I was first alerted to this exciting new arrival by a reader in Maryland last week, but a subsequent trip to Costcos near me turned up dry. This is the first Gran Reserva Ribera del Duero wine we’ve seen from Kirkland so I was the hunt, and finally found it last night.
On top of it just being a Kirkland Ribera, they had to send it over the top with the Gran Reserva designation, which I’ll explain in a moment. And they did it for $12.99 which is astonishing. I’d recommend red wine fans buy this up while it lasts because I imagine this one will go fast.
Quick geographic overview that’s important for understanding this wine. Ribera del Duero is an area in northern Spain known for producing excellent Tempranillo, which is the varietal that makes up 100% of what’s in this bottle. Ribera isn’t far from its better known neighbor, Rioja, with Toro on the other side – all of which produce excellent wines for the money.
A Gran Reserva designation is the highest classification in the Spanish system that mandates certain rules around how long the wine has been aged and how it’s been aged by the winery before its release.
I love this as essentially you’re buying a wine that’s ready to drink now that’s been stored in perfect conditions at the winery, ready to go at your kitchen table half way around the world from where these grapes were harvested six years ago. All for $13.
This wine was aged for 13 months in new French oak, then transferred to American oak for 25 months, before spending an additional 24 months in the bottle.
Definitely give this wine a decant for about an hour. It pours dark and opens up with powerful, spicy aromas; medium plus in body, soft and elegant as the tannins have started to mellow out; dark fruit flavor, blueberry and blackberry, more pepper and spice toward the finish, with dark chocolate and earthy notes.
This wine is a superb value, perhaps one of the best Kirkland bottles for the money we’ve found in some time. It’s big, rich and elegant all the same time.
NOTE: in the fine print on the back of the label you can see that this wine is produced by Bodegas Vina Solorca, a well known estate in Ribera del Duero, whose lesser wines (non Gran Reserva) cost more than this one.
CostcoWineBlog.com Rating: 90 points (easy addition to our Recommended wine list)
Costco item number: 1169328
Purchased at Costco in: Atlanta, GA
Alc. 14.5%
Scott
Wednesday 8th of November 2017
I opened this one up two nights ago and decanted for an hour...very good. After 1.5 hours even better. Finishing up the bottle tonight it may have actually improved again. I sent a picture of the cork which is different than those already shown. Also, I had taken a picture of the sign that has the pricing and the writeup for this wine and noticed later that there was a date on the sign...9/22/17. So assuming this wine has been there for about a month and a half.
On a side note, on the last trip to Baxter Costco picked up a case of Concha Y Toro Casillero del Diablo that was on closeout for $4.97 per bottle. Solid wine for that price! They had a lot of it left as of last Sunday so considering going back for more.
Editor
Thursday 9th of November 2017
Scott Thanks for the great comments. Here is the pic of the third cork that Scott shared with us. https://wp.me/a4z7x1-1bA
I’ve tried past vintages of the Casillero del Diablo before and at that price I’d agree that’s a screaming bargain for a good everyday drinker.
Editor
Monday 6th of November 2017
Here is the photo of the two corks that Art mentioned in the previous comment. The top one is what he found in his last two bottles and is also the same I found in my bottle. http://wp.me/a4z7x1-1bz Let us know which cork you’re seeing if you pop this one soon.
Art
Sunday 5th of November 2017
I also found and grabbed a few more bottles in Nashville a couple of weeks back.
We have consumed now close to a dozen bottles.
Interestingly, the cork of my two most recent bottles had a print that was different to the prior bottles' cork (see my comment on Sept 20).
The print on the cork of these last two bottles matches exactly the print in the photo shared by the editor on Sept 13th (see Editor's comment above). If the editor emails me in private, I can send the editor a photo of the two different cork prints for upload.
Why is this important? Two points. I think the editor is spot on in that this wine needs decanted (and likely for the time he suggested), especially bottles with the cork print he posted on Sept 13. It will be delicious after decanting. Kudos to the editor!
The second point is: different cork prints may suggest that this wine was made in volume so hopefully more cases of this wine will show up at Costco.
Editor
Sunday 5th of November 2017
Art Thanks for all the info. This is super helpful and interesting to all of us in the Costco wine community. Please send me the two photos and I’ll upload here. Editor @ costcowineblog.com/. Thanks Andrew
Scott Omberg
Sunday 5th of November 2017
Was pleasantly surprised to come across this one in Baxter MN today. Bought 9 bottles but should likely have bought more, even without having tried it yet. I think they have about a case and half left. Will have one this week and make the 2 hour drive to get more if needed.
Editor
Sunday 5th of November 2017
Cool, hope you enjoy as much as we did. It’s nice to hear it’s still out there. That one is gone around here from what I see.
Dano
Saturday 21st of October 2017
This wine is an absolute steal at this price, and sadly most of it is gone. Fortunately for me, I got 14 bottles of this 2011 Grand Reserva. I live in Hawaii and to find a wine this good at this price is extraordinary. An exemplary producer, Vina Solorca sells their lesser Tempranillo more expensively. I am on high alert for more of this beauty as I could put away three more cases for another five years, though I doubt they would last that long....Aloha!