This vintage of our Little Blackbird Merlot was made entirely from Estate Grown grapes. Released on May 1st, 1999, it is showing the characters one would expect from a hillside grown Napa Valley Merlot. The wine is a blend of 92% Merlot with 8% Cabernet Sauvignon.
The name for our merlot, the "Little Blackbird", comes directly from the grape name itself. Sources say translating the French word Merlot from slang gives "Little Blackbird".
The 1997 vintage was superb in the Napa Valley; this wine is a prime example of the conditions. It was a larger than average crop that had one of the earliest harvests on record in California. This was after the earliest budbreak we had ever seen so the grapes got the necessary time on the vine for the colors and characters to develop fully. The deeply colored '97 "Blackbird" is showing some youthful tannins at this point, balanced with very rich, jammy and forward dark fruit notes such as plum and black cherry. Some sweet vanillin and spice notes from the barrels also appear. The wine may benefit from some further time in the bottle but it is already showing very well.
Our 1997 Merlot earned a Silver Medal at the 1999 Orange County Fair and a Bronze Medal at the 1999 California State Fair.