A solidly satisfying Southern Rhone bargain from Costco, we check out the latest vintage of the Kirkland Signature Gigondas, now a Bulk Buy!
85% Grenache, 10% Syrah and 5% Mourvedre from Gigondas, Southern Rhone Valley, France.
The Kirkland Signature Gigondas is available exclusively at Costco. And here's something you don't see much these days -- the price is actually down $1 from the last vintage! It is now $13.99.
The wine is made by Guillaume Gonnet, whose family winery is Domaine Font de Michelle. It is imported by Misa Imports.
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With perfect ripening conditions, the 2020 Gigondas vintage was a winemakers delight. This wine expresses fresh, vibrant fruit: cherries, raspberries, blackberries, complimented by herbs of Provence, spices and stony, mineral notes typical of this Grand Cru appellation. This wine is true pleasure to drink in its youth, but will develop beautiful complexity for the next 10 years.
GUILLAUME GONNET, Winemaker15% Alcohol
Gigondas is just to the northeast of the Chateaneuf-du-Pape region in the Southern Rhone Valley and offers a lot of similarity to that renowned region, usually at a lower price. It's great to see Costco continue to expand their Kirkland Signature label with wines like this one. (Also see our review of the Kirkland Signature CdP.)
The Gigondas rules allow for a maximum 85% Grenache plus a minimum 15% Syrah or Mourvedre and a maximum 10% of other Rhone varieties except Carignan. No oak aging is required. Costco doesn't indicate if this one spends any time in oak but if it does, I'm guessing it's minimal.
The 2020 Kirkland Signature Gigondas begins with a very nice and very appropriate aroma for southern Rhone – black cherry and black olives with a bit of an earthy, meaty, funky note and a little garrigue.
Tasting the medium to full-bodied wine shows juicy and tart berry flavors with a bit of earth, white and black pepper and more. With great balance and structure plus a smooth mouthfeel, this a really tasty wine. Overall, it is quite similar to the 2019, but the reduction in cost helps push this one to a Bulk Buy rating.
It ends dry, long and savory with tart fruit and some lingering licorice and the return of the meaty notes from the nose. Stock up on this one folks, this is an extreme value!
You can also find more of our favorite GSM (Grenache-Syrah-Mourvedre) blends here.
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And here's our review of the very similar previous vintage, the 2019, which was priced at $14.99:
The 2019 Kirkland Signature Gigondas begins with a very nice and very appropriate aroma for southern Rhone – black cherry and black olives with a bit of an earthy, meaty, funky note and a little garrigue.
Tasting the medium to full-bodied wine shows juicy and tart berry flavors with a bit of earth, white and black pepper and more. With good balance and structure, this a really tasty wine. Overall it is similar to last year's wine, but we found this vintage to feature a bit more of the black pepper and have even better balance.
It ends dry, long and savory with tart fruit and some lingering licorice and the return of the meaty notes from the nose. Stock up on this one, we liked it even better than the 2018.
