Costco Notes: Inky dark fruit, dark chocolate, menthol, licorice and spice blast out of the glass, Unctuous and spectacularly rich, the 2018 is a gorgeous wine in its style. Plush, silky tannins round out the long finish.
Left Coast Tasting Notes:
Color: Dark Inky Purple
Nose (aromas): Pulling the cork, it didn't have the character and complexity one would expect for a $57 Cabernet blend that sells upwards of $70 at the winery. Once the wine was aerated, there was a slight bouquet of fruit.
Palate (flavors): Straight out of the bottle, this wine was bland at best. Once the wine had time to open up, the flavors of dark fruit and some minerality were present. More air time greatly improved the wine.
Summary: This wine upon the cork pull was very disappointing. Given time exposed to air, 24 hours of non-gassed time, this wine became quite lovely. Decanting is mandatory if you are looking for a nice wine with pork, a vegetarian dish, cioppino, or a rice dish. This wine can sit one to three years in your wine collection.
Rating: Thursday
94 Points - Vinous
Value: We agreed, the wine was lovely, but for the price it was one that we would not buy again at the price point.
Grapes: 89% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3.7% Merlot, 3.4% Malbec, 3.4% Petite Verdot, 0.4% Cabernet Franc
Alcohol: 15.1%
Costco SKU: 1609342
Price: $56.99
Store Location: Danville, CA
Tasting Date: 10/29/2021
Tasting Panel: M.S., M.A., C.P., L.F., B.H.,M.C.
This review is part of a series of guest posts from Left Coast Wine Bloggers, a great group of wine lovers enjoying and reviewing Costco wines they find on the West Coast. You can read more about them here, and learn more about their rating system. We hope the addition of their wine reviews will expand the geographic coverage of the blog so you can find more of the wines we feature. Cheers.
