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!

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.

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.