Anonymous Wine Collective 2.0
Our Exciting 2nd Release!
2024 Anonymous Wine Collective Russian River Valley Chardonnay $21.95 (Elsewhere $75)
2024 Anonymous Wine Collective Russian River Valley Pinot Noir $24.95 (Elsewhere $90)
2023 Anonymous Wine Collective "Hillside Block 92" Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon $49.95 (Elsewhere $150)
After the incredible success of and great feedback on our initial Anonymous releases (that sold out VERY quickly) I’ve been working hard to get the next set of wines across the finish line. It’s taken a little longer than we hoped, but doing things right takes time, and good things come to those who wait! Finally I have not one, not two, but three new Anonymous wines to share with you all. I’m so unbelievably proud of these releases, I truly couldn’t be more excited about getting them in your hands and most importantly in your glass.
I have personally been able to taste each of these wines from the very early stages as unfinished wines, as barrel samples, composite blends, and as the final wines right before bottling. I have worked hand in hand with a couple of the very best and most highly regarded winemakers in the country to bring these phenomenal wines to you. Both winemakers have 100-point pedigree. Both farm some of the most incredible estate vineyards in their regions. All three wines are made with the exact same fruit, using the same techniques, and barrel aging, etc. as the wines that are bottled under these winemakers’ own labels.
Anonymous is not generic bulk wine like the vast majority of private labels you find in the market. I have walked these vineyards with the winemakers and know absolutely every detail about their production. I’m very aware of the reputation that K&L has built over the last 50 years, and I want these wines to not only live up to that standard of excellence, but to build on it and take us to the next level of custom bottlings.
The value that these wines represent is nothing short of ludicrous. All three of these wines are more than 60% less expensive than if you were to buy the wines under their traditional branded label. We achieve this by making upfront commitments to buy the entire production of these wines long before they’re finished. We design and create our own labels, and do all the heavy lifting of transportation, marketing, and sales, cutting out several tiers of extra expense along the way. The streamlined process means that when you buy Anonymous wines you're paying for the quality of the raw material in the bottle and the expertise of our secret winemaking partners and very little else. No fancy tasting rooms, glossy advertising budgets, several tiers of sales and marketing companies. It’s just the winery and K&L.
2024 Anonymous Wine Collective Russian River Valley Chardonnay $21.95 (Elsewhere $75) The 2024 Anonymous Russian River Chardonnay was made for us by one of the most highly regarded and critically acclaimed winemakers in the country. The wine comes from two highly renowned vineyards in two different sub-regions of the Russian River. One vineyard is out near the small town of Occidental. The mature vines are grown in very powdery, moondust-like Goldridge soils. This vineyard is one of the most highly acclaimed in the region. The second portion of the blend is from a vineyard in the hills above the famed Westside Road,where a who's who of the most famous estates in the region are located. Here the soils are more gravelly with some volcanic elements intermixed with the coarse loam. Fruit was carefully hand-picked at night. Whole-cluster pressed, fermented with native yeast in French oak barrels (25% new), and rested on its lees for 10 months.
A beautiful expression of Chardonnay that captures beautiful crystalline fruit, bright vibrant acidity, flinty, stony minerality
2024 Anonymous Wine Collective Russian River Valley Pinot Noir $24.95 (Elsewhere $90) The 2024 Anonymous Russian River Pinot Noir was crafted by the same winemaker as the Anonymous Russian River Chardonnay. This wine comes from one single block, of one single vineyard on the hillside above the famed Westside Road. Until this vintage this exact same block of fruit was contracted to go into a famous cuvée that sells for $120+ a bottle. When this parcel became available we jumped at the chance and immediately fell in love with this highly aromatic, sensual Pinot Noir. The block is planted to heritage selections of Pinot Noir - Swan, Mount Eden and Pommard. The fruit was fermented with native yeast incorporating 30% whole-clusters. The wine aged for 10 months in 30% new French oak barrels.
2023 Anonymous Wine Collective “Hillside Block 92” Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon $49.95 (Elsewhere $150) I’ve dreamed of making this wine ever since I first walked this vineyard several years ago. The vineyard is truly one of the most dramatic and singular sites in the Napa Valley. High in the east Oakville hills, this vineyard is incredibly steep (think Mosel River in Germany steep) with radically rocky soils. The earth here is a vibrant red loam with a huge number of basalt rocks and boulders protruding through the surface. By boulders I mean, as big as a car boulders where they had to skip several vines in the row because of a boulder! Block 92 is like a solar panel facing west with a panoramic view over the Oakville valley floor below. The combination of these radical volcanic soils and steep, west facing aspect means that this block typically produces quite a ripe, flamboyant style of Cabernet Sauvignon. In 2023 however, the growing conditions were very moderate without the typical heat spikes we’ve come to expect in September. So this wine has a wonderful freshness and vitality to go with the opulent red fruit and crushed rock mineral. The wine was aged in 500L French oak Puncheons, 50% of which were new. Puncheons hold twice the amount of wine than a typical barrel, so the oak impact is more like 25-30% new oak. The larger cask with thicker staves also helps retain freshness, focus and linear vibrancy.
