Decoy Chardonnay

Decoy's Chardonnay is a California wine, and by the brand's own account Decoy was founded in 1985 before becoming a stand-alone winery in 2008. Chardonnay is a white grape that also goes into sparkling wine, and our grape research explains that oak can add body to it, though that is a choice made in the cellar.

Official category guides, that research notes, sort the fruit by ripeness, citrus and apple at the cooler end and stone or tropical fruit in riper examples, while oak and a rest on the yeast can bring toast, spice and a rounder texture, all winemaking choices rather than guarantees. We do not have a shopper rating for this wine. Across the stores we checked in September 2026 its price ranged between $17.99 and $32.99.

Decoy's own product page names founders our record did not have before, Dan and Margaret Duckhorn, credited with starting the brand more than three decades ago, and adds a date to the Chardonnay's place in the lineup: the producer says Chardonnay joined Decoy's range in 2009, the year after Decoy became a stand-alone winery. The current release lists 13.9 percent alcohol, and the producer's tasting notes describe radiant tangerine, sweet melon and tropical mango aromas with delicate oak spice, carrying through to a full palate the producer calls fruit-driven with a sweet oak backbone, a sign the wine spent time in oak, though the maker does not state how long.

Our call: this suits a shopper who buys on the producer's own account, Decoy's three-plus decades of history, founders Dan and Margaret Duckhorn, a stated 2009 addition of Chardonnay to the lineup, and tasting notes naming real oak character rather than a vague style label. Pass if you want the crowd's confirmation before you buy: no shopper rating has reached our record for this wine, so the producer's word is carrying the case alone.

The Grocery Store Wine Desk · written Sep 16, 2026 from our research file for this wine. Numbers reflect our latest checks.