Transcription
I'm not there acting like I'm trying to send you freaking explosives here. It's just Costco wine. Like what the hell? That was my friend on the phone from a post office in Edinburgh. $9 Costco, I almost paid 700 to get it here. Not because we don't have Costco in Milan, because the post office classified it as an explosive, but it was worth it because on the back of that $9 bottle, there is a code and I cracked it.
Hi, my name is Ania Garibaldi. I'm a professional sommelier, wine judge and diploma WSET graduate. And there is a legendary Tuscan estate that would very much prefer you never watch this video.
Getting these bottles to Italy was a war. First, I tried the US. Well, I was naive. The courier looked at my bottles of Kirkland and classified them as dangerous goods. They quoted me $700 in shipping for $9 wine. I'm a sommelier, but I'm not insane.
Then, I tried the UK. Post-Brexit, ever heard of it? A bureaucratic minefield. I needed an import alcohol license, which I don't have. Customs were ready to seize the shipment, so I had to get creative. I ended up feeling a sworn statement to the Italian authorities, officially declaring that these bottles were non-commercial samples for filming purposes. I legally swore an oath for Costco wine.
If you appreciate this level of wine detective work, hit that subscribe button and like this video. At what point it occurred to me that smuggling an actual contraband would have been easier.
Now, very [clears throat] quickly, what is Kirkland? Costco goes directly to real producers and ask them to bottle under the Kirkland name. Costco makes almost no profit on wine. Their markup is what? About 10 to 15%? In your wine shop or in your restaurant, some charge you up to 300% on the same bottle. Costco does not need wine to make [music] money. They make money from your membership fee. Wine there feels like a bribe to keep you paying $60 a year to walk through their door, which means that you work with serious producers and charge you a fraction of a cost. In theory.
For today's video, I've picked a couple of Kirkland wines, the ones walking out of every Costco in the country every single weekend. If Kirkland is lying to you, this is where the line is. Tonight, we find out if the theory holds. Four bottles, I still haven't told you about which one has the code. You'll know when we get there.
Kirkland Friuli Grave Pinot Grigio. If you've watched my previous videos, you already know my stance. I do not like Pinot Grigio. Usually, it's just expensive water with marketing budget. But I'm a sommelier, I have to be objective. So, I brought the Kirkland version all the way here to see if the Costco magic could finally change my mind. Well, it didn't. This is exactly what I've been warning you about. Thin, industrial, anonymous. Even the producer was smart enough to keep their name off the label. Skip this.
And look, if you've ever felt the frustration of picking a bottle at Costco hoping for a deal, but ended up putting expensive water because you couldn't read the label, I built the Wine Sense method for [music] exactly that moment. It's a mental map that turns any label into information. The link is below.
But let's move to why I actually fought those governments. The next bottle is Kirkland Chianti Classico Riserva. So, we have no producer in the label, just imported and bottled by, which as I told you is usually a red flag. But this time, I didn't walk away. There's a code here, or rather, there was. On previous vintages, they actually printed producer's name, Villa Cafaggio. I even got the real bottle here. But on the new 2022 bottle, the name is gone. They realized we were starting to talk, but they forgot one thing.
In Italy, every bottle of wine carries a government-mandated serial number on the neck. It's a legal fingerprint. So, I took that long code on the neck, the one ending with 983, and ran it through the official verification database. It does not lead back to Villa Cafaggio anymore. It leads to Barone Ricasoli, the legendary estate where the recipe for Chianti was literally invented. One of the Tuscan's most respected names hiding inside a $9 Costco bottle.
So, I decided to go further and I went to the wine shop here in Milan and bought the real bottle of Barone Ricasoli Riserva. 25 euros at the source. I live in Italy and I'm still paying three times what you pay at Costco in a suburban America for the privilege of the real label. The world makes no sense.
Now, why would Ricasoli do this? Why would one of the most historic estates in the world hide inside a Kirkland label? Because if their name appeared on a $9 bottle, every fine restaurant that list them for $80 would drop them overnight. Their entire luxury identity gone in one warehouse deal. So, they made a quiet arrangement. Move the volume, keep the name off the label. That's not illegal, that's not even unusual. It's just how the wine industry works when nobody's watching. Lot 983, that's their fingerprint. And I found it.
All right, let's taste Kirkland. A classic Gaiole structure. That dusty red cherry, the hint of iron and that high-toned acidity that makes you want a steak immediately. [music] This is a world-class Riserva in witness protection for $9. All right, now let's compare this to the original source. The DNA [music] is just unmistakable. It's the same liquid, same power, same >> [music] >> elegant. This is the bottle for a Tuesday night when you want to drink something that tastes like $30 wine because technically, it is a $30 wine. You just didn't pay for the fancy label. I'm telling [music] you that Pinot at Costco is about to be empty. Don't say I didn't warn you.
And [music] now, the final bottle, Kirkland Chablis 2023. Unlike Chianti, [music] the producer is right here on the label, Pierre Brisset. He isn't hiding. And at $15, why would he? Now, if that name doesn't ring a bell, don't worry, most people miss it anyway. [music] But in the industry, we know that Pierre Brisset is a winemaker for Jean-Marc Brocard. They are legends in Chablis for their organic farming and making wines that taste [music] like pure crushed rock.
Let's be real for a second, at $15, we clearly aren't talking about Grand Cru. This isn't a transcendental experience, it's a budget-friendly Chablis. >> [music] >> All right, let's try this on the palate. It's honest. Green apple, lemon peel, that classic saline finish. >> [music] >> Usually, $15 gets you industrial water with a marketing budget. This gets you real wine from a guy who handles some of the best fruit in France. It's the proof that you do not need a miracle to find a deal. You just need to know how to read the fingerprints.
And that's exactly what I teach in my Wine Sense method course, how to decode any wine label in any country before you even pull the cork. You can find the link below.
Okay, so three bottles, one revelation, three weeks of paperwork, $700 I nearly paid. >> [music] >> Here is what I know now. Kirkland is not a wine brand, it's a system and it works brilliantly when the producer [music] is serious enough to put their name on it. And it fails completely when nobody wants to. But sometimes, there is a little code, a clue that [music] tells you exactly who made it and why they're hiding. The rule is simple, producer on the label, consider it. No producer, look harder because [music] the answer might be just right there on the back.
And if you want to be the person in the room who actually understands what's in the glass, subscribe and like. You know to do. >> [music] >> Tell me in the comments if you've ever bought Kirkland wine. And if you're American with a Costco membership, go check the back label of every bottle on that shelf. You might be holding something that [music] doesn't want to be found.
This is part one. Subscribe so you don't miss part two, where we find the $19 champagne from a Grand Cru village that should not [music] exist. And part three, about the bottles that didn't make the top seller's list, but absolutely should have. Drink better, >> [music] >> not more expensive. I'm Ania Garibaldi. Cheers.