Leto’s 2021 Merlot comes from a winemaker with more than half a century of Napa Valley experience. Brad Warner began in the cellar at Charles Krug in 1967, joined Robert Mondavi Winery in 1970, and spent nearly 30 years there, eventually rising to Vice President of Production. When he and Lisa Warner founded Leto in 2008, they brought that lifetime of cellar experience to a winery of their own. Mount Veeder gives that experience a particularly compelling place to work. Leto focuses on small-production wines with a strong sense of origin, and here the Mount Veeder designation gives Merlot a much more specific Napa identity. It is a familiar variety seen through one of the valley’s mountain appellations, and that alone makes this bottle stand apart.  This is also exactly the age I like to find Merlot at. The 2021 has had a few years in bottle to settle and develop, and our panel loved how it is showing now. At $29.99 against a $55 retail price, this is exactly the kind of under-the-radar Napa value we love finding.