2023 Costco Bordeaux [and a couple compelling mature wines]

Joel Butler MW 4.5 2.22.2026

Recently, I read a couple of different articles by Substack and mainstream newspaper wine writers grappling ?-seriously, it’s just wine) with the question: Are Costco’s Kirkland Signature Private Label wines all that good? Their question, framed in the context of comparative quality with other private label wines offered by other large retailers globally, such as Sam’s Club, Lidl, Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Total Wine & More et al, captured a bit of the zeitgeist. But these wines should be considered as well in relation to their peers in the wider market, including those which are ‘chateau-bottled’.

Comments by several writers suggest wine consumers are turning away from red wines towards white, and that at least for more committed wine lovers, brand-buying has declined as people are more interested in wines made by small producers, or select, more individuated wines at higher prices than the majority of a brand’s portfolio. And yet, Private Label wines like Costco’s Kirkland Signature series continue to prosper.

One writer, a longtime friend and respected wine journalist (Robert Joseph/ https://substack.com/@robertejoseph)) while commenting on why the Wine Industry suffers from low margins, while seeing rising prices among other problems, noted the following points relative to today’s post:

their costs (Supermarkets/Big Box retailers like Costco) are lower than for a specialist retailer (wine is just a section in a large store)

customers are happy to buy private label wines (which experience and occasional critical praise have led them to trust)

they don’t need to make a profit (wine can be a loss-leader/footfall builder that attracts customers who also buy more profitable detergent, carrots and dog food).

While items 1 and 3 are certainly a factor, it is number 2 that, in our opinion, is often overlooked. Private label wines, at least where there is quality perspective tempered by consistent practices and experienced associates, offer relatively consistent good quality. No doubt the other two points are important. Costco’s has a more focused approach, based upon a limited offering (~200 selections), markup consistent with its other products (10-20% Maximum), and limited number of trusted suppliers/distributor-importers. They understand what their main client’s customers are focused upon. All of these efforts, combined with Costco’s overall marketing image have created a stable of own-brand wines that usually live up to the praise of critics and demonstrated every day by customers’ willingness to open their wallets!

I certainly hope this doesn’t come across as a ‘shill’ for the company. I only observe how Costco’s wine selection has evolved and ‘matured’ over several decades of being a customer. I have known some of the folks involved over that time line in choosing the wines. And observed how many of the most famous producers globally have come to accept that selling to Costco isn’t ‘selling out’ their self-image or capitulating to those forces in the market that dictate one should ‘down-market’ your wines to please a mass market. Au contraire!

Aside from the top quality producers who now sell their own (estate) wines selectively to Costco, from Ridge Vineyards to Classed Growth Bordeaux chateaux, there are now elite producers who do not think it beneath them to occasionally to make or blend wine for Costco’s private label. The four wines below benefit from all three of these points above.

Thus, Costco’s current quartette of 2023 Bordeaux selections now on offer nationwide provide an opportunity to test received opinion, mine included! One indisputable fact is that these wines are all price-worthy given the market for Bordeaux wines from specific appellations in the famed Médoc region, where most of the top wines are Cabernet Sauvignon dominant. A second fact is that 2023 is an enjoyable useful vintage, which my post of a month ago on the 2023 UGCB Classed Growths tasting provided context for Here

Overall, speaking critically, as opposed to just being a wine-lover, the three commune wines show more similarity than differences, suggesting that whomever at Misa Imports (Costco’s principal importer of French wine, it seems) and at Costco ‘commissioned’ these wines, they were looking for a particular profile; riper, more ‘’flat’” than individuality. Yet, they do have individual traits, yes, but with one exception (read the notes) lack some clearer, more refined distinction appellation character.

Bordeaux Wine region map (2010) Courtesy https://www.bordeaux.com\

That said, all four of the wines speak to solid production values and show enough substance to merit strong consideration for Cabernet/Bordeaux red wine lovers. And for a literal everyday wine the Bordeaux Supérieur is a fine choice that won’t tire the palate! Notes are in order of tasting.

