Blackbird Vineyards · Oak Knoll
2023 Blackbird Vineyards 'Manifest' Cabernet, Napa Valley
A place on your wine list
Aaron Pott's Cabernet-led Manifest. 93 percent Cabernet Sauvignon with Merlot and Franc for contour. Built for a steak list.
Winery SRP $180 per bottle
Why this bottle belongs on the list
Two selling points.
Then the market.
Aaron Pott is Food & Wine's Winemaker of the Year.
Pott took a UC Davis fermentation degree to Burgundy, then ran Troplong Mondot in Saint-Emilion under mentors John Kongsgaard and Michel Rolland. He came home to Quintessa and launched Pott Wine on Mt. Veeder. Food & Wine named him Winemaker of the Year in 2012. Official Blackbird lists him as Consulting Winemaker. Shaina Harding, UC Davis, is Director of Winemaking. The 2023 Manifest still drinks as Pott's Cabernet chapter of a Pomerol-trained house.
Cabernet in the lead. Blackbird contour still in the blend.
Blackbird built its name on Merlot and Cabernet Franc from Oak Knoll. Manifest turns the volume toward Cabernet without dropping that Right Bank manners: 93 percent Cabernet Sauvignon, 4 percent Merlot, 3 percent Cabernet Franc. Fruit is sourced across Napa rather than locked to a single block. 2023 was a wet winter and a long, cool season. Cabernet from that year tends to carry ripe fruit with brighter acidity and finer tannin than the heat-hit 2022s.
The buyer's perspective
What the guest
hears first.
Cassis, blackberry, graphite, dark chocolate, dried herbs, polished tannin. Staff can sell it in one sentence: Blackbird's Cabernet-led Manifest, Aaron Pott, pour it with steak frites or short ribs.
Consulting Winemaker's corner
Food & Wine Winemaker of the Year 2012 · Troplong Mondot · Quintessa
Aaron
Pott
Aaron traces the start to a Paris cafe at age nine, when a waiter refused him milk and poured watered red instead. He took fermentation science at UC Davis, a master's in viticulture at the Universite de Bourgogne, and cellar time under John Kongsgaard and Michel Rolland. He ran Troplong Mondot and La Tour Figeac, then came back to Napa to lead Quintessa.
In 2007 he and Claire Pott launched Pott Wine from their Mt. Veeder vineyard. Food & Wine named him Winemaker of the Year in 2012. He still consults for Blackbird, Greer, and Fe. Official Blackbird lists him as Consulting Winemaker, not the day-to-day cellar chair.
Shaina Harding, UC Davis, is Director of Winemaking. She has made small-lot Napa wine since 2008. The photograph on this page is Aaron in the Blackbird cellar, glass in hand, amphora at his side. The 2023 Manifest is Cabernet-led on purpose, with the Pomerol contour he brought to this house.
The estate
Oak Knoll Merlot ground, then Napa blending lots.
Blackbird began as a small Merlot-focused vineyard in the Oak Knoll District. Michael Polenske bought the property from the Trefethen family in 2003. The name still honors that grape even when Cabernet takes the lead. Julia and John Hinshaw became majority owners in 2019.
The house is not locked to one estate block. Stagecoach, Star, Shifflett, Fontanella, and the Birds Nest hillside past Pritchard Hill have all fed the blends. Manifest is the Cabernet chapter: structure in front, Merlot for the middle, Franc for lift.
The tasting room is at 831 Latour Court in Napa. Serve this as the Cabernet-led Blackbird on the steak list, not as a trophy bottle you hide for a decade.
2023 in the glass
Cassis.
Graphite.
Dark chocolate.
Dark fruit first: cassis, blackberry, a cocoa line. Graphite, dried herbs, and a savory Cabernet echo on the finish. Full-bodied, firm but polished tannin, a long confident line. The blend is 93 percent Cabernet Sauvignon, 4 percent Merlot, 3 percent Cabernet Franc. 2023 in Napa was a wet winter and a long season. Cabernet from that year tends to carry ripe fruit with brighter acidity and finer tannin than the heat-hit 2022s. No named critic score was verified on this exact bottling. Decant 45 to 75 minutes. Serve 60 to 64 F.
Menu and service
Built for a serious table.
- Steak frites with herb butter
- Red wine-braised short ribs
- Rosemary garlic lamb chops
Decant 45 to 75 minutes. Serve around 60 to 64 F in a Bordeaux stem.
Staff pairing clip
Joshua Weissman Perfect Steak Frites at Home
The tableside introduction
“This is Blackbird's Manifest, 93 percent Cabernet, Aaron Pott consulting. Pour it with steak frites or short ribs.”
Ready for your team
Put the story to work.
Shelf talker
A concise bottle story for guest-facing displays. No trade price.
Download PDFServer card
The pitch, menu matches, and service notes in a compact format.
Download PDFFull trade sheet
Aaron Pott, Oak Knoll house, tasting, market context, and the case offer.
Download PDFOrder the case
Put Blackbird Manifest on the list.
Aaron Pott's Cabernet-led 2023. Trade $45 a bottle, $540 the twelve-bottle case, one-case minimum.
