2016 Anderson's Conn Valley Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon The Cave Dweller Napa Valley 750 ml

The Keys to the Cave and Our Last Bottles

Back in February, Anderson’s Conn Valley gave us the keys to the cave that houses their red wine cellar and carte blanche to select our favorite barrels. We were the first “outsiders” they allowed to blend a wine since their inception in 1983. As we tasted through the barrels with winemaker Rob Hunt, we were on the hunt for lots that encapsulated the brilliance of ACV wines: the deep purple/black colors, dark chocolate, wild forest fruit, and blueberry aromas, thick, sumptuous palate structures, and rich, velvety tannins. Hunt’s eyebrows shot up a few times as some of the lots we selected were intended for their $125 Estate Reserve. We proudly offered the first bottles of that final cuvée in May, dubbed the 2016 Anderson’s Conn Valley “The Cave Dweller” Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley. It joins ACV’s other illustrious wines, like Eloge, Right Bank, Gustaf, and Aurum. A total of 375 cases were produced, offered only at the winery for $78. 

Not only is this Napa Cabernet a truly special, real rarity, the name itself bears some historical significance. One day each year, select ACV customers would be invited to sample wines directly from barrels in ACV’s caves that burrow deep into the surrounding mountain range. That bacchanalian fest has infamously become known as “The Cave Dweller Party.”

When it came to selecting the name for this special cuvée, we wanted to pay homage to the lucky ACV clients who have fond memories of those parties. And considering that the most loyal ACV customers outside those fortunate “cave dwellers” are Wine Access members, and the fact that we were invited to dwell in the cave for a day to make the blend, it only made sense to call this sumptuous red “The Cave Dweller.”

This 2016 blend is one of our all-time favorite projects. The majority is 85% Cabernet and 12% Merlot from the estate property, with 3% Cabernet Franc from a longstanding grower on the west side of the city of Napa. The majority of the Cabernet Sauvignon was taken from Block 1, a field selection from the old Bonny’s Vineyard that Silver Oak used to use. The remainder is Clone 4 from Block 2. Both of these blocks were planted in 1996, meaning at harvest the vines were some 20 years old. Prior to blending each lot matured for 18 months in French oak barriques.

Tucked away in the idyllic Conn Valley itself, Anderson’s Conn Valley estate property is clearly a privileged place to grow Bordeaux varieties in Napa. Consider their neighbors: the estate vineyards are surrounded by the equally renowned vineyards of Joseph Phelps, Bond’s Quella estate vineyard, La Herradura and Seavey.

Since 2008, when the Anderson’s Conn Valley Estate Reserve earned 98 points from Robert M. Parker Jr, their powerful Napa blends put them among the stalwart producers of top Napa Cabernet. Today, their small lot wines are earning similar acclaim, with the 2015 Aurum Cabernet Sauvignon landing on 96 points, and the 2015 Gustaf Cabernet Franc coming in at a 95 points from Parker’s Wine Advocate. As the venerable Parker has said: “If you have not yet discovered the wines from this nearly 28 acre vineyard tucked away a few miles east of the famed Meadowood Resort, it’s time.”