October Is Merlot Month -- No. 4

Mt. Veeder, part of the Mayacamas Range, was named for Peter Veeder, a German Presbyterian minister who explored the region in the 1860s. Established as an American Viticultural Area in 1993, Mt. Veeder is Napa Valley's largest AVA -- about 25 square miles, or 15,000 acres -- yet only 1,000 acres are plated to vines, so it produces only two percent of t…