One of our Perennial Favorite Red Wines from Costco

Fast facts:

• 2019 Kirkland Signature Red Blend, Napa Valley, CA ($10.99 @ Costco, California – Item #333110)

Tasting Notes:

Start with nice aromas of cherry, spice, vanilla, cola, black pepper and a hint of sandalwood.  Smooth and silky in the mouth with flavors of black cherry, red berries, vanilla, and eucalyptus. which linger on the finish. (From the back label: “a traditional bland of classical varietals which combine to create a finely nuanced wine from the well-drained gravelly looms and silt soils of Napa Valley. This blend has the concentrated notes of black cherry and cassis supported by silky tannins and the spice rack notes of oak and cedar finishing with the velvety notes of rich plum.” 

It’s back. And it’s as good as ever – maybe even better this vintage.

Same label, same name.  Same price. Same item number. Different vintage – welcome to Costco’s 2019 rendition of its Napa Valley Bordeaux blend. This is probably one of the best value domestic red wines that Costco puts out under its Kirkland Signature label each year.  It is consistently good, and a perennial great value.

Of course,  I rather flippantly called this bottling a Bordeaux blend.  That is, as my late Mom would have said, “playing fast and loose with the truth.” (She was very adept at detecting when I was guilty of doing so.)

You see, only wines from Bordeaux, France can have that word on the label. Sure, American used to play “fast and loose” with French place names by calling California wines Chablis, or Hearty Burgundy, but we’ve cleaned up our act because no one like paying fines and/or creating an international incident.

The word Meritage is also regulated.  It is trademarked, and you literally have to join a club to use it.

Confused?  Let Me Break it Down

There IS something that red blend have in common with Bordeaux blends and Meritage: they must all be made using the same five grape varieties native to Bordeaux.  Costco made it easy by listing them prominently on the label. 66% Cabernet Sauvignon, 26% Merlot, 3% Petit Verdot, 3% Malbec, 2% Cabernet Franc. (You had us at 66% Napa Cab!)

The nice thing about the Kirkland Signature wine brands is that they are distributed far and wide as opposed to other branded product which often has more spotty coverage in the retail behemoth’s network of store. So with any luck, you will get your hands on some of this red blend (did we mention Napa?) from Costco.  If you do, let us know what you think by posting in the comments section, or on our Facebook page.

If this wine sounds familiar, it might be  because we also reviewed the 2016 vintage and the 2018 vintage as well.  Seems we somehow missed the 2017?

If you’re headed to Costco soon yourself, you can find our most recent reviews of Costco wines here in our Lucky 13 list.

And if your  shopping finds you at Trader Joe’s, you can find our Lucky 13 list of TJ’s wine here.

Cheers!