Saturday, October 07, 2006

Buying Wine at Costco--Alhambra Store

I've shopped at 5 or 6 different Costcos in both Northern and Southern California and they vary a lot in quality and quantity of wine selection. So, I've started this blog to post tasting notes as well as reviews of Costco wine sections of Costco stores. I'm hoping others will want to post comments, too, especially to recommend particularly strong wine selections in their local branches.

Today I went to the Alhambra, CA Costco, which I have to say has the worst wine selection of any Costco I've ever visited. It is a small selection, as Costco's go, despite the fact this is a big warehouse. There is one rack of wine, reds on one side, whites on the other, and end caps of high-end reds and champagnes. The reds are heavy on Cabernet Sauvignon. The whites are heavy on Chardonnay. Today there were a few wonderful surprises, like the highly-rated Ca'Viola 2003 Dolcetto d'Alba ($24.89, I bought the last bottle) and a 2004 Ch. Sancerre Sancerre ($17.99). The Alhambra branch was stocking a lot of high-end wines (more than usual), which were selling there in the $30-$40 range but no Bordeaux other than Kirkland's own label. Most of the wines on offer were from the US and Australia.

Among the pallets you could find 2004 Chateau St. Jean Fume Blanc ($7.49) and 2002 Rosemount Chardonnay Orange Vineyard ($7.99), along with Clos du Bois, Ecco Domani, and other wines.

This is my local Costco, so I'm sure I'll be back over there in a few weeks, but I'm also going to try out the Los Feliz and Asuza warehouses. Any readers with views on these warehouses and their wine section?