2015 Firesteed Pinot Noir Willamette Valley
This is flat out an insane Costco wine buy for only $10.49. Good Pinot is hard to come by at this price point, but this Firesteed bottle from Oregon’s Willamette Valley is really a standout.
It’s funny because the wine steward at my Costco (who doesn’t know I do this site) was hounding me as I was selecting my wines, basically following me around and commenting on the wines I was choosing.
I appreciate the effort, and he sincerely wanted me to find good wines. He never asked me why I was taking pictures of everything, but I digress…Ironically, this was the first bottle that he recommended and I already had one in my cart. When he saw it, he immediately said, “buy more. Trust me, it’s excellent.”
I should have listened to him. I hope this wine sticks around for a bit, and I really hope you can find it in the stores near you. It’s frankly worth going elsewhere to look for it if your Costco isn’t carrying it, or runs out. If you like Pinot, this is a good place to invest.
It’s light on the pour, and medium in body; aromatic nose that is floral with berries. In the mouth is a nice flavor profile highlighted by red fruit, cherry, cranberry, red licorice, a little Dr Pepper and subtle pepper spice towards the close.
It’s not an overbearing or complicated wine. Rather, it’s simple, direct and super easy to just enjoy sip after sip. We paired with a ground bison and cauliflower rice dish (all Costco too, love that ground bison) and it was delicious. This is one of those wines you can really pair with anything.
Great buy, and Wine Enthusiast agreed awarding the wine 91 points and noting it’s retail $17 price tag, that makes Costco’s price look even that much better.
CostcoWineBlog.com Rating: 90 points (a CostcoWineBlog recommended wine)
Costco item number: 799579
Purchased at Costco in: Atlanta, GA
Alc. 13.8%
I’m astonished to report that I just saw this the other day at my preferred Mpls.-St. Paul Costco! It was the first Costco in the metro, and they really under-built the wine/liquor section, so it’s being expanded dramatically. At that point, I hope we’ll get more of the wines you lucky Atlantans flaunt so casually here on the blog.;-)
I frequently look for wines you’ve reviewed in a couple local Costcos in Orange County, CA, but we find very few. Seems the supply is split east vs. west. Enjoy reading about them, though!
Bummer. Hope some turn up for you. Quite a few Kirkland wines we need to review so hopefully those will be available near you.
I do enjoy the varying stock at different Costcos, even in a single metro like ours. Lots of Indian foods at one (and a superior stock of vegetarian items); Jewish foods and kosher wines at another. Terry, your Costco wine departments are probably dripping with wonderful CA wines which never go outside the state! Not a lot of MN wines in ours, of course…but I did find the intriguing (and really quite tasty) Winehaven “Stinger Mead” at the Maple Grove store last year. https://www.winehaven.com/HoneyWineMead
I was able to get a case of this at the Memphis Wolfchase Costco last week. Had the first last night, and it is VERY good, especially for the price. I remembered getting some Firesteed Chardonnay a few years ago on closeout at local liquor store (before Costcos here had wine), and it was excellent. Recommend this one, and thanks for the heads up.