A few things caught on our eye about this wine that turned out to be a very nice find at Costco.
First is Dundee Hills, located in Oregon's Willamette Valley, which is one of our favorite places for Pinot Noir in the US. You rarely see wines from this area at this price.
Second is the whopping 94 points from Wine Enthusiast on the Costco placard. Previous vintages of this wine have also pulled down similar ratings across the other main wine outlets.
Costco's price is right on the mark here too at $23.99. That's the lowest price around, and retail looks to be around $42.
Upon opening, the wine needed a good bit of air before it showed its true colors. Excellent nose; tarty red fruit aromas with baking spice; medium body with smooth tannins; flavors of raspberry, strawberry and a touch dark fruit, blueberry; nice minerality that comes from the volcanic soil which is the basis for the wine's name.
Lots to like here for Pinot lovers, especially those who also enjoy Oregon's Dundee Hills region. This one will earn a spot on our recommended wine list.
CostcoWineBlog.com Rating: 91 points (a Costco Wine Top Pick)
Costco item number: 2106997
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%
Gary says
It seems more than ever that Costco is segmenting availability of non-Kirkland wines region-by-region. I have been traveling frequently this year, which has allowed me to witness this trend in Costco stores in various parts of the country. It's both intriguing--seeing what wine specialties a particular region offers, especially more local offerings; and frustrating--not having access to intriguing wines like the Pinot highlighted above.
Tom says
I agree. I’m sure that there are logistical issues with how Costco decides to stock regional wines around the country. We live in the NW and rarely find the costcowineblog offerings locally. It is what it is.