An Unprecedented Launch: Our Biggest Release in 30 Years

2023 Anonymous Wine Collective Napa Valley Chardonnay (Elsewhere $70) ($19.95)

This release from Anonymous Wine Collective is from one of the most revered and historic Chardonnay producers in California. This wine was famously included in the now legendary Judgement of Paris Tasting in 1979. Sourced largely from vineyards in Napa Valley's Oak Knoll District, this cooler part of Napa Valley is subjected to almost daily morning fog and moderating breezes from San Pablo Bay. The wine is notably produced without going through malolactic fermentation and with minimal new oak usage.

Ryan Woodhouse | K&L Staff Member | Review Date: April 14, 2025

What better way to launch our new program than with a wine from one of the most iconic and celebrated wineries in the history of California. This Chardonnay comes largely from vineyards in the Oak Knoll sub-AVA of Napa Valley. This area has a long history of producing world-class Chardonnay. The winery behind this wine famously participated in the storied Judgement of Paris Tasting in 1976. The wine is produced with minimal new oak influence and without going through malolactic fermentation. This yields a bright, vibrant, focused style, with tension, minerality, and mouthwatering acidity on the palate.

Ryan Moses | K&L Staff Member | Review Date: April 09, 2025

My jaw dropped when I found out where this came from and what we'd be able to sell it for, and the caliber is clearly communicated in the glass. A strikingly aromatic and Chardonnay with breadth and depth, it leads with floral and stonefruit notes, has a superb texture, and flavors of melon, apricot, and meyer lemon. A complex and engaging Chardonnay, this gem shows plenty of Napa character and would sell for countless multiples if we didn't corner the market. As with all of our Anonymous programs, this is a 1 of 1 release, and a wine that is worth stocking up on for the summer months and beyond.

Scott Beckerley | K&L Staff Member | Review Date: April 09, 2025

The first wine that I have tried in this new series is this chardonnay. It has a nose that is very pretty with ripe yellow pear, applesauce and a small bit of ginger candy spice. On the palate, there is a quick (and lively!) start with citrus and minerals. This expands quickly into green apple fruit, plush pear puree and back of the throat ginger and citrus. It has a lingering finish bright with the minerals that start the whole shebang off initially. Tasty and affordable.

Aaron Hughes | K&L Staff Member | Review Date: April 08, 2025

From a known and famed producer that was included in the 1976 Judgement of Paris, this is an absolutely delicious example of what California Chardonnay can be. There's an elegance here that is becoming more and more common in California, but still isn't ever guaranteed. The nose is gorgeous with ripe pears, apples, quince and lemon zest. The palate is mid-rich but not too fleshy or cloying, the fruit is really pretty and candied despite the wine being bone-dry and deliciously crisp . There's a lovely accessibility here and for the price, it's definitely a cut above most of its peers. There's a racy minerality on the finish that ends very slightly stony, like wet river rocks. This is your perfect mid-week Chardonnay for being paired with chicken, seafood or even a lot of pasta dishes.

2021 Anonymous Wine Collective Central Coast Pinot Noir (Elsewhere $40) ($16.95)

K&L Notes: This inaugral release of Anonymous Pinot Noir is a single-vineyard wine from one of the most historic sites in California. It has been bottled it under the broader Central Coast AVA to help protect the anonymity of the winery. This beautiful Pinot Noir from heavily limestone-influenced soils is just singing right now. A mixture of mostly Dijon clones with some heritage selections in the mix, too. Made using 30% whole-cluster fruit, native fermentations, and long elevage in top-quality French oak cooperage. The value here is just ridiculous.

Ryan Woodhouse | K&L Staff Member | Review Date: April 14, 2025

Although this Pinot Noir comes from one of the most historic single-vineyard sites in California, we bottled it under the broader Central Coast AVA to maintain the producer’s anonymity. Grown on heavily limestone-influenced soils, this wine is absolutely singing right now, and critics unanimously agree on its quality. It’s a blend of mostly Dijon clones with a few heritage selections, made using 30% whole-cluster fruit, native fermentations, and a lengthy elevage in top-quality French oak. The result is a stunning value that garnered critical acclaim under its original label—which retails for $40.

