Coming Soon from the Anonymous Wine Collective
Anonymous is without doubt one of the most exciting projects we've launched in decades at K&L. The wines have been extremely well received all around and continue to fly off our shelves as folks drink them and taste for themselves what exceptional values they represent. It's a fun game to play, trying to guess whom we partnered with on each release, and many of you have emailed me some pretty good guesses. However, the most important thing that really drives this project is the quality that's in the bottle. If it doesn't taste good, intrigue and speculation can only carry the wines so far. The wines have to deliver, and I'm really proud of what we've put in bottle. I hope you feel the same way.
And that leads me to the real point of this piece, a quick update on what we have in the pipeline from Anonymous this fall:
The next wines to hit our shelves will be an incredible duo of Santa Cruz Mountains Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. They come from one of the most highly renowned names in the region. Fruit for these wines is entirely estate grown, farmed organically, and from heritage masal-selection vine material. Both wines are artfully crafted in a very minimalist, Burgundian-inspired style, focused on purity, minerality and length on the palate. I'm so excited for these wines to arrive as the project has been a long time in the making, but I know they'll be worth the wait!
Next up will be another amazing Cabernet Sauvignon from the heart of Oakville! As a complement to the current 2023 Anonymous Wine Collective "Hillside Block 92" Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon (Elsewhere $150) $49.95, this new bottling is from a single vineyard on the Oakville Valley floor expressing the pure, exotic, exuberant fruit that has made Oakville world famous. The wine comes from the exact same fruit that consistently lands scores from top critics in the 95-97 point range. And the price—oh, you won't believe the price!
Right behind that will be a very small-lot Cabernet, just 100 cases, from a vineyard in Yountville. Coming from a small but well-situated site just off the Silverado Trail, on the border of Stag's Leap. In fact, it's a stone's throw from Cliff Lede’s famed Poetry Vineyard. This was an opportunistic buy that consisted of just a few barrels I was able to taste and put together a blend. Once again, the value will be out of this world given the pedigree.
Then we'll have a first under this label: a stunning old-vine Zinfandel from one of the most historic vineyards in Sonoma Valley, Pagani Ranch! Planted in the 1880s, this is an ancient vine field blend of Zinfandel, Alicante Bouchet, Petite Sirah and Primitivo. I managed to get a barrel sample of this one to share with the team, and it generated quite the buzz! I feel super privileged to have a wine in our stable from this legendary vineyard!
Last but not least on the docket for imminent arrival is another first for Anonymous, a traditional method sparkling wine! And not just any old bubbles—a single-vineyard Blanc de Blancs with five years of lees aging! This wine blew me away. I was able to taste it as a hand-disgorged, zero-dosage sample, and it was so compelling we decided to keep it exactly as that, a true Brut Nature wine that is in the top three domestic sparkling wines I've ever tasted! Truly world-class.
I'm super excited to continue this adventure with Anonymous and promise you I will continue to scour the country for the best wines we can produce. All of the wines I've hinted at above will land in the next few weeks and the full stories will be told…at least as much as we can tell!
Cheers,