Coteaux Costco
Tuesday, October 30, 2007 at 10:38PM 
I just tossed almost fifty bucks down the toilet. It’s my fault, I should have known better, but as they say, a sucker is born every minute. Today that sucker was me.
I ventured into Costco to buy big chunks of food to prepare for some events where a lot of very hungry people would be “consuming mass quantities” and, while on my way to the food department, passed the wines. I could not resist taking a spin to see what was what. There it was, their private label French Champagne, under the elegant Kirkland label, going for only $22 a bottle. I mean, how bad could it be? It was real French Brut Champagne and had been selected by a real M.W. named D.C. Flynt. I guess being an M.W. is not what it used to be.
How bad could it be? The answer is pretty bad. First of all there was the ugly brown color, followed by the the insipid taste and oxidized aromas. On top of that, it didn’t even have many bubbles left. In my opinion, this is one of the worst rip-offs I have ever tasted and don’t understand how any reputable merchant can sell such a wine. You would be better off with a bottle of $6 Spanish Cava than this terrible wine. No, that’s not a glass of Fino Sherry pictured here, it’s a glass of Kirkland Champagne about to be poured down the drain.
Perhaps this was a decent wine when our M.W., D.C. Flynt selected it, but somewhere along the way I think this wine has been so abused by bad storage and bad shipping conditions that it’s certainly not worth $22 a bottle or, for that matter, $2 a bottle.
I was a sucker because I let myself be conned into buying a wine from Costco. If you buy wine from a store where not a soul in the store has a clue about the wines their selling you get what you deserve. I got two bottles of undrinkable Champagne and I deserved it. Costco tosses in some famous names to make themselves look like a serious wine merchant and a lot of people get taken in by this ploy. For example they were selling wines like 2004 Ducru Beaucaillou today, but you have to ask yourself how those stacked up bottles were treated before you lay them down for a decade only to find out that, like me, you were a sucker too.
I can’t think of a worse place to buy wine than Costco.
Email Article to Friend
Reader Comments (17)
Way to go, just say what you think! Yes I was looking at the Kirkland Napa Cabernet with the same thoughts glad I did not relent, hey but the Vodka is good.
I'd note that I prefer Parker's ratings and usually go by them when I buy, with the WS second, and we've drunk a lot over the years. I've also found that some of the "better names" sometimes come out with putrid wines, and some wines of lesser price, say about $8 to $10 are always lousy, year after year, despite being "names" that consumers recognize and believe to be good because of the recognition factor..
The Kirkland Barossa GSM by Burge was really hyped by a wine guy there who was really knowledgeable (some Costco's actually have wine people on weekends). But it was surupy without any complexity. He thought it was going to turn into something great but i doubt it.
I would never buy a bottle of Champangne at Costco with the kirkland label for all the above mentioned reasons-unless of course a friend whose palate i respected recommended it. Thanks for the post, however, because every once in a while, like you were, I am tempted.
Anyhow sorry for the ramble, on a final note thank your for your heads up on the costco champagne, it is much appreciated. And thank you for the delightful read.
oh ya here the link to the tv wine library episode with costco wine
http://tv.winelibrary.com/2007/11/06/costco-wine-tasting-episode-345/
I worked for D.C. Flynt at Cafe Margeaux. His head is so big he needs a helicopter to transport him from venue to venue. He makes Mr. Obama look like a piker when it comes to ego. I wonder how much Costco paid him to bless their mouthwash??
I don't think you're being entirely fair Craig, perhaps you should have brought it back for a refund instead of getting a hot head and being so derisive. With the steps Costco takes to manage their wine business, I seriously doubt they'd refuse to hand your money back and apologize. In my opinion their champagne is great, especially for the $22 standard price and the occasional marked down price I've seen at $14. To be fair, I'm 18 so the quantity of champagne I've had to drink is small compared to all of you, but the quality of the champagne I've had over the past few years is remarkable, my family generally never purchases champagne below $200 a bottle. In fact, my aunt owns a custom walk-in wine cooler and frequently buys her wine at $250 a half bottle. She purchased the Kirkland champagne in bulk for Christmas because she read some reviews and saw the 90 point review WS gave it, we just started drinking it a few hours ago and she thinks it's great, especially for the low value.
In summary, I think you just got a bad batch, I'm drinking it now and it's great.