Philip Roufail | K&L Staff Member | Review Date: April 12, 2025

Game on! K&L is always finding innovative ways to deliver value to our customers. If you're fans of our Kalinda wines, allow me to introduce you to Anonymous, our new K&L-labeled domestic wines made for us by producers so renown for their craft that we can't tell you who they are. Our first set of wines are a Napa Valley Chardonnay, a Napa Valley Cabernet, and this Central Coast Pinot Noir. For what you get, the pricing is mind-bending. The producer of this Pinot Noir is well-known and their Pinots are loved by critics and enthusiasts alike. Vinification includes 30% whole cluster fermentation on native yeasts and it's aged 10 months in French oak (30% new). This is easily our best deal on Pinot Noir. The nose is packed with cranberry, blackberry, spices, red and black cherry, and pomegranate. On the palate, silky, vanilla cream, cranberry, cherry, black pepper, dark chocolate, and smoke. Ask for the Anonymous Pinot Noir and you will be well rewarded!

Scott Beckerley | K&L Staff Member | Review Date: April 09, 2025

Wine number two that I have tasted in this series. Like the Chardonnay, a very fragrant and pretty nose. Bright red fruits, clean minerals, candied violets, a smidge of white pepper. On the palate, medium-bodied, with a very nice overall bright bounciness of clean red fruits and upper palate (mellow) spice. Red (more so) and black (less so) cherry fruit dominates the palate with a nice touch of pomegranate. The upper palate spice and cleanliness lingers on the finish. I was quite surprised that the price is much lower than the overall quality suggests.

Ryan Moses | K&L Staff Member | Review Date: April 09, 2025

This is a wine that will be hard to match on today's market for anywhere near the price. I want to call it a serious Pinot Noir because of the complexity, but the profile is generous and gracious, without a hard edge to be found. Aromatically, it screams pinot with ripe red fruits, cranberry and raspberry, with a slight earthiness. On the palate, bright acids lift a panoply of flavor, adding a hint of sauvage on a long, lingering finish. The combination of brightness, texture, and flavor while carrying itself gracefully as a Pinot Noir should...that's everything I'm looking for in the varietal from the Central Coast. A beautiful and can't-miss Pinot.

Aaron Hughes | K&L Staff Member | Review Date: April 08, 2025

A very pretty nose with a lot of aromatics dancing around each other, giving way and trying to make their neighbor the star. There's dried cherry, touches of kola, dried rose petals, pomegranate, and cranberry zest. Even deeper there are touches of savory herbs and little touches of umami with just a hint of tomato skin. The palate is mid-weight but rich, with more depth of fruit showing than the nose and an absolutely gorgeous acidity. There's sweet cherries and plum skin that is up against a lot of dense umami and just a soupçon of thyme and tarragon. At $30, this would be an exceptional Pinot Noir, but at just under $17, this is an absolutely phenomenal deal. This has grace and elegance despite being a slightly richer style, and overdelivers by orders of magnitude. This is one of the more exciting sub-$20 wines we've had since I've worked here.

2022 Anonymous Wine Collective Napa Valley Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon (Elsewhere $250) ($49.95)

96 points Decanter: "Redacted by Anonymous Wine Collective"

K&L Notes: This is the first Cabernet Sauvignon release under the Anonymous Wine Collective and it's a perfect illustration of the power of this program. The fruit for this bottling comes from two of the most highly renowned, critically acclaimed vineyards in all of Napa Valley. Both have strict NDAs controlling the use of their names. Both sites have produced 100-point wines. Despite these vineyards typically being bottled as flagship, single-vineyard designates, this producer actually blends these two world-class vineyards into this barrel selection, super cuvée. Eighty-five percent of this wine comes from a renowned and historic site in eastern Rutherford first planted by Georges de Latour in 1928. The remainder of the wine comes from a vineyard in Yountville, on an alluvial fan of gravel right at the foot of the Mayacamas Mountains. This incredible Yountville site has become highly sought after by many of the most celebrated cult wineries in Napa Valley.

