This is a big one, bold, loaded with flavor and a great buy in my opinion for $17.79 at my local Costco. I'm just drawn to these Spanish wines now as I continue to find incredible value, and this one is a great example of the caliber of wine you can score from Spain for under $20.
This wine is 100% Tinta de Toro (Tempranillo), dark, inky purple on the pour with aromas of berry, spice and earth/campfire jumping out of the glass. The wine is full bodied with strong tannins, drinking nicely right now but with some further room to run in the cellar for sure. Flavors of red and dark fruit, plum, cherry licorice with more campfire/smoke on the finish. Lasting finish, mellow, elegant but it hangs around. Definitely a good one to toss in the decanter for an hour or so before diving in.
All in all, this is an amazing wine for $18. You can't go wrong with wines from Toro. It's a big wine for these hot summer months, but well worth buying a few to lay down, and maybe enjoy during the winter months. I'm a fan of this one, and will place it on our Top Picks list.
CostcoWineBlog.com Rating: 91 Points (the neck of the bottle has a band proudly promoting the 92 points that Parker gave this wine but I'm feeling closer to 90-91 for me)
Costco item number: 854074
Purchased at Costco in: Atlanta, GA
Alc. 14.5%
Robert says
Thanks for this and all of your fine reviews. I too am a huge fan of Spanish reds, but I live on the West Coast and our Costcos get many fewer than I've seen in in stores back East. If there were a way for you to incorporate a search tool to find out which Costcos carry your review bottles, that would be very powerful. Maybe Costco would help you with it?
Editor says
Thanks for the note, and yes, I really wish there was a way to search Costco's inventory by store. It would help me too find bottles that are more widely available for readers to buy. I've asked Costco in the past about insight into distribution for this very reason but they haven't been willing to provide assistance. I'm not sure we'll be able to change that anytime soon, unfortunately.
Joe Roberts says
I also would like to thank you for your reminders about the great buys in Spanish wines--- always some good buys, and right now, perhaps due to the Spanish economy, some fabulous buys. Your reviewed wines have not shown up in the Costcos I frequent (I'm in "flyover" country) but several others have, including an incredible one labelled "Breca"-- Robert Parker goes ga-ga over it and it sells for $11.95. More than a case of it is resting in my cellar, with more to come. Several other Spanish labels too, one a 2007 just released.
Editor says
Fantastic. Thanks for sharing that. I'll keep an eye out for that bottle. I don't think it's appeared near me yet.
Ruben says
Just saw a 2007 Marques de Murrieta Castillo Ygay Gran Reserva. $64 though so not sure if there's value there. Three other lower-priced Riojas came out, so definitely Spanish wines are making their way out to some CA Costco stores now. They were also stocking a few of your favorite 2012 J. Phelps Insignia!
Editor says
Thanks for the info. Super curious, what was the price on the '12 Insignia? Best I've seen is $180 from WineLibrary where I've bought a few bottles.
Ruben says
Same price.
Editor says
That's about as good as you'll find Insignia for. I've had two bottles of it now but it is so young I'm waiting on the rest of my stash for a while. That one can go for a while.