Kirkland Signature 2023 Bordeaux Supérieur CS70%, Merlot 30% Medium dark ruby. Slightly loamy, earthy low fruited bouquet, initially; little fresh berry, or herbal notes of CS evident; more dried fruit, even cooked plum? Aged in FO one year. Medium-full bodied. Palate reveals more solid CS/ Merlot fruit definition with black dried fruit, anise, some astringency and hint of dried herbs and faint savory oak. Moderate length, medium intense finish. Given price, solid value, though bouquet is rather reticent, all things considered.

Moderately puckery tannins and hint of oak with fairly firm finish suggest this will keep/improve over the next 2-4 years. Good value. Label indicates it was bottled at Lestiac sur Garonne, about 45 min. drive SE of Bordeaux in the Entre deux Mers region, nearby the Garonne River. With 2 hours aeration, this shows more refinement and quality- a cut above most straignt AOC Bordeaux, partly due to high CS content. Now-2029. 14% * $6.99

Kirkland Signature/Henri Lurton (Brane Cantenac) 2023 Margaux CS, Mer, Cab Franc? Denser violet ruby, near opaque. Cork clearly denotes it was made at Ch. Brane Cantenac, 2eme Classe 1855, owned by Henri Lurton, so bonafide Margaux! Slightly muddled bouquet, initially; earth, loam, some roasted blackberry aromas with hints of savory herbs, dried violets (roses?). Fine medium bodied flavors with good panache; vibrant black currant fruit, fine-grained tannins, hint of tabacco and gravelly(graphite) notes, although a hint of alcohol heat on finish, too. Tannins are firm, moderately fine, and there is good length, though with a touch of abrasiveness on finish-firmer/narrowr? than Pauillac below. Youth or alc heat?

More precise, definite Margaux perfume, and fairly elegant. Certainly worth the price, given pedigree and overall style. Compared to notes for 2023 Brane Cantenac itself tasted exactly one month ago, this is certainly in the family, but not as refined or precise; though 1/4 the price, too! Our guess? Probably closer to 2nd wine Baron de Brane (~$40)-not tasted) but possibly more press wine or negative selection of fruit, given higher alcohol. Still, a very solid wine for price. The most finely crafted and best fruit of the three comune wines in collection? With 2 hours aeration, this shows its superiority to the two others in terms of refined bouquet, clarity on palate, and tannins that softened significantly and the alcohol heat diminishes. Best of trio of comune wines. Now-2030? 14% ** $19.99

Kirkland Signature 2023 Saint Julien CS62%, Mer38% Med dark ruby, similar to Bord Sup. Above but moretranslucent. Label says bottle d by Maison Ginestet, a noted old family Merchant, and former owner of CH. Margaux ages ago, among other properties. At first, similar loamy earthy, imprecise Medoc bouquet. Then a hint of dried herbs, tomato-leaf aromas (Merlot) and dried tomato fruit with black cherry fruit comes to fore; CS in background. Medium-full bodied. Palate shows more clarity at this point than bouquet; with dark berry black cherry flavors, firm tannins, but not sharp and slightly better balanced finish to Margaux, without alc heat. Sleeker finish, more refined savory finish, though still chewy and in need of a few years. Oak is lurking in background, certainly not new. Good St Julien clarity and refinement.Fleshier and less angular, if less precise flavors to Margaux. Well made-Bottling post code is in Entre deux Mers, too near Creon, so more evidently a Negociant, not Chateau made wine. But with 2 hours aeration, the bouquet shows more classic notes,though the palate is less convincing. Good yes. Now-2031 13.5% *+/**- $18.49

Kirkland Signature 2023 Pauillac More violet than dark ruby, near opaque, more typically Cabernet Sauvignon color than St Julien. Label says it is aged nine months in FO barrels. Nose, like others above, shows some initially closed in, muddled, loamy ripe fruit mono-tonal notes, perhaps indicative of harvest time heat spike/warm period contributing to some fruit dessication, dulling freshness.

