Costco Wine

snipped-for-privacy@soda.csua.berkeley.edu (D. Gerasimatos) wrote in news:dh9o9c$9q1$ snipped-for-privacy@agate.berkeley.edu:

One can find some good deals, and one can find some rather pedestrian pricing. When they get in the occassional odd lot of Bordeaux offerings is when I notice the better pricing. Such things as Goats do Roam I can and do buy cheaper at my local wine outlet. The Burgundy, Loire and and Rhones are well with the exception of the occassional CdP non existent just don't even think of Cote Rotie.

I think it depends upon where you live.

In Charlotte, NC we have 2 Costco's and I have made outstanding and cheap purchases of Lynch Bages 2000 and other classified growth Bordeaux. Saved at least 40% from next best place in town.

Selection very limited however. Mostly the big names of Washington, California like Insignia, etc....France,,,Chateau Margaux...

Prices here are excellent when compared to anyone else.

"Richard Neidich" wrote in news:QTZZe.5471$ snipped-for-privacy@newsread3.news.atl.earthlink.net:

I have bought Smith for a good price, but Bordeaux seems to be the only place that gets good deals. They used to get a Longueduc wine Ch Salitis which was excellent QPR but I haven't seen it for two years now.

" snipped-for-privacy@my-deja.com" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com:

Maybe the merchandizing Mafia are the real culprits here, the old gotta deal with us guys.

I think it depends on which Costco it is (particularly what state it's in) and on what day you happen to be there. I don't go to Costco every other day to check on what they have, but whenever I'm there I check their selection. Sometimes I buy something, other times I don't.

They had 2001 Insignia, but it was $108. I didn't see that as cheap. Same with Dom Perignon and some others. Veuve Clicquot actually cost more there than the grocery store. I didn't see any Bordeaux. There was a little Burgundy. Selection was poor, even for pedestrian wines. Most interesting was probably Argyle pinot at about $16, which is what it costs everywhere else.

Dimitri

Around here, North Carolina most price Dom Perignon 1996 at $139-169. Costco is $99. Phelps Insignia is $89.

Veuve is $34.00 most grocery is $49. Total Wine will get to $32.00 typically. Boutiquw wine shops are in the $50's. The cheapest here is World Market-cost plus when they run sales at $29.00..But costco is cheaper everyday.

Thats all I know.

As others have stated, it all depends on which Costco you go to. In greater Phoenix, there are about 7. The Scottsdale store has the best selection, by a wide margin, and the prices, where they overlap, is within pennies from one store, to the other. Making comparisons with other retailers in PHX, Costco is a few $ (US) per bottle, and is seldom more, even when the same wine is on sale at another retailer. In PHX, each store has a wine-buyer, and the past sales justify the allocations. The store closer to me, probably has never had a classified Bdx.

The Scottsdale store has about 4 aisles of "everyday" wine, and two gondolas of "better" wines, plus separate stocks of bubbley.

The biggest problem is that the stock turns over VERY quickly. A distributor (who doesn't sell to Costco) recently stated that the Scottsdale Costco is the largest seller of wine in the US. I find this a bit hard to believe, but will just have to take his word for it. I'd have given the nod to someone, like K&L, or one of many NYC, or Chicago shops. I do, however, see carts with 6-10 cases going out, all of the time.

Hunt

I am in Charlotte a couple of times per month. Tuesday of this week, I ventured into "Total Wines & More" on W. T. Harris Blvd and was fairly impressed with the breadth and depth of selection. I noticed that the pricing was not consistent with pricing in AL (some was far cheaper and some was far more expensive). Wondering if you could recommend any other places in Charlotte worth checking out?

Cheers, Gary

A lot of the replies indicate that where you live plays a big part, and I certainly would agree with that. In Alabama, there are some really good deals (Rancho Zabacco Dancing Bull Zinfandel is $7.99 at Costco vs. $10.99 elsewhere) and there are some really bad deals (Ch. Lynch-Bages at $99 vs. $60-70 elsewhere). You really have to know the pricing in your market, as it appears that they loss-lead on some and then jack up a lot more. Overall, at least here, I'd say they are cheaper on 2-3 wines per 10 that I compare.

The other concern with Costco is that their storage conditions are fair at best. The one here averages mid-70's or higher, especially in the summer. I tend not to buy stuff that I plan to drink in the next couple of months at Costco for this reason (unless it is just too good to pass up). We tend to buy a lot of everyday stuff by the case at Costco, and typically find 1-2 corked bottles, which they will exchange if they still have the same wine (they won't swap for something else of similar value, which is odd to me).

Cheers, Gary

For pricing the best are Costco, Total Wine and More and World Market.

For selection I would suggest a different place called "The Wine Shop" they have 2 locations--one is Dilworth on Park Road the other in Southpark area on Tyvola.

For the most part Total Wine and More has a good selection but they are not super cheap.

Just over the border in South Carolina...10 min from Downtown Charlotte is Fort Mill and there is a place called Frugal MacDougals. They are interesting and cheaper than total wine and more in my opinion. South Carolina laws allow different methods of promoting.

Example they cannot really promote and volume sell in NC---SC the distributor can use his cheap stuff and do a volume order to get say Phelps Insignia at 1/2 price by buying 250 cases of cheap gallo. I don't really know if thats how its done but there is a difference in law when it comes to promoting.

When David Andrew resigned as their wine buyer a couple years back, Costco's selection pretty much went down the tube. I frequent several of the Seattle area stores on a regular basis, and the selection has become both pedestrian and predictable.

They also have gone out on a limb recently with their own private label, Kirkland. Some of you may recall my TN of the Kirkland St. Emilion Grand Cru, which was pretty vile. (The wine, I mean. Heh.) What bothered me more than the overpriced, brett-contaminated plonk was the patronizing attitude of the new Costco wine rep when I reported how bad the wine was. David Andrew would never have pulled a stunt like that. (Coincidentally, the wine in question disappeared completely from Costco shortly after my scathing review. Maybe it was limited supply, maybe somebody else sampled it, too.)

The best selection I've seen recently was during the grand opening of the new Woodinville, WA store in August:

2002 Ch. Mouton Rothschild -- the one that finished as my #1 and the Garagiste group's #2 in our July wine tasting: $119.99 (Garagiste offered it for under $100, but that was before I'd signed up with them.)

1999 Antinori Pian delle Vigne Brunello -- $49.99 (wine-searcher's closest domestic price: Mad Wine at $55)

1995 Banfi Poggio all Oro Riserva Brunello -- $115.00 (W> We tend to

I've had two bottles of corked wine from all my purchases at Costco. They were both the same, 1999 Perrin (my TN's say Vacqueyras, but I think it was actually Gigondas) with leaky corks. One got opened and marginally consumed for our 2004 Open That Bottle Night. I returned the other to Costco for a full refund.

JJ

This sounds like a local law problem. Some areas won't allow retailers to have scan right or item is free on wine as they are not allowed to dispense wine for less than wholesale (or even perhaps a % thereof)

I hve always gotten a cash refund and applied it to whatever I wanted.