“MERLOT IS ONE of the great grapes,” said winemaker Aaron Pott as we stood in the living room of his Napa Valley home. On the table in front of us were bottles of Merlot-dominant Blackbird Vineyards “Illustration” he’d produced. The selection included vintages that were almost entirely Merlot—though the front labels omitted this fact. As Mr. Pott later noted, the wine was launched when “Merlot bashing” was on the rise, some 10 years ago. American Merlot remains a hard sell today and especially in Napa, where Cabernet Sauvignon...

Source: Wall Street Journal April 26, 2018 18:11 UTC