That said, there is some evident Pauillac graphite, dried herbs, savory black fruit aromas and Cabernet herbal-tabac notes. Medium full body. Pretty ripe and even bright dark cabernet flavors; cassis, dried herbs, tobacco. Good tannins, though more rigid than St Julien above, along with decent acidity. Clearly more structured finish, and firmer, less sweet than Saint Julien. Tannins are more taut, palate longer and better integrated oak, though also more restrained finish compared to Margaux. Not as rich, or primary as Margaux, but shows definition and good AOC typicity. With 2 hours aeration, quality shows more length compared to St Julien, but not quite the refinement or precision (AOC) as Margaux. Now-2031 13.5% **(-) $19.99

AND NOW TWO COMPLETELY DIFFERENT & COMPELLING WINES!

While shopping at Costco for the Bordeaux wines above, I was surprised, even shocked to see on sale a Brunello (2020) made by long-time friends, the Sassetti family, whose vineyard is located in the grand cru of Montosoli in Montalcinos cooler northeast sector. Founder/father Livio Sassetti was the very first producer that I imported starting in 1982 with my long time friend Marco de Grazia. Livio was the picture perfect Tuscan wine-grower; down to earth, always in the vineyard and hewing to a traditional (sometimes to a fault!)approach to making this grand wine, in his small cantina under the house where he hung his house-made prosciutto from the beams above the large aging casks.

Livio Sassetti in his cellar, with prosciutti aging above his botti, 1984 (JBMW)

Sassetti’s estate, Pertimali has made wine for well over a century, and by the 1980’s even, it was recognized for its profound quality and structure, along with a sense of finesse indigenous to wines from the Montosoli Cru, of which Sassetti was a major landholder (though still quite small. Over the decades, the wines have undergone some refinement under son Lorenzo’s sure hand, who took over the farm in the early 2000’s as his dad ‘retired’. It has always been rather limited in production even though Lorenzo has taken on vineyards in the Maremma, and was able to acquire a few more acres in Montosoli for the Brunello in the past two decades.

Lorenzo Sassetti in his Montosoli vineyard on white chalk-limestone soil called Albarese, 2001 (JBMW)

So, I was surprised to find the very good, even fine 2020 vintage available for much less than it usually sells for ($60-75); a bargain Brunello if you like. Lorenzo has worked hard to build on his father’s legacy of savory, minerally and darkly fruited wines, most obviously through more precise cellar work, grape selection and less long aging in barrel, leading to clean yet well-structured and more fruit-forward wines. This is drinkable now, but will no doubt age at least 15+ years like his dad’s wines, though I recommend that one decant the wine 2-3 hours ahead, at least, if opening it soon.

Livio Sassetti-Pertimali (di Lorenzo Sassetti) 2020 Brunello di Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Sangiovese. Grosso. Medium ruby garnet reflex. Closed in bouquet at first. With aeration this shows clean, dense, savory, graphite & bitter black cherry leathery Sangiovese savory notes. Medium+ body. Fine fruit density with typical Montosoli mineral loamy flavors without excess ripeness. Thick, textural richness with velvety firm tannins on finish. Show strong character yet not overripe or overdone. Typical Sassetti Brunello. but cleaner than in past (no brett). Muscled yet fresh, savory yet floral with lifted balsamic accents . CLASSY, dense old school Brunello-muscular but not muscle bound, with alcohol in check. Now 2035. 14.5% **(+) $40 (Costco)

Fürst von Metternischer Schloss Johannisberger 1976 Riesling Auslese ‘Schloss Etikett’ ]Rosalack] AP# 3 77, Rheingau

