Kirkland Signature products aim to bring premium quality at rock bottom prices, and most of the time they hit the mark, particularly in the wine aisle.
To get that high quality, Costco often teams up with big name producers who can’t always claim these wines as their own, or it might devalue some of their other, higher priced offerings. So it's not always clear who is making the Kirkland wines.
Sometimes there are clues (names listed on cork), sometimes it’s more obvious (winemaker listed on the back label), and sometimes we just have to rely on inside info we find online.
We’ve been poking around for a while to assemble this list, so let's dig into it and uncover some of the secrets behind who is making Costco's Kirkland wines.
Base level Kirkland Signature wines from California: E&J Gallo
These are the very inexpensive 1.5L bottles of California Cabernet, and the Kirkland Boxed wines. According to the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau registry, these are made the mega conglomerate, E&J Gallo.
Kirkland Signature Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon: Glenn Hugo
Also, Kirkland Russian River Pinot Noir, Oakville Cabernet, several others.
Glenn Hugo is the force behind a lot of the big California wines released from Kirkland. He is the head winemaker at Girard, where comparable wines sell for 2-3X the price of the Kirkland bottles. These are almost always winners in our book.
Kirkland Signature Ti Point Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc: Ti Point Wines
The popular $8 Kirkland Ti Point Sauvignon Blanc is (not a huge surprise) made by Ti Point Wines from New Zealand.
Kirkland Signature Cotes du Rhone Villages: Patrick Lesec
How they've been able to sell this wine for under $8 is a mystery to us. The person to ask would be Rhone Valley winemaker Patrick Lesec, who has (very successfully) made this Kirkland wine for several vintages now.
Kirkland 10 Year Old Tawny Port: Fonseca
Kirkland's popular and tasty 10 Year Old Tawny Port is made by Fonseca, within the well known and respected Taylor Fladgate group.
Kirkland Signature K Vine Syrah, Rose, Cabernet and Chardonnay: K Vintners
The K Vine wines arrived a few years ago, and include four different varietals all (not so secretly) produced by K Vintners in Washington State led by famed winemaker Charles Smith.
Kirkland Signature Suscol Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon: Jeff McBride
We were thrilled when this Suscol vineyard bottle appeared and boy has it delivered. It is made by Jeff McBride who has made wine for Stag's Leap Wine Cellars and Benzinger.
Kirkland Premier Cru Chablis: Jean-Marc Brocard
This has been another exciting Kirkland addition for several years. This premier cru Chablis somehow remains under $20, and it is made by Pierre Brissy, the winemaker for Jean-Marc Brocard, a top name in the area.
Kirkland Signature Côtes de Provence Rosé: Olivier Sumeire
The popular Kirkland Provence Rose is produced by Olivier Sumeire with a rich and award winning history of winemaking in the area dating back to the 18th century.
Kirkland Signature Malbec: Broquel Winery
The $7 Kirkland Malbec is made by winemaker Sergio Case from Broquel winery in Mendoza, Argentina. Most of the other Malbecs they produce start at double this price.
Kirkland Signature Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon: Alison Crowe
Alison Crowe has been making the Alexander Valley Cabernet for Kirkland for several vintages. She is well know with more than 30 years of winemaking experience in California and Argentina.
Kirkland Signature Columbia Valley Red Wine: Gilles Nicault
This delicious Washington State red blend is made by Gilles Nicault who is the director of winemaking at Long Shadows Winery in Walla Walla.
Kirkland Signature Chateauneuf-du-Pape, Vacqueyras and Gigondas: Guilliame Gonnet
Most of the heavy hitter Kirkland bottles from Southern Rhone come from Guilliame Gonnet, a third-generation winemaker in the Rhone Valley. He's credited as the winemaker for the Kirkland Chateauneuf-du-Pape, Vacqueyras and its Gigondas. That's a solid trifecta; nice work Guilliame.
Kirkland Signature Champagne Brut: Manuel Janisson
The always delicious and unbelievably affordable (for Champagne, $20) Kirkland Signature Champagne is made by Manuel Janisson of Champagne Janisson & Fil in the village of Verzenay, which is designated a Grand Cru village.
That's the list we have so far. There are definitely other names and brands behind Kirkland bottles we missed, so please feel free to post in the comments below.
If you want to read more about Costco's Kirkland Wines, don't miss our popular feature: "The Definitive Guide To Costco’s Kirkland Signature Wines"
Kevin Knox says
Great sleuthing to come up with all of these winemakers!
It's interesting to me that Kirkland hasn't been anywhere near as successful with their Italian private label program as with their French offerings. The Chianti Classico Riserva is priced almost even with the Côtes-du-Rhône Villages but is a perennial 85-86 point max "dog." At least the Brunello is decent and the Barolo of course stellar but they don't do well with everyday Italian wines.
On the French side, I think Guillame Gonet is actually an underachiever. The Côtes-du-Rhône Villages by Lessac consistently outperforms the Vacqueyras and Gigondas made by Gonet. Tellingly Gonet's wines under his own name are also mid-pack wines at best, never coming close to the reference-standard producers in the region.
Megan Philip says
Also from Guillaume Gonnet (whom we've had the pleasure of meeting and whose wines we frequently purchase from our local shop) - the four pack of Sauvignon Blanc under the label The Bird that was at our STL area Costco a few months ago.
Jay says
Janisson & Fil's champagne goes for 1.5 to 2x the price of Kirkland. Way to go!
Matt says
Kirkland wines in a nutshell....
The French offerings are great QPR
The Italian offerings can be pretty good to underwhelming
The Californian offerings are overly sweet fruit bombs with too much artificial oak, manipulated mega red/purple tainted 'wines by recipe'.
But hey what do I know?.......Supply and demand!!!
June Jacobs says
Thanks for your sleuth work! I’ve been paying close attention to this for quite a little while.
Doug says
So...what's the difference between the Guillaume Gonnet "bird" CNDP sold in my local store for $35 and his Kirkland CNDP that goes for $18.99? The label?