I’ve never had any problem with wines from Costco in terms of them evidencing bad storage, but everyone has a different comfort level with provenance stuff, so I won’t argue the point.
It’s definitely the case that they sometimes have good deals, but a lot of their pricing is fairly average. Even when it’s average, it’s nice sometimes for us married guys to have $200 on the credit card statement show up as “Costco” rather than “Wine Exchange,” though.
Plus, the ones near me are quite cool on the inside – I don’t know if that’s the case at a Costco in, say, Phoenix in the summertime or not.
Speaking of Wine Exchange, are they even relevant anymore? Every since Best Wines acquired them, I haven’t been hearing a thing about their deals or tastings. Just a few short years ago, it was the most beloved spot in the area.
I can marginally see them out my office window right now.
My sense of it is that they still have big inventory and good pricing, but that their model has shifted significantly towards online sales, and neither the location, the organization of the store, nor the customer service are directed very much towards walk-in customers and in-store tastings.
I guess I’d put it this way: it’s still just as good of a place to buy from online as Wine Exchange used to be, but as far as a place to go walk in and shop, it’s . . . a great place to buy from online. I don’t mean you can’t go there and shop and buy things just fine, but it just doesn’t seem to be what that place is about.
Winex changed their ship&hold policy, so now you have to buy six of anything to get them to hold stuff. Makes it a little harder for me to nibble on their deals, since I can’t pick up in person, and need stuff to be shipped (and prefer to ship in 12 packs).
Yao Ming must be feeling a great amount of shame and loss of face to see his work being sold at distressed prices through a warehouse channel.
I entered this thread hoping to find a pic of Yao reaching to get the last jar of spaghetti sauce from the top shelf 15’ off the ground and handing it to a 4’-10" old lady in a bobushka.
I have not done any research on Yao Ming wines but some wineries will have a lower priced tier that can be confused with the flagship wine by the casual shopper.
It appears, from the retailers selling this wine, that it got 87 points from WS and 90 from WA.
The place I linked above that was selling it for $36 is all out, now $39.99 is the WSPro low. Still pretty amazing for a wine that was first released in 2011 (2009 vintage cabernet) for $289.
Here on the East Coast, Wyman’s in Leominster, MA has the 2010 for $39.99. Not going fast even at that. If you buy 6 bottles (of anything) you get an extra 10% off. I bought a couple a while back. Average rating on CT is 89.7. A $275 wine rated 89.7 might be pretty good. An 89.7 point wine for $39.99 is much more of a crap shoot. Either way, it will be a few years before I find out.
I agree with this, though I don’t typically buy anything really high end, or that I intend to cellar for a long time, there.
Does the store at The District have a noticeably better wine selection than the one on Technology Drive? I don’t think I’ve ever been to the one at The District.
It has a bigger wine selection than the Tustin Marketplace one and the Fountain Valley one, and I think the Technology one (haven’t been there in probably 7+ years). But it usually isn’t better (just more variety of mostly supermarket type stuff), and I think the FV one is more likely to have the kinds of wines that interest enthusiasts.
The main thing is they all have a different selection at a given time. Not so much the <$30 stuff, but better and more far flung wines. So it’s good to rotate a bit so you’ll see more different options.
Call me lazy, but I think Fountain Valley is further than I’m willing to drive unless someone tells me there’s something awesome there. But you’re right, I should probably swing by the others more often (especially since The District is almost on my way home from work when I actually go into the office…).
In regards to storage, I live in Phoenix and have never had any issues with wine purchased there in the summer. Plus…Costco has the absolute best return policy on all of their items. Literally no questions asked, regardless of when you purchase the item. Freaking love that place.
As far as Costco wines are concerned and some other products, I’ve noticed a large difference in what is carried by location. North Sacramento had higher end wines, computer/electronics, stereo and television products than the South Sacramento store. The Fairfield Costco was slightly higher end than the Vallejo Costco. They may target their close in shoppers/know what sells where.
While there have been many wines get into Costco that shouldn’t have, I haven’t seen the Yao Ming wines on Wine Access, Wine Library or Cinderella.
A local retailer told me that this wine is from Yao Ming: Magic Door Vineyards Rutherford 2012 Cabernet. I’ve had it, and it’s a good buy at around $32.
![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}