Ever since my first trip to German wine country in 1972, and tasting the supernal 1971’s as infants, I have been hooked on German Riesling. In many ways, they can be among the longest lived and deliciously nuanced wines one can drink. Back in the day, the predominant style were those with some residual sugar; from a little (Kabinett), to more fully ripe and richer later-picked grapes (Spätlese) on up to definitely more sweet, dessert level wines affected by ‘noble rot’, and very expensive even then, given the minute quantities produced (Beeren- and Trocken-beeren Auslese)

Just below that level from select late picked mature berries (Auslese), was that ‘sweet spot’ (pun intended) where the finest examples of Rhein Riesling (then, at least!) could be found. Wines with great extract, solid acidity full honied but not really sweet finish. And among the greatest old estates is Schloss Johannisberg, perched majestically high on its slope above the Rhine River in Johannisberg.

Schloss Johannisberg (courtesy, Oz Clarke Wine Atlas)

Owned for centuries by the Metternich family (yes that Metternich- Congress of Vienna, 1815 and more), Schloss Johannisberg is where in the mid 18th Century, due to a delayed cardinal’s journey (weather!), harvest was delayed, and the grapes subsequently picked were affected (afflicted?) by the noble rot (botrytis cinerea), yielding to everyone’s surprise a wonderful, aromatic, lush, -semi-sweet wine, called Sp. At least, that’s the story and I’m sticking to it.

This bottle, with the gorgeous, classic ‘Schloss’ Label, has been abiding in my cellar for nearly half a century. purchased originally around 1979, importer Scholl & Hillebrand (Zephyr Seattle) on neck label; no reverse etiquette. The pursuit of patience? I have little, except an ability to not drink bottles of perceived age-worthiness, sometimes to past-expiration date! But great German Rieslings of some vintages like 1976 and 1971, 1953, 1949 or more recently perhaps, 2018, 2001 and 2015, have always been my downfall!

Vintage 1976 was a warm superb vintage, and also one which allowed for a lot of botrytis to develop; some think too much, even on grapes of lesser maturity. Because of it, however, Auslese-level ripeness wines were more concentrated, even opulent than usual. Wines like this are really no longer made, partly due to lack of weather conditions, but I believe more due to Germany’s winegrowers’ return to favoring dry wines, which was the predominant style typical of German wines before World War II, and the technical innovations which followed.

I love the new dry German wines, including those of a re-vitalized Schloss Johannisberg, but I gotta say, a very mature, but still vital wine like this one, even though it showed slight leakage, reminds me there is a place and a time, for all manner of fine wines, especially this kind, which honestly, cannot be made almost anywhere else.

Minor leakage through cork. Fill level to middle lower neck. Lots of tartrate crystals so not strongly fined. High extract. Color is deep burnished bronze amber to clear yellow rim, with reddish reflex! Color of older dry oloroso or Verdelho. Bouquet at first reticent, but then strong scent of burnt honey, slight veg or herbal nose, with strong spicy character, and hint of earl Grey tea. One also gets notes of dried stone fruit; something like Bosq pear, possibly apricot or dried orange peel.

Medium full body and now, not too sweet with strong finish suggesting Bergamot tea. With air, bouquet has strong, elegant, ripe mandarin orange peel accents. Still good acidity, framing burnished, candied fruit with drier finish. Just a touch of TDN (pleasant petrol-pine like scent & flavor) appearing on finish and honeyed botrytis, typical in mature Riesling.

The Finish also shows a hint of dried nuts, along with citrus fruit skin peel and mineral flavors. Strong character more dry than sweet, albeit sweetness does come in on the very back palate while the entry is definitely more mineral and dried fruit-ish. Excellent, aged Riesling from a venerable estate then still at top of game, still holding quite well. [And now again making excellent wines]. But I would not keep it much longer-50 years is long enough! Pretty damn good for a bottle that shows some seepage. Absolutely delicious with blue cheese and walnuts after dinner! Now 2028. 9% **+ $211-800 now [Europe]