2022 Kirkland Signature Vacqueyras 

It’s been 30 days since we were alerted to the existence of this new wine in the Kirkland Portfolio.

During that time we have driven to five different Costco stores around Atlanta (multiple times) looking for it, and finally found it last night, thanks to reader JJ for giving us a heads up that it arrived in the Kennesaw location.

What an exciting release. Rhone fans will instantly know the Vacqueyras region in southern France. It’s situated right next to Gigondas, which is the source of another popular Kirkland wine we frequently rate in the high 80’s, low 90’s. It’s also not far from Cotes du Rhone.

We are happy with Costco’s price of $11.49. Vacqueyras wines typically cost more, which is validated with a quick online search of Total Wine showing bottles from the region starting at $19.99 and going up to $39.99.

So like most other Kirkland wines, we are getting quality juice at a very good price.

The varietal makeup is 80% Grenache, 10% Syrah, and 10% Mourvedre, a classic GSM blend as you would expect from this area.

Getting into the wine, it pours a medium ruby in the glass with aromas of herbs, earth and red fruit; medium plus in body with good acidity and velvety tannins; flavors of cherry and black fruit; peppery in the finish.

As others have commented, the wine needs a little air to show its true self. We’d recommend a 30 minute decant for sure.

But very nice overall; not quite the Chateauneuf or Gigondas level, but it’s a nice little brother to those wines. Being a 2022 vintage drinking in July of 2024, we are curious how this might evolve over just another year or two. We bought three bottles, so may lay one down for a bit to revisit.

We’re going a solid 88 points, and hope we see future vintages of this exciting new addition. We also hope that Costco corporate wine buyers continue to explore more Rhone wines including Rasteau, Ventoux, or even better, Northern Rhone, like Hermitage, Cornas, St Joseph and Cote Rotie. That would get really interesting.

CostcoWineBlog.com Rating: 88 points

Costco item number: 5296766

Purchased at Costco in: Atlanta, GA (Kennesaw)

Alc. 14.5%