I wasn’t a huge fan of the 2012 or 2007 vintages of the Kirkland Alexander Valley Cab, but I’m actually not finding this new one from ’13 that’s in stores now to be that bad, almost beginning to enjoy it a bit after a good decant. Costco raised the price a dollar to $9.99 which almost steered me away because I thought the 2012 should have been priced even lower at $6.99, but this ’13 isn’t a bad buy after all.

Pretty nose, nice floral aromas, hints of a little of the sweetness, candy to come; the wine is deep dark inky purple and medium to full in body; flavors of cherry, sour cherry, acidic with notes of tobacco towards the finish; a bit of sour, candy tart in the end that I know can throw people off, but I’m ok with it here; finishes dry, lasting in the mouth.

We paired with some spicy meatballs (more because that’s what we were eating since the basil in the garden is going bad rather than picking this wine) and it worked ok.  I can think of quite a few other wines I would have preferred with meatballs, but I can say this one is rather friendly with most red wine targeted food pairings.

In all, maybe the best showing of the Alexander Valley Kirkland Cabs I’ve had.  My scores on the prior vintages have been low to mid 80s.  I’m going to go just a touch higher here.  Let me know what you think of this one, especially if you tried the ’12.  Curious to see if others agree on the differences between vintages.

CostcoWineBlog.com Rating: 86 Points

Costco item number: 223343

Purchased at Costco in: Atlanta, GA

Alc. 13.6%