Skip to Content

2012 Kirkland Signature Rutherford Meritage

2012 Kirkland Signature Rutherford Meritage

KS Rutherford Meritage 13_99 999309The Kirkland Rutherford Meritage is consistently a good value as far as Napa red blends go.  I think I’ve given them between 88-90 points almost every year, including 2011, which was a tough growing year.  This year’s Meritage is a bit different, with a more dominant Merlot percentage in the blend, but I thoroughly enjoyed it for only $13.99.  It’s tough to get much more from a Napa red at that price.

So this year’s blend is 58% Merlot, 26% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Petit Verdot, 6% Cabernet Franc, and 2% Malbec.  The Merlot domination brings a nice character to the wine with a little more ripe fruit and softness.  The wine opened a little closed for us, and needed a lot of swirling to bring the nose out.  But it emerged, still a little restrained, with ripe fruit and spice.  Medium to full in body, I’m getting a lot of red licorice, tobacco and leather surrounding red fruit.  The wine has a little sweetness toward the close as the acidity takes hold.  In the finish, it’s chalky and sticky, like many wines from this region tend to be.

All in all a solid buy for only $14 and a safe buy for almost any red wine fan.

CostcoWineBlog.com Rating: 88 Points

Costco item number: 999309

Purchased at Costco in: Atlanta, GA