Costco Question

[hotwine]

Costco temperature is a definite concern. It's cool in their stores but not cold. (Will try to remember to take my little infrared wine thermometer and check bottle temps on next visit.) The wine section is adjacent to the meat displays, so it's the coolest part of the store. The better wines are displayed horizontally in their cases with only the plonk standing upright.

Have sometimes bought wines there that showed evidence of heat damage in the form of leakage around the cork. Most recent example was the '03 Antinori CCR, a beautiful wine if intact. Unfortunately, the DOC certification stamp around the bottom edge of the capsule prevents the capsule from being turned to ensure it's loose, and not stuck by dried wine. So I sniff the capsule in an effort to detect leakage.... sometimes that works and sometimes it doesn't.

One thing in the customer's favor is Costco's VERY rapid turnover of inventory; the good stuff frequently goes out the door the same day it's brought in. I try to do my shopping on one of the two days each week on which the wines are re-stocked.

The issues of warehouse storage and transportation are also concerns. Am assuming that Costco buys its wines from one of the two big local wholesalers, which use refrigerated storage; that would leave road transportation as the weak link. So to try to work with that, have found it best to avoid buying good stuff from Costco in the spring and summer, and in cool months shop only on re-stocking days.

It's worth the freight to give them a try. After all, they're the biggest wine retailer in the country, and their prices (in my experience) can be as much as 40% below local retail.