Stopped in to Costco yesterday and was browsing through the wines and saw that Kirkland has a Chablis Premier Cru bottling from 2014. Anyone have any idea the potential source of these grapes and or anyone try it at all? Its only $15 so I will probably just grab one to try but was curious to find more information about it.
I tried it. Not a PC wine in my book, IMHO, but good for $15 and 2014 is pretty killer for Chablis.
This. Also,I found no chablis character. Kinda generic chard. After two bots I decided “not a buy”. ymmv
If I recall correctly, the back label identifies two vineyard sources, one of which was montmains. I don’t remember much about how it tastes, but my impression was that it was not worth buying again even at $15. In my mind, there is much, much better 2014 premier cru chablis out there for just $10-15 more.
j c h e n g
Now this has my interest piqued… any specific recommendations?
One that comes to mind was the 2014 Louis Michel Montee de Tonnerre at $29, though that was was better a few days in. I picked up a few Billaud Simon premier crus around the same price. I recall the Droin Vaillons ($27) to be pretty good for drinking now. But I’m still just getting into burgundy so I’m sure others can do better.
J C h e n g
I find a lot of value in Droin.
Based on notes from CT, this wine seems to divide folks down the middle, with half saying either it doesn’t taste like Chablis or is not PC -level and the other half calling it a screaming bargain. I am definitely in the latter camp. To me, this is about as far from generic new world Chardonnay as it gets. I would put it right up there with many PC-level Chablis I have had–not the best, maybe, but definitely not the worst either. At this price, it is a steal.
I agree with the Louis Michel recommendation. He is one of my favorite Chablis producers right now (bought a lot of his 2014 and they are great). That being said, there is quite a difference between 15$ and 30$. I have not had the Kirkland yet (I have one cooling as we speak for later tonight) but for 15$ I usually find it hard to even find a regular Chablis offering. Usually, I find the ~15$ level to be for Petit Chablis. I don’t expect the Kirkland to be earth shattering but perhaps a step up from Petit Chablis and Chablis level wines. If that is the case then it is a good deal (or QPR) IMO.
The Fevre Champs Royaux at around $20 is a very good drink. I’ve been buying it a Costco for $18.
I drank both the '14 Kirkland and Fevre “Champs Royaux” over the weekend. Kirkland is decent and does taste like Chablis, although more Petit Chablis than premier cru. Fevre is a much better wine at only $2 more ($17 at my local Costco in Foster City). I gave both some air time and after a couple of hours, the Fevre fleshed out more nicely. I picked up 4 bottles.
That’s always one weird disconnect I have about Kirkland wines - not only are there usually better QPR wines available in the category in question, but there are usually better choices right there in the Costco bins next to the Kirkland.
I guess the question, if we’re being honest with ourselves, is the “stigma” of the Kirkland label on a bottle of wine (as distinguished from on paper towels, plastic utensils, 2% milk, bottled water, or other things where nobody cares anymore).
I think to many it would be a negative – I’ll admit if the quality and price were hypothetically around the same, I’d much rather serve myself and my guests a Fevre Chablis than a Kirkland, or an Au Bon Climat pinot than a Kirkland pinot. But I guess there are others for whom the Kirkland brand is a plus - maybe they just have a general confidence that they’re getting quality products at good prices when they select Kirkland, versus the rather frightening unknown of wine labels, especially European ones.
In most threads I’ve read on here about Kirkland wines, it’s not usually a tossup, the Kirkland is inferior to other branded options you can easily find (though I suppose it’s possible there is some label bias in there?). Though of course each person makes his own opinion, and I totally respect that someone like Robert Luke has tried it with an open mind and decided he just likes it at that price and thinks it’s a good buy - more power to him.
Kirkland must have magical terroir.
Same as Larry, I tasted the 14 Kirkland 1er Cru Chablis and a Fevre at an event this weekend. The Fevre was a 2010 1er Cru Mont de Milieu…2010’s is the most recent I have of Fevre, and I thought Mont De Milieu would be a good comparison for a blended/lower end 1er cru.
The Kirkland was quite sulfury…elemental sulfur, not the reductive matchstick reduction. Once the sulfur blew off a bit it was steely with apples/yellow fruit, leaning towards apple cider (tho this might have been due to the sulfur). This didn’t seem esp fresh, but I blame the high sulfur for this as well.
The Fevre was fresh and delicate with citrus, yellow fruit and ocean influences. You could tell it was raised on oak barrels, mostly neutral…as opposed to Louis Michel’s all steel program. I think there’s a place for both.
The everyone at the party (that tasted) voted for the Fevre. Kirkland is a great value/style for some palates, but it’s not in my wheelhouse.