May 8, 2013 – Wine: 2003 Anderson’s Conn Valley Eloge

After first tasting the 2007 Anderson’s Conn Valley Cabernet Sauvignon in a lineup of 2007 Cabernets at my local wine shop, I decided to seek out some half bottles of this wine.  I went to the winery to see if they had any available, but they only had a few 2003 half-bottles on hand, including this 2003 Eloge.  I bought a couple to give it a try and found the wine to be complex, structured, and downright delightful.  So, I returned to snatch up their remaining inventory (about six half-bottles).  Tonight I opened my last bottle, and I’d say it was time to do so.  While still well structured and complex, the wine has turned backwards with the fruit taking a back seat to the other flavors.  On the palette I noted leather, tobacco, minerals, plums, and sour cherries.  While this wine still has many years of life left in it, its fruit-forward youth has now passed.