93 points,

Connoisseurs' Guide, Connoisseur's Guide, November 2011

Very much reminiscent of fine claret in structure but charged with lots of well-ripened Napa Valley fruit, "Arise" is a tighter, more structured wine than its cellarmate below and offers up a different mix of dark currants, raspberries, briar and sweet loam. It makes good use of creamy oak and is always controlled in its richness, and, while it does come with the curt tannic warning that it wants plenty of patience, it will age without risk for as long as a decade or more.

Devon Magee, JJ Buckley, March 2012

Expressive, bold nose of cassis, blackberry, raspberry, resin, and smoke. On the palate, fruit notes are subtle but juicy, with smooth, still tight tannins making for a taut wine. This will be an exciting wine once it has had 3-7 years to unwind. Lithe, poised, and very elegant this confirms Blackbird Vineyard's status as one of Napa Valley's top Bordeaux blend producers.

92 points,

Stephen Tanzer's IWC, June 2011

42% merlot, 38% cabernet sauvignon and 20% cabernet franc): Bright dark red. Floral aromas of cherry, licorice pastille and cocoa powder. Supple, intense and energetic, with lovely rose petal lift and restrained sweetness to its seamless red fruit flavors. This essentially gentle, Right Bank-style wine finishes with suave tannins and noteworthy aromatic persistence. Classy and light on its feet. A sentimental favorite in my recent tastings. 92 points

94 points,

Wine Enthusiast, December 2011

A glorious wine. Based on Merlot, with nearly equal parts of the two Cabernets, it's softly smooth and delicious right now. Totally bone dry, yet rich and sweet in cherries, berries, chocolate and cedar, it satisfies on every level. Expensive, yes, but a relative bargain for a great Napa wine. S.H.

About Winery

Since 1999, the Blackbird Vineyard (a former a walnut orchard first planted with 5,717 Merlot vines in 1997), quietly provided fruit to many of Napa's finest winemakers, for whom it yielded astonishing comments from Napa Valley veterans and noteworthy editorialists. Purchased by Michael Polenske in 2003, Blackbird Vineyards 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."

Read the April 6, 2012 Wall Street Journal article on Blackbird consultant, Aaron Pott.

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