This is an interesting new find at Costco that we're sure many of you are anxious to hear an opinion about.
We love seeing a Howell Mountain wine hit Costco shelves, and the $39.99 price tag isn't bad at all for a wine from this premier region of Napa.
This bottle looks to be selling upwards of $65 online, so Costco's price may be the lowest around.
2020 was a tough year across much of Napa, especially Howell Mountain, because of the wildfires. So the first question many people might have is whether there's noticeable smoke taint on this wine.
And good news because we didn't pick up anything too noticeable. The wine turned out to be very good in our opinion, not great, and fell a bit below our expectations for a region whose wines we really adore.
The wine is a deep ruby in the glass with some heft throughout; earthy nose with dried fruit and herbs; flavors of dark fruit, black cherry, blackberry; grippy tannins, some chocolate and oak in the finish, which is pleasant but a little on the quick side.
Overall, a nice wine from Howell Mountain from a year when a lot of the big names in the area didn't produce a vintage.
We're happy we tasted it one time, but might not be going back for more. For $40 there are many other bottles to explore, and a few of those that might hit us a bit better (this one came to mind).
CostcoWineBlog.com Rating: 89 points
Costco item number: 1751447
Purchased at Costco in: Atlanta, GA (Cumberland)
Alc. 14.5%
LAWRENCE D DUTRA says
“Stipulation” sounds like a second or private label.
Robert says
$65.99 in Charlotte