Kirkland Signature Sonoma County Chardonnay – Still Butterlicious?

Today we’re checking out the latest vintage of the Kirkland Signature Sonoma County Chardonnay from Costco to see if it is still made in the buttery, slightly sweet style of past vintages.

Chardonnay from Sonoma County, California.

This Kirkland Signature wine is available exclusively at Costco for just $7.99 (same as the previous vintage).

From the bottle:

Kirkland Signature Sonoma County Chardonnay is filled with white peach and tropical fruit aromas. The mid-palate has a wonderful zest coming from the grape’s natural acidity which provides a long, layered, and creamy finish. Green apple, pear and ripe melon notes are complemented by vanilla from the French oak maturation.

Vinted & Bottled by Grape and Grain Imports
13.5% Alcohol

A perennially good wine at Costco, we dubbed past vintages of this one “Butterlicious”. Starting with the 2021 vintage, however, we noticed that buttery note was a bit more restrained, which we enjoyed. Let’s check out the 2023.

The 2023 Kirkland Signature Sonoma County Chardonnay opens with a pleasing aroma of apples, citrus and a touch of toasty oak. There’s just a nice touch of butteriness on the nose.

In the mouth, the wine is filled with sweet apple and citrus along with a little tart tropical fruit. The nice touch of butter from the nose also continues, but is overall pretty restrained. Thanks to a smooth, slightly creamy texture and good acidity this is quite easy to drink and a great representation of this style.

It ends soft, