Rare Port find at Costco San Diego

octavian d. · Post by **octavian d.** » Wed Nov 19, 2008 5:33 pm

They have a 1900 Krohn Port (Colheita) that was barrel aged for 96 years and 11 years bottle aged and then released in 2007. Only 6 bottles imported in the US, price $1350. Just an FYI.

Otto

Post by **Roy Hersh** » Wed Nov 19, 2008 9:48 pm

Octavian,

Wow, what a nice surprise seeing you signing up here at

... so what took you so long?

Thank you for posting this very interesting bottling. I am wondering where the other bottles have been placed and actually fascinated that Costco, which buys through importer Bdx Locators, wound up putting at least the one bottle ... in San Diego ... of all places. Absolutely amazing to me!

Why not SF which is the largest Port market in CA and the West Coast of the USA? Very interesting.

The price seems quite high given comps, but heck, I am sure the provenance is perfect and that counts for something.

But that is a truly remarkable price and not in a good way. However, I won't be shocked if you told us it was gone tomorrow. Lots of people have more money than they know what to do with it ... even in this economy. Some collector will want a trophy for their display case. :help:

Thanks again Otto, and please do come back here to share your knowledge!

Moses Botbol · Post by **Moses Botbol** » Thu Nov 20, 2008 6:33 am

Hey... it's Costco... Drink half and return it saying it was corked.

Paul_B · Post by **Paul_B** » Thu Nov 20, 2008 2:12 pm

Good one Moses !

if it is like my Costco,you will have to line up for 1hr, in hope you get discouraged.

cheers
Paul

Jim Butler · Post by **Jim Butler** » Thu Nov 20, 2008 4:22 pm

I googled it, and it looks like the other bottles are going for $1899/bottle, so I'd say that's a pretty good deal.

Jim

Jeffrey Karp · Post by **Jeffrey Karp** » Sat Dec 13, 2008 5:54 pm

I just returned from my Costco in Scottsdale, AZ. They have one of the six in stock! We my and I oogled over it and when I pointed out how many bottles of wonderful mature VP we could get for the $1350, we sighed and moved on, without it.

By the way, this Costco in Scottsdale sells more wine than any other Costco. They always have a huge selection of First Growths which they evidently buy en primeur as they receive them by the case. They have a wonderful First Growth "4 or 6 pack of 750ml bottles" which include a bottle of Petrus.

Ah....Costco.

Best Regards,

JKK

Alex R · Post by **Alex R** » Wed Dec 17, 2008 4:55 am

jeffrey, what did you think of the sandeman tawny gift pack they had for $229?

Jeffrey Karp wrote:I just returned from my Costco in Scottsdale, AZ. They have one of the six in stock! We my and I oogled over it and when I pointed out how many bottles of wonderful mature VP we could get for the $1350, we sighed and moved on, without it.

By the way, this Costco in Scottsdale sells more wine than any other Costco. They always have a huge selection of First Growths which they evidently buy en primeur as they receive them by the case. They have a wonderful First Growth "4 or 6 pack of 750ml bottles" which include a bottle of Petrus.

Ah....Costco.

Best Regards,

JKK

Moses Botbol · Post by **Moses Botbol** » Wed Dec 17, 2008 5:52 am

Costco Champagne is a real joy. 90 points WS and $24. Use to be $20. Have a case aging, and need to pick up some for the house.

For port, my Costco has Presidential 20, Offley 2003, Kirkland 10, Fonseca 10, Dow LBV, the Sandeman in the frosted bottle...

Eric Menchen · Post by **Eric Menchen** » Wed Dec 17, 2008 9:22 am

Moses Botbol wrote:For port, my Costco has Presidential 20, Offley 2003, Kirkland 10, Fonseca 10, Dow LBV, the Sandeman in the frosted bottle...

Anyone know what Kirkland 10 really is?

Moses Botbol · Post by **Moses Botbol** » Wed Dec 17, 2008 9:36 am

Eric Menchen wrote:
Moses Botbol wrote:For port, my Costco has Presidential 20, Offley 2003, Kirkland 10, Fonseca 10, Dow LBV, the Sandeman in the frosted bottle...
Anyone know what Kirkland 10 really is?

Made bu Guimaerans (sp) of Fonseca for Kirkland/Costco. One of the best deals in town! I like it better than Fonseca 10 actually. The blend seems to change a little each year to me.

*VBonzoosa · Post by *VBonzoosa » Fri Jan 09, 2009 7:59 am

[quote="Moses Botbol"][quote="Eric Menchen"][quote="Moses Botbol"]For port, my Costco has Presidential 20, Offley 2003, Kirkland 10, Fonseca 10, Dow LBV, the Sandeman in the frosted bottle...[/quote]
Anyone know what Kirkland 10 really is?[/quote]

Made bu Guimaerans (sp) of Fonseca for Kirkland/Costco. One of the best deals in town! I like it better than Fonseca 10 actually. The blend seems to change a little each year to me.[/quote]

They are similar in concept to the $2 bottle of wine at Trader's Joe. The raw materials are from excess harvest, albeit from good vineyards that don't want people to know they are offloading their extras to be sold at a fraction of their higher end labels. But depending on what is available each year, they will have to adjust the blend. For the price and taste, they should be great value in general.

