8 of the best wines to buy at Costco, from a sommelier (2024)

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8 of the best wines to buy at Costco, from a sommelier? ›

I'm a certified sommelier, and I love shopping for wine at Costco. I actually recommend the Kirkland Signature

A deep dive into the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau registry ties Kirkland wines to a few different wineries: E&J Gallo Winery and Ethica Wines in Florida, Grove Street Winery and Francis Ford Coppola's winery in California, and Misa Imports in Texas.

For Annette Alvarez-Peters, it began with lots of books, not enough sleep, and promising her boss she'd learn the ropes fast. Alvarez-Peters joined Costco in 1983, and became a wine buyer for the wholesale company in 1995, following brief stints in the electronics and auto departments.

Costco doesn't actually make the wines. just for Kirkland Signature. At our closest store, we found a dozen or so of these wines, and we're gonna give them a taste today.

Costco is a wine power house

With roughly $2 billion in wine sales annually, Costco is one of the largest wine retailers on the globe, so it's no surprise that its team of wine buyers is composed of those considered to be some of the most influential on the globe, too.

Ernie Ceja - Sommelier/Alcohol Specialist - Costco Wholesale | LinkedIn.

Toilet paper

Yes, that's right! Costco's best-selling item is its Kirkland Signature Bath Tissue. It sells more than a billion rolls every year, bringing in over $400 million dollars in revenue. Costco's toilet paper is thicker and more absorbent than most other brands.

SOUTHERN GLAZER'S WINE & SPIRITS With more than 120 offices across 41 states and representing more than 1,000 American wineries, Southern Glazer's Wine & Spirits (SGWS) remains the largest U.S. wine distributor. The Miami, Fla.

One change to note is that we have a new winemaker producing this latest vintage, Glenn Hugo, who makes several other wines in the Kirkland portfolio. Previously, this wine was made by Nancy Walker.

Although Kirkland branded wines may not be considered “fine wine,” they certainly have their time and place. This Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough New Zealand's Ti Point Winery under the Kirkland Signature branding is very good.

Who makes Kirkland Sancerre? ›

This Kirkland Signature wine is available exclusively at Costco for just $15.99. It is imported by Misa Imports and is still made by Cave de la Vigne Blanche Coopérative de Clessé. From the bottle: […] #wine #winelover #reversewinesnob https://www.reversewinesnob.com/kirkland-signature-sancerre.

Kirkland: Costco's secret to low prices

The only difference between Kirkland Signature-branded products and some of the most popular global liquor brands is the label. The Kirkland brand also allows Costco to cut out the middleman and buy liquor directly from the producers.

The Costco in Mountain View is selling a four-pack of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti wines (in the standard 750mL size) for $40,000.

The answer is surprising: Costco makes a profit mainly from membership fees. To shop at Costco, one must possess a membership. This permits Costco to do what no other grocery store could previously do, which is sell their items at a price so low that they break even.

Wine sleuths think E&J Gallo Winery is the Kirkland boxed wine producer. There are many popular wines to buy at Costco, some that are sold under recognizable labels, and others as part of the Kirkland Signature line. The releases are often seasonal, with limited availability of a specific bottle once stock runs out.

Vacqueyras, neighbor to Gigondas and Chateauneuf-du-Pape, makes wines in a similar style with a lower price tag, so it's a great place to find value. A look at the back label reveals that this wine is made by Guillaume Gonnet, the same producer behind the excellent Kirkland Signature Chateauneuf-du-Pape.

The company, which also owns the Robert Mondavi winery, sort of stumbled into box wines when some of its executives were impressed by the quality of Black Box during a sampling. Constellation purchased the brand from the young entrepreneur who invented it.