This well-proportioned wine blended from Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon offers good black-fruit flavors, nice hints of cinnamon and toasted oak, and a slightly firm texture due to fine-grained tannins and balancing acidity. It's an elegant wine that won't tire you out.

From an unirrigated vineyard above the fog line on Mount Veeder, the 2019 Mountain Cuvée No. 4 Saffron Vineyard is a blend of 60% Merlot, 23% Cabernet Sauvignon and 17% Cabernet Franc, all aged in 30% new French oak. Offering up scents of black cherries and mocha, it's medium-bodied and streamlined, with soft, silky tannins and a softly dusty finish. Winemaker Diana Snowden Seysses has crafted an intriguing wine, as it tastes ripe yet comes across as lower alcohol (it's labeled at 13.4%) than most of its brethren.

The ruby/plum-hued 2019 Merlot Mountain Cuvée Saffron Vineyard is another solid effort. Smoky red and black fruits, scorched earth, tobacco, and chocolate all define the aromatics, and it's medium-bodied, has plenty of concentration and depth, and a good finish.