Seattle Wine Blog

This blog is dedicated to commentary on all aspects of wine, especially short entries to help you find the best wines without the usual hype and spin. These are my frank, independent opinions, usually based on tasting wine at a public event, off the shelf or at the winery. "All creative acts must arise out of a specific soil and flicker with a spirit of place" -D.H. Lawrence

Monday, July 10, 2006

Buying Wine At Costco

While it is generally true that Costco usually has the best price for a given wine, there is not really a huge selection of inexpensive wines at Costco. Costco usually has great prices on Bordeaux First Growths, but these wines are very expensive. Dom Perignon 1998 at around $100 is a great price compared to other retailers, but most of us want a wine at under $15. Good values in this price range at Costco include 2005 Willamette Valley Vineyards Pinot Gris at $11, 2004 Cambria Katherine's Vineyard Chardonnay at $12, and 2004 Coppola Merlot or Claret at $14. 2001 Reininger Merlot priced in the $20s is also a good value.

4 Comments:

  • At 11:17 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    I've noticed the same thing at Costco's big competitor, Sam's Club. They seem to offer good prices on the wines they carry, but they also tend to focus on somewhat pricier selections. I've encountered a couple of sub-$10 choices (one was a Ravenswood Zin, I think), but they have a somewhat bigger selection of sub-$20 choices. Sam's usually posts some tasting notes and a Wine Spectator rating for each wine, though I'm not sure they always match the year and wine details perfectly. If they stock what you are looking for, though, it will likely be a good deal.

     
  • At 7:07 AM, Blogger Gene Stein, Ph.D. said…

    Box Wine Guy, Thanks for your comment. I never seem to get to Sam's Club, so this is really helpful. Interesting that they post OLD notes and ratings, too. Sounds similar to Costco, but with a somewhat better selection in the range we all like. Gene

     
  • At 7:45 PM, Blogger kkevilus said…

    A Costco steal?

    I'm definitely not a connoisseur, I happened to be in Costco one day and a man there pointed out a bottle to me that he said was a great buy. At $15 I bought a dozen to give away as Christmas presents, etc.

    I really enjoyed the wine. I kept the bottle to look the wine up later on.

    The wine: 1998 Lafite, Barons de Rothschild, Pauillac. Needless to say, I can't find it priced anywhere near my initial Costco pricing.

     
  • At 10:29 PM, Blogger Gene Stein, Ph.D. said…

    Thanks for your comment, Karl. Wow! You got a real steal! Someone must have mispriced the Lafite! Way to go! Gene

     

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