Fans of light, dainty reds, BACK AWAY please. Today’s wine delivers atomic levels of fruit and extraction under $30. If you enjoy Prisoner type blends, this lands right in your wheelhouse.

Before we press on, a few things you should know up front:

We’re one of the very few select wine merchants showcasing this winery-only 2013 “ICON” today. Furthermore, the TWS exclusive $29.99 price is impossible to come by again, given the release price of this flagship wine being $75 which is what the winery still charges for it. Don’t get us wrong, $75 is a GREAT price for such an ICONIC library release red from the heralded 2013 vintage, yet the opportunity to pay under $30 per bottle on this is a once-in-a-lifetime, earth-shattering momentous miracle of sorts. Now stop rubbing your eyes and pinching yourselves and blow up that cart!

It is as iconic as its name implies; this brooding wine is black as the night sky in the glass. The nose is approachable and intriguing with a perplexing blend of aromas including lavender, violets, roses, raspberry, blueberry, and coconut. It synthesizes the fruit and the earth components with equal parts pomegranate, sour cherry, plum and volcanic rocks, terracotta, and red beet. Complex and irresistible. It’s just delectable dark fruit that unfolds in layers as the wine evolves on the palate moving towards the finish. For such a complex wine, you need a complex meal. Lamb shank spiced with coriander and cumin, cooled with a mint chutney will do the trick.

This massive yet balanced pre-prohibition ancient vines blend of 33% Zinfandel, 33% Petite Sirah, 26% Carignane and 8% Alicante will knock you out, no doubt.

Agent Red once asked Ravenswood’s winemaker extraordinaire and one of the mightiest Wine Jedi to ever walk this galaxy, Joel Peterson what his winemaking philosophy was, he wisely answered: “Wines should reflect the flavors of the places that they were grown. Wine should taste like fruit, not oak. Wine should be balanced, rich, and complex and interesting. The best wines are the ones that develop well with age. To that end, we attempt to let each vineyard express its optimal character by using winemaking techniques and careful attention to detail that dwells on each vineyard’s particular strengths. Our mantra is “no wimpy wines”, meaning that we want each wine we have to exhibit strength of character, not merely power.”

Thanks, Joel. We love you.

Here’s what the wine press has to say.

91 points - Virginie Boone, Wine Enthusiast - “A twisted, youthful nod to Sonoma County’s past, this liquid tribute holds 33% Zinfandel and 33% Petite Sirah plus smaller amounts of Carignane and Alicante Bouschet. Violet and lavender aromas come atop big, leathery, syrupy black fruit with a sizable presence of grip. In the end, there’s harmony and understanding, May 1, 2016”