Look what we found making a surprise appearance back in Costco stores. The last time we saw this bottle was back in 2018 with the 2014 vintage. We thought this might be a one and done Kirkland bottling, but here we are five vintages later and it's back.
The price went up $1 to $14.99. There's no mention of the varietal blend on the label but last time it was 80% Sangiovese with 15% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Merlot. We'd assume it's similar with the 2019 vintage.
Our tasting notes are similar to the previous review too, and our conclusion the same: this is a solid mid-week drinker, perfect pizza wine. It's a little light but it's easy going and will satisfy a lot of Super Tuscan fans in the $15 range.
The wine starts with dusty, dried fruit on the nose; light in body with chewy tannins; good amount of flavor and acidity, mostly black cherry, black licorice, pepper notes.
It definitely opened up over time so a decant would be a good idea. The finish is good. Nothing super special here, but again it's a fair buy, perfect pizza wine or table wine. We're going to drop our rating one point to a still very respectable 87.
CostcoWineBlog.com Rating: 87 points
Costco item number: 1181768
Purchased at Costco in: Atlanta, GA (Kennesaw)
Alc. 13.5%
Sean says
Hi. Recently got the St. Julien Kirkland in Delaware. Never seen it before. Maybe a first bottling? Don't know if it's been in Atlanta and if you are going to review soon. Looking forward to it if so.
Editor says
Hi Sean. We have heard about this one but haven’t seen it yet. Super excited as St Julien is one of our favorite areas of Bordeaux. Heard the price was around $18 too which is amazing for a wine from this region. Hope to find and review soon.
Hans B says
@Editor, Saw the KS St. Julien in MA, but only purchased 2 bottles. Turned out to be our favorite KS wine (previously, the 2016 Brunello). Went back to the store and they were sold out. The wine manager said there was supposed to be another shipment coming in to the store, but it never arrived and he doesn't think it will.
Editor says
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. We are looking for the St Julien but it hasn’t showed up near us yet. Hope we don’t miss it.
Henry says
I'm glad to see this review as I had picked up both 2018 and 2019 vintages but haven't yet opened. Since we finished all the Kirkland Chianti,these are next in line for paring with pizza and/or other "less formal" Italian dishes.
Cindy says
Didn't last long in the Atlanta area.
Navin says
Just picked up today a couple of 2018 Kirkland Brunello di Montalcino at the Glen Allen, VA Costco. Noticed that Suckling reduced his rating to 91 vs 92 for the 2017. Curious to see if you would downgrade it too. I plan to taste it in the next few days.
Editor says
That’s crazy. Just tonight I found more of the 2016 KS Brunello. We heard the new one was out but haven’t found it yet. Hopefully soon since it’s one of our favorite Kirkland bottles.
Hans B says
We did a side by side taste test with this wine and the 2019 Villa Antinori Toscana, which we purchased from Costco as well. The Villa Antinori was a slight step up from the KS version and won the taste test 4-1. Agree 100% with your review, needed some time to open and was an adequate midweek drinker.