Harvested, vinified, and aged with an identical commitment to quality as our principal wines, this classic Napa blend comprised of Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Cabernet Sauvignon expresses luscious flavors that can only come from exceptional fruit.

The 2018 Arise, the entry-level wine from Blackbird, is absolutely delicious. Crushed red/purplish berry fruit, mint, sage, licorice and mocha race out of the glass. Medium in body and beautifully perfumed,

Blend: 37% Cabernet Sauvignon, 27% Merlot, 26% Cabernet Franc

Vinous 92 Points

Robert Parker 90 Points

About Blackbird Vineyards

Purchased by Michael Polenske in 2003, Blackbird Vineyards (a former walnut orchard first planted with 5, 717 Merlot vines in 1997) is now an ultra premium label in its own right. Fittingly, the word ‘Merlot’ is French patois for ‘little blackbird.’

An early harbinger of Blackbird’s potential arose when Mia Klein of Dalla Valle fame created a Blackbird Vineyard designate for her highly acclaimed 1999 Selene Merlot (no less than 95% of the fruit in the bottle must be from the named vineyard). Three of the top wine critics in the industry – Robert Parker, Stephen Tanzer, and Wine Spectator’s James Laube – scored this wine in the 90s.

Blackbird’s inaugural 2003 bottling, culled from a small crush of grapes that weren’t already claimed by other vintners was awarded 98 points by Vinfolio, proclaiming it, “the best Merlot nobody had ever heard of.” ACME FINE WINES news was equally enthusiastic, saying, “it is with wines like this that we never question why we are in this business.” Blackbird’s 2003 Merlot was also given a score of 95 points by Vintrust, which praised its complexity and richness, proclaiming it, “hedonistic in length,” and our Flocking Merlot was born.

The Label

The current wine labels have flocks of blackbirds on them in different positions and layouts. The label was designed by California designer David Hughes and Michael Polenske. Blackbird’s proprietary red wine blend, Arise, features blackbirds sitting on a telephone wire in the same layout as the starting notes in the Beatles‘ song “Blackbird”.