Passage: The earliest recorded mention of Merlot (under the synonym of Merlau) was in the notes of a local Bordeaux official who in 1784 labeled wine made from the grape in the Libournais region as one of the area's best. In 1824, the word Merlot itself appeared in an article on Medoc wine where it was described that the grape was named after the local black bird (called merlau in the local variant of Occitan language, merle in standard) who liked eating the ripe grapes on the vine. Other descriptions of the grape from the 19th century called the variety lou seme dou flube (meaning "the seedling from the river") with the grape thought to have originated on one of the islands found along the Garonne river.

Question: Based on this passage, where was the merlot wine grape originally grown?
Steam of consciousness below:
The relevant information is: The earliest recorded mention of Merlot (under the synonym of Merlau) was in the notes of a local Bordeaux official who in 1784 labeled wine made from the grape in the Libournais region as one of the area's best.
So, the answer is the Libournais region.