Grocery Wine » Costco

Review: Roederer Estate Brut Champagne

Phil — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 17:41:34 +0000

Do you usually drink Cristal Champagne but darn it the grocery store doesn’t carry it? Never fear! Both Costco and Vons currently have the excellent Roederer Estate Brut Champagne (technically, a sparkling wine) which is made by the same family that makes Cristal. And although the price of Cristal is of no concern for you and I ($300 a bottle? Well shoot, just give me the whole case!) this great California wine is a bit cheaper slipping in at $20 at Costco and on sale at Safeway (aka Vons) for $20.83. Roederer is a long time favorite of ours and we were thrilled to find it becoming more readily available. We rushed home from the store and tossed it in the freezer to quickly chill it (a little research reveals this is a terrible idea but hey it worked for us). The question then became how long do we need to leave it in there for. Amy was the first to crack, at the 40 minute mark she suggested we take it out.

“What if it’s not cold enough yet?” I asked.

She responded, “Then I’ll say: It even tastes good warm!”

Lucky for us it was plenty cold and we didn’t have to test the taste of tepid Champagne.

Review: La Crema Chardonnay – Buy It!

Phil — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 23:24:20 +0000

The La Crema Chardonnay is part of the problem. Here’s the funny thing, if you asked us if we prefer reds or whites we’d say “reds” without hesitation. But as I look at which wines we’re reviewing the white’s section is definitely filling out much more quickly than the reds. Awesome California Chardonnay like La Crema take a good chunk of the blame. With a price just under $16 (on sale) this wine’s not as cheap as some wines but the end result is a buttery wine with just enough sweetness to allow it to be paired with food or to enjoy on it’s own. This one can be found at most grocery stores (Vons, Ralphs, Kroger, Safeway) and at Costco. Vons currently has the La Crema Chardonnay on sale until June 24th.

Top 5 Grocery Wines for the Week

Phil — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 23:11:50 +0000

It’s Friday and what better way to celebrate than by swinging by the grocery store on your way home and picking up a bottle or five of wine. Listed below are our picks for the week.

Champagne – Gloria Ferrer (on sale $15.98 at Safeway / Vons until 6/10)
Chardonnay – Bogle (on sale $8.98 at Safeway / Vons until 6/24)
Sauvignon Blanc – Dry Creek Vineyard (available at Safeway / Vons)
Cabernet Sauvignon – BV (on sale $7.76 at Safeway / Vons until 6/10)
Zinfandel – Edmeades (Costco)

Review: Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc

Phil — Sat, 23 May 2009 22:21:00 +0000

Summer is here (even if the calendar still shows it being a month away). And with summer comes warm weather, and with warm weather comes a desire to put off running the air conditioner for as long as possible, and with no a/c comes a house which is broiling by evening, and with broiling comes a need for a cool refreshing drink. Some might say water is a logical choice but those people have clearly never had a tall cool glass of Kim Crawford.

This New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc does just about everything right. At the time of this posting this is currently our favorite white (not counting Champagne of course). Currently under $15 at Costco this wine is a great deal. Amy actually got a little Wine Spectatorish on us and jotted down the following notes:

“Perfect balance of minerals, grass and fruit. Light and refreshing. Good on its own or served with mac and cheese.”

Well, maybe that last sentence wouldn’t have been in the wine spectator review…

Review: Edmeades Zinfandel – Buy It!

Phil — Fri, 22 May 2009 19:36:12 +0000

Like an old friend you can count on in a pinch, we turned to the Edmeades Zinfandel after the Rijckaert Chardonnay debacle. This California wine has become our favorite zin of late, the one which all other zins are being judged by. Very tasty and goes with any meal we’ve throw at it (confession: after the kids were in bed there was still some left and we wanted to watch a DVD, and you can’t watch a movie without popcorn right? Orville Redenbacher Movie Theater Butter + Zin = Yum!). At $14 this Costco wine is definitely money well spent, especially if you like Zinfandel.

Note: As usual the industry big wigs are following our lead. Food And Wine reviewed the Edmeades zin and named it their #1 zin for under $20 (never mind the fact their article is from 2008 and this review is from mid 2009, I swear they copied us!) . You can read their take as well as see their other winners here.

Also of note: If you can’t buy Edmeades at your local grocery or Costco you can buy it directly from them at their website www.edmeades.com.

Review: Rijckaert Chardonnay – Blech!

Phil — Fri, 22 May 2009 18:33:41 +0000

We’ll keep this short and not so sweet. Amy’s review “This wine stinks, literally!” Hopefully, there was something wrong with the bottle. There was definitely an unpleasant “cooked cabbage” odor happening. At $15 from Costco it was definitely a disappointment. As ever though, Costco rules. We returned the half empty bottle for a full refund (which we promptly invested in the always delicious Edmeades zinfandel. If you’ve tried the Rijckaert chardonnay and had a better result than us definitely drop a note in the comments and *maybe* we’ll give it another try.

Review: Gloria Ferrer Sonoma Brut Champagne – Buy It!

Phil — Mon, 18 May 2009 19:56:08 +0000

Mmmm, my taste buds are watering just thinking about Gloria Ferrer champagne. It’s one of our all time favorite grocery store finds (and occasionally makes an appearance at Costco). Always under $20 and we’ve snagged it on sale at Vons for under $15. It’s a delicious sparkling wine which is such a good deal we have no qualms breaking it out for even the most minor celebrations. Listed below are four of the reasons we’ve used to break out the bubbly:

1. We’ve survived another day in this insane economy! Let’s celebrate!

2. Prohibition has been over since 1933! Let’s celebrate!

3. Said to a significant other while serving the champagne and looking deep into his/her eyes: “What’s the occasion? The fact that you an I are here together is reason enough for me to celebrate.” Note: this is most effective the first time it’s used. I once tried it four days in a row and it seemed to have diminishing returns (although Amy never did turn down the champagne…)

4. And my all time favorite which you can feel free to use in a pinch: Hooray! We have a bottle of champagne chilling in the fridge! Let’s celebrate!

And just to get this out of the way: Gloria Ferrer is technically a California “sparkling wine” not champagne. The good people of the French province of Champagne have waged a serious and expensive effort to make sure everyone is aware champagne can only come from Champagne and who am I to thumb my nose at the French and intentionally call Gloria Ferrer champagne?

(Hey Frenchies: Gloria Ferrer champagne, champagne champagne! Ha! Ha! Ha!)

Update: Turns out we’re not the only ones who love this. Wine Spectator gave this a 90 point rating back in 2006. The Gloria Ferrer site lists some of their other accolades: www.gloriaferrer.com