Always a welcome sight seeing the return of this Kirkland bottle, arriving a little early this year. Usually we see it in December, and last vintage it didn't arrive until January, at least around us.
We are getting a small price increase this year, just up $1 from $13.99 last year. But that's a fair move for this bottle that still remains a very good value, and even moreso with this new 2023 vintage.
Other key details remain the same as previous vintages. The blend is 85% Grenache, 10% Syrah, and 5% Mourvedre, and the winemaker is once again Guillaume Gonnet.
Point-wise over the years, we've only cracked the 90 point level one time, but have bounced up against it a few times.
2015 87 Points
2016 88 Points
2017 86 Points
2018 88 Points
2019 86 Points
2020 90 Points
2021 89 points
2022 89 points
While we've enjoyed many vintages of this wine, we're ranking the 2023 vintage at the top of the list. This is a real beauty, classic Gigondas that is firing on all cylinders.
The wine is a medium to deep ruby in the glass with dark fruit, earth and herbs on the nose; in the mouth, vibrant flavors of blackberry, black cherry and plum; loads of peppery spice throughout; full bodied with leather and espresso notes into the very solid finish.
The wine was a little tight on the initial pour so be sure to give it some time in the glass or decanter to open up. But we have a special one here that will be great to have on hand for the holidays.
CostcoWineBlog.com Rating: 91 points (a Costco Wine Top Pick)
Costco item number: 1134102
Availability: We buy our wine in Costco warehouses around the Atlanta area. The best way to locate wines near you is by using the new Costco mobile app and searching with the Costco item number we listed above.
Alc. 14.5%
Irina says
We just bought a few bottles of these, and decided to open one to see if it was worth buying more. The aroma and color are great, but the flavor is extremely bitter. We let it decant for a few hours and it’s even more bitter. We opened another bottle and it seems to have the same issue. My understanding is that Gigondas should not be bitter. This isn’t the bitterness of tannins, but more like eating a very bitter salad like frisée or chicory. Do you think I got a bad batch?
Doug says
@Irina, I'm wondering the same thing. I picked up a bottle of this wine recently, and found it to be very thin and astringent; not at all what I think a quality GSM wine should be, even when young. It did not improve when given time to breathe. Given the glowing review from Andrew, I have to wonder what went wrong with the shipment my store received.
I have a case of its GSM "big brother" Chateauneuf du Pape in the cellar, and find that one to be a vastly superior wine for just a few dollars more. I'm going to stick with that, and pass on any more bottles from this release of Gigondas.
Kevin Knox says
I concur with your assessment that this is the best vintage yet for this wine. And it really is tight and needs decanting or (ideally) some time in a cellar to show at its best. Very well-made wine and an outstanding value.
With all of these wines made for Costco by Guillaume Gonnet (i.e. Vacqueyras, Gigondas and Châteauneuf-du-Pape) I think the key is to realize that while they're great values none of them are even close to being excellent or representative wines of their respective appellations. But given that you pay 2-3 times the price for those that are no complaints.