2013 1849 Wine Company Anonymous Premium Red Blend Napa Valley 750 ml

Napa Elixir Meets Every Decadent Expectation

“Drink graciously.” That’s the tagline for 1849 Wine Company, a Napa newcomer and producer of today’s 2013 “Anonymous” Red Blend. And you can, because we are offering 1,200 bottles at the lowest price in the nation by far—just $21.99 each at 45% off the release price. “Anonymous” is a fun red blend, fashioned in the same vein as Orin Swift’s “The Prisoner,” blending Cabernet Sauvignon, Petite Sirah, Merlot, and Zinfandel that was barrel-aged in French and American oak. This is pure Napa hedonism in the bottle and exactly the kind of wine we love to graciously share with friends and family.  

We know you’re not supposed to judge a book by its cover. Surely, this applies to bottles of wine. But one look at the 2013 “Anonymous” label by Saber—a famous L.A. street artist—and the panoply of colors from purple and red to black and blue streaks is enough to elicit a mouthwatering response; hopeful that the elixir inside meets every decadent expectation.  

Well, it does.

Through a medium plum-garnet hue, sumptuous Bing cherry aromas meet cola notes, giving way to a bright, quaffable red blend that is zesty and fresh on the entry with irresistibly plush and silky red fruit on the mid-palate, giving way to red licorice tinged with cocoa powder. Mild, sinewy tannins are well-integrated on a long finish. This is the quintessential Napa Valley red to serve (and drink) while flipping burgers on the barbecue.

Winemaker Thomas Michael Stokes is a third-generation grower from Lodi who has Zinfandel effectively running through is blood. Combined with classic Bordeaux varieties, his ripe, plush style is perfectly accentuated by Saber’s artistic backdrop. And talk about a real modern collaboration. Saber, the artist, has been described by the L.A. Times as “a long-running presence,” in L.A. “working on his first tags in his teens in the late '80s and early '90s and making a name for himself in 1997 for producing a massive multi-colored piece on the concrete banks of the L.A. River. Today, he is known for his highly stylized paintings and murals.”  

Grab a case. Fire up the grill. Forget about it. Just don’t burn the burgers.