Post by **Andy Velebil** » Fri Jan 09, 2009 8:40 am

Shew,

Welcome to

glad to have you join us. If you get a chance please post a brief introdcution about yourself here so people get to know you, we are quite the friendly chaps. HERE is the link

As to your response, what do you base that information off of? I'd agree with you in regard to some US wineries making dry wines. But that is generally not the case in regards to Port companies. Often times BOB's are the exact same thing as a "regular" bottle produced, there is just a BOB (Buyers Own Brand) label used instead. Sometimes it is a slightly different blend than the original producers "House style." But the use of excess or poorer quality grapes for Port is this instance is generally incorrect.

The Kirkland 10 Year Old Tawny is a slightly different blend, or at least it tastes that way, but in no way are they using "surplus" grapes to make this BOB tawny. Matter of fact, IIRC, the back label of this Kirkland tawny even states it comes from Fonseca. Also remember to make an aged tawny, you have to use Ports that have been stored for many years. These stocks have been stored in 550 liter wood casks for many years, sometimes many many decades.

Moses Botbol · Post by **Moses Botbol** » Fri Jan 09, 2009 9:10 am

Seeing how they are using aged tawny to make thier port, it would be at odds that they (Kirkland/Fonseca) would be using "excess". These barrells take a long time and space to age. Certainly they may be using barrells that do not fit their house style as the Kirkland port does not taste like Fonseca 10 (which Costco also sells) at all. Actually, I like the Kirkland a little better than the Fonseca.

Post by **Glenn E.** » Fri Jan 09, 2009 10:32 am

It might be "excess" in the sense that those particular barrels can't be used to make the normal Fonseca 10 (for whatever reason), and Costco has offered a high enough price that it's worth selling them rather than holding them to see if they'll work later in a 20-, 30-, or 40-yr old.

Moses Botbol · Post by **Moses Botbol** » Fri Jan 09, 2009 11:07 am

I guess it begs the question, "Is there really a thing as excess port?" Unless it gets dumped out, it is never excess, just waiting for the right time and application.

Post by **Andy Velebil** » Wed Jan 14, 2009 7:17 am

I got a definitive answer regarding the Costco 10 Year Old Tawny Port. In summary, here is the correct info regarding it...

It is a completely different blend than any other 10 Year Old Tawny that The Fladgate Partnership (TFP) makes (Fonseca, Taylor's, Croft). It was developed with Costco to provide them with a blend that met their specific requirements in regards to style, taste, etc. The blend has remained consistant year after year. There is no "lesser" quality of Ports used to make this. TFP has huge stocks of aged tawny's and it is due to these large stocks they are able to make this for Costco.

So I hope this helps to answer some of the questions brought up.

Moses Botbol · Post by **Moses Botbol** » Wed Jan 14, 2009 8:19 am

Andy Velebil wrote:I got a definitive answer regarding the Costco 10 Year Old Tawny Port. In summary, here is the correct info regarding it...

The blend has remained consistant year after year. There is no "lesser" quality of Ports used to make this. TFP has huge stocks of aged tawny's and it is due to these large stocks they are able to make this for Costco.

I think I mentioned somewhere that I have never had two different years side-by-side, but my perception was that it changed... I guess not.

The blend reminds me of Delaforce 10 minus some of the vanilla...

Can't find the Kirkland port at my closest Costco :-( Sold out.

David Spriggs · Post by **David Spriggs** » Wed Jan 14, 2009 10:27 am

Moses Botbol wrote:I think I mentioned somewhere that I have never had two different years side-by-side, but my perception was that it changed... I guess not. The blend reminds me of Delaforce 10 minus some of the vanilla...

Can't find the Kirkland port at my closest Costco :-( Sold out.

I believe the wine could be from Delaforce stocks. I don't think there is anything to keep them from using those and labeling them as Kirkland. It also could have come from Osborne. You can see Roy standing next to the boxes of samples from Osborne after they acquired them. They were tasting through all of it and trying to figure out what to use it for.

Post by **Andy Velebil** » Wed Jan 14, 2009 5:49 pm

It was not a pre-made 10 year that they gave to Kirkland. It was a totally different blend than anything else TFP makes for other labels. That info came from TFP directly. Yes, TFP buys older stocks from many other producers/growers, as do other large producers. However, this was a unique blend that was blended just for Costco.

David Spriggs · Post by **David Spriggs** » Wed Jan 14, 2009 10:56 pm

Andy Velebil wrote:It was not a pre-made 10 year that they gave to Kirkland. It was a totally different blend than anything else TFP makes for other labels. That info came from TFP directly. Yes, TFP buys older stocks from many other producers/growers, as do other large producers. However, this was a unique blend that was blended just for Costco.

I wasn't implying that this was a pre-made blend. What I was saying was that the blend could have easily come from Delaforce and Osborne stocks. Moses' thought that it tasted like Delaforce may be pretty close.
-Dave-

For The Love Of Port

Rare Port find at Costco San Diego

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