Composed of 60% Merlot and 40% Cabernet Franc, the inky/purple-hued 2007 Right Bank exhibits a celestial bouquet of blue and black fruits interwoven with notions of camphor, spice, subtle smoke, and incense. Full-bodied, powerful, youthful, and ageworthy, it needs 4-5 years of bottle age, and should drink well for three decades. These brilliant 2007s are some of the strongest efforts that have emerged from Anderson’s Conn Valley Vineyards over the last decade.

Todd Anderson and his winemaker, Mac Sawyer, are on top of their game at this backwater winery tucked away in Conn Valley, a few miles east of the Meadowood Resort. Anderson’s Conn Valley Vineyards became famous because of their long-lived, impressive 100% Cabernet Sauvignon from their estate vineyards in Conn Valley. They have added two brilliant proprietary reds, the Right Bank (usually dominated by Merlot with the balance Cabernet Franc), and the Eloge, a wine that is based on a French Medoc with two-thirds Cabernet Sauvignon and the rest Cabernet Franc, Merlot, and Petit Verdot. Conn Valley’s wine possesses a distinctive singularity as there is not another wine in Napa that is reminiscent of them.
by Robert Parker, Issue #186, December 2009