has a very slight bitterness that really gives it a hint of lime peel zest, and if you're a G&T fan, this might just be the one for you.

Rose with Black Cherry. Cherry is a flavor that is pretty easy to find in a rose, so I'm not sure it adds a lot to a wine-based seltzer like this one. To me, this pretty much just tastes like a watered-back, carbonated rose wine. And there's nothing wrong with that.

- Tim Teichgraeber