Costco: Fine Wine Merchant :)
Wednesday, April 25, 2007 at 9:30PM Linda, a Wine Camp Blog reader, recently sent me this email about “corky” wines and Costco:
“Hi Craig. I read your interesting article about corky wine on the web and I hope you will give me some advice. I recently purchased a bottle of Cavit Pinot Grigio at Costco which turned out to be corky. When I returned it to Costco here in Georgia (I had my receipt), the manager said that he would let me do a “one-time courtesy return” and made a notation on my account. Here in Georgia we can return a bad bottle but only in exchange for the same brand, and that rule is fine by me. He said that they store the wines properly and that there was cork in the bottle and that was why it was corky, implying that I had not opened the bottle properly. I have had over 30 years as a flight attendant working in first class and am quite accustomed to opening a bottle of wine as well as recognizing a musty, corky odor. I am quit aggravated with his “one-time courtesy return” and would ask your advice on how to return a bottle should this happen again. ”
I see two mistakes here, first buying wine at Costco and secondly buying Cavit Pinot Grigio. Fortunately your bottle of Cavit was corked, meaning it actually had a flavor - as usually it’s tasteless.
The ignorant response of the manager is inexcusable and highlights why Costco is a bad place to buy wine. The manager clearly had no idea, interest nor training on a product in his store. People buy wine at Costco as they think they are getting good buys when all they are getting is commercial plonk that has bribed their way onto their shelves.
I often shop at Costo for toilet paper and such, but never buy wine there becaus they sell boring wines that are bad values at any price. A trip to any real fine wine retailer will get you many more wine bargains. You may not have heard of the brand, but the wines will taste better than anything you’ll get at Costco and not cost you a penny more.
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Reader Comments (18)
EVWG
I've had bad bottles from them all, but its rare. I will say that I've never had a problem returning anything, anything to a Costco. In NJ, in Boston, in several CA places, in Seattle, you name it. Never a problem. They just take it back and give you your money. Wine, i-pods, GPSs, even months after you bought it. Its one of the joys of shopping there.
In fact we're going through a mixed case from Costco right now. All are reds, most very recognizable labels. OK, the selection is limited at any time to maybe 80 bottles (?) split between reds and whites. OK, no one to talk with about the wine. ever try to talk to someone in a supermarket?
I've said my piece. Frankly, your Costco description sounds more like you dislike the store . Ever had a bad bottle from your local liquor store and tried to take it back? Two months later? Several bottles to go back? I doubt your local store will welcome you after you return the 3rd bottle. How about that bottle that's been sitting on the neighborhood store floor for two years while the A/C is 70 in Summer and the heat is 80s in winter, or vice versa?
Sorry, but my Costco experience is different than yours. Disclaimer: I'm retired, never worked in retail, don't own costco stock, etc. Just trying to balance out what seems like mostly rants against the store here.
As far as the store I like it just fine for TVs. aluminum foil and such.
Sediment is a natural bi-product of the wine making process and is a collection of fine particles made up of grape skins and other debris. It occurs when the wine maaker decides not to filter his wines in order to preserve their natural integrity. There is absolutely NO way that the people at Costco could "create" more sediment in a red wine bottle, no matter how poorly they may store the wine since the sediment already existed in the bottle before the wine even left the winery. (However, exposing white wine to unnecessary cold temperatures can cause crystals to develop in the bottom of those bottles). I do agree however that Costco is a terrible place to purchase wine. Selection is poor and obviously customer service is lacking.
Linda-in a proper store a corked bottle should be returned for a full refund every time, no questions asked!
I won't bother continuing to comments of the return policy - but regarding quality - it is obvious there are some here that turn their nose up at wine purchased at a place that also sells printer ink and blue jeans.
However, Costco (Boston area) offers a tempting array of vintages in a wide range of prices. You may not find that boutique wine you have been searching for, but you usually cannot go wrong with your selection and value. Costco is a great place to buy some fine wine.
Folks need to understand Costco for what it is. Around 80% of their selection is indeed boring and the selection unfortunately is not that broad. But I do often find very good local wines sold well below retail price. Maybe that's a function of being in Southern California.
At any rate, there may be only several wines there at any given time that are interesting to me. I just ignore the mass produced stuff stacked on palettes with a curiously high WS rating. The less ubiquitous wines are in bins that hold about a case of wine. If it's a wine you know and like, buy it up since the price won't get any better!
Wine taste is subjective - period. Opinions are like "ASSHOLES" everybody's got one!!!
What a clever comment. By the way, faulted wine is not an opinion, but a fact. This is not a case of not liking a wine, which is subjective, but calling out a retailer for selling damaged goods.