Up for bid in this lot is a Blackbird Vineyards tasting for two (2) persons at RiverHouse in downtown Napa, plus one (1) 750 mL bottle of Blackbird Vineyards 2012 Paramour Proprietary Red wine.

BLACKBIRD VINEYARDS

An artisanal producer of Right Bank Bordeaux-inspired wines from beautiful Napa Valley. 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. 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." 

RiverHouse by Bespoke Collection is the destination to experience all things Bespoke. Centrally located in downtown Napa, guests can enjoy wine tasting experiences from Blackbird Vineyards and ÆRENA Wines and the opportunity to acquire Recuerdo Wines, while surrounded by a curated selection of fine art, antiquities, and objects d’art by ÆRENA Galleries & Gardens. 

BLACKBIRD VINEYARDS 2012 PARAMOUR PROPRIETARY RED

Blackbird Vineyards’ Paramour possesses both sensuality and commanding structure. Merlot and Cabernet Franc have a fragile but irresistible chemistry that flourishes when climate, soils and seasons align. The grapes allotted for this
graceful red wine are grown in only the most auspicious conditions. Paramour reveals the passionate relationship between these two varietals, as well as that between the winegrower and the land.