BLACKBIRD VINEYARDS

Before Blackbird was a label, it was a 10-acre estate vineyard producing Merlot grapes that went into some of Napa Valley’s finest wines. In 2003, it was purchased by Michael Polenske, a private banker turned passionate vintner, who kept the highly respected Blackbird name and transformed it into an ultra-premium label in its own right.

To create the wines that bear the Blackbird label, Michael hired winemaker Aaron Pott, whose own love of wine had led him from undergrad studies in enology at the University of California Davis, to a master’s degree in viticulture from the Université de Bourgogne in Dijon, to winemaking positions in the Napa Valley and Bordeaux. Michael and Aaron source fruit from the original Blackbird Estate vineyard along with acclaimed vineyards in AVAs from Los Carneros to Spring Mountain. Expertly blended and aged in French oak, Blackbird wines are elegant, aromatic, rich and polished.