Blackbird Vineyards Illustration Red
Bordeaux Blend
| Vintage: | 2012 |
|---|---|
| Description: | 93 Pts Wine Enthusiast. "This blend combines 64% Merlot with 34% Cabernet Franc and 2% Cabernet Sauvignon to nice effect, offering cranberry and red, juicy plum around softly cradled tannins and well-resolved oak. Juicy, structured and fully balanced, the finish sparks elements of leather with tobacco.". 92 Pts Antonio Galloni Vinous. "The 2012 Illustration, Blackbird's Merlot-based blend, brings together power and silkiness with unusual grace. Drink this supple, racy red over the next handful of years, while the flavors remain juicy and vibrant.". 91 Pts - Wine Advocate. "The 2012 Illustration is a sexy, chocolaty style of wine offering notes of ink, kirsch and black fruits. Lush, medium-bodied, deep, sensual and hedonistic.". Kenn Pogash ("the guy wearing the bow tie"). The 27 1/2 Second Tasting Note (2016-03-09). The wine displays a deep, opaque, black cherry color core that is consistent to the rim. There is a very slight indication of a very narrow dark pink rim. On the nose the wine offers pronounced dried black currant, with hints of black licorice and dark bitter-sweet chocolat. On the palate the wine is dry with a medium(+) body, mouth-watering acidity and a high level of structured tannins. The flavors are pronounced and similar to the nose. The finish is clean with a long lingering length of flavor similar to the palate. Winemaker's Notes. The 2012 Illustration demonstrates elegant notes of expresso and black licorice, with opulent red fruit and lavender aromas. The softly-structured mid-palate offers great density and abundant flavors of black cherry, tobacco and cedar. The Finish is persistent in length with sophisticated tannins leading to a smooth mouth Dr feel. inking well upon release, Illustration will age beautifully with time in the cellar. With no frost, a mild spring and summer, and a peaceful fall, the Illustration benefited from what some say was an ideal growing season. Illustration represents the core the heart of Blackbird Vineyards. Every element of Blackbirds multi-faceted wine portfolio draws inspiration from this singular, Pomerol-inspired Merlot. It is an undiluted illustration of the passion, time and concentration invested in creating elegant, multi-layered wines. Illustration challenges the notion that Cabernet Sauvignon is the only age-worthy red wine crafted in Napa Valley Review Aaron Pott turned out a gorgeous set of wines for B lackbird. A new winery scheduled to be ready this year, should provide the resources and flexibility to take these wines to the next level. Arise is the entry-level offering, while Illustration, Paramour and Contrarian are Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon-based blends, respectively. - From Napa Valley's Extraordinary 2016 Cabernets - Part 1 (Dec 2018) by Antonio Galloni. Producer Since 1999, the Blackbird Vineyard (a former 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.". |
| Price: | $ 114.99 |
| Price in original currency: | None |
Previously available from Shop Rite Wines & Spirits of Chester
| Address: |
120 US 206 South Chester, NJ 07930 United States |
|---|---|
| Telephone (regular): | 908-879-5352 |
| Fax: | 908-879-7295 |
First added to 1000 Corks on March 15, 2016.
This product was inactivated December 11, 2020.
Why not go to our homepage and try searching for it elsewhere?