Ryan Woodhouse | K&L Staff Member | Review Date: April 14, 2025

The third and final wine in this first release of Anonymous shows the real power of this program. Fruit from two of the most highly renowned, critically acclaimed vineyards in all of Napa Valley. Both have strict NDAs controlling the use of their names. Both sites have produced 100-point wines. Despite these vineyards typically being bottled as flagship, single-vineyard designates, this producer actually blends these two world-class vineyards into this barrel selection, super cuvée. Eighty-five percent of this wine comes from a renowned and historic site in eastern Rutherford first planted by Georges de Latour in 1928. The remainder of the wine comes from a vineyard in Yountville, on an alluvial fan of gravel right at the foot of the Mayacamas Mountains. This vineyard has become highly sought after by many of the most celebrated cult wineries in Napa Valley. This is bold, rich, powerful Napa Cab. It combines the warmth, ripeness, and lush mid-palate of Rutherford fruit with the more finessed, perfumed, lifted fruit from the cooler Yountville site. Raised for two years in a new French oak. This is a powerhouse, but theres beautiful refinement and polish here, too.

Scott Beckerley | K&L Staff Member | Review Date: April 09, 2025

This is the third wine in the series that I tasted this morning (9 April). This one definitely has a quite huge wow(!) factor. Even pouring it is interesting. It literally clings to the side of the glass. The powerful nose is full of rich dark fruit scents with ripe berries and a heady scent of cedar that reminds me of my mom's old Hope chest. You have to be of a certain age to be familiar with that scent! On the palate, there is a very upfront taste of red cassis, milk chocolate, mildly tart tannin and very light herbs. The finish is long with the cedarwood coming through with nice bits of earth. Easy to drink but also has a nice complexity to balance the lush fruits. Like its siblings, it is a superb buy!

Ryan Moses | K&L Staff Member | Review Date: April 09, 2025

As the Bordeaux buyer, I can't say that this is the best buy in Cabernet on today's market, but beyond the Banks of the Gironde, this is certainly it. On the nose, it is pure Cabernet, with cassis, gravel, plum, and unmistakable Napa character. But what really impresses me is how it deftly navigates bold, rich flavor with a brightnessit is concentrated but does not come across as heavy. This is one of those Napa classics that is an amazing asset to have aroundhigh-caliber Cabernet goodness that you don't have to think twice about when pulling the cork. If you knew the vineyard sources in question, perhaps it would change the conversation. But at this kind of pricing, it is too easy to treat yourself to Napa Cabernet royalty for a song.

Aaron Hughes | K&L Staff Member | Review Date: April 08, 2025

While we can't divulge any of the most pertinent information about these "Anonymous" wines, I can tell you that the Cabernet Sauvignon in this bottle comes from two sites that have produced 100 point wines. The very concept of blending these sites together is almost heretical in Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, where the provenance of the fruit is considered sacrosanct. The result, however, is proof that sometimes a little heresy is just what you're looking for. The bouquet is deep and dark, crammed with blackberries, dried green herbs, cedar, and even a hint of sandalwood before finishing with green peppercorns. The palate is rich and explosive with the fruit shattering on your tongue, rich herbed blackberry compote fights with tar and tobacco neither quite willing to give up the fight. There's just enough acid to tie the whole thing together, and just in case you were wondering - this is indeed a wine for the plumpest of potatoes, something not too fat but split in half and buttered within an inch of its life, and shucks throw a steak into the mix too just to round out the meal. This is easily the best quality to price ratio Cabernet Sauvignon we have in the store right now. Do yourself a favor and grab one to try it out, I have a feeling that if big and bold Cabernet Sauvignon is your style, you'll be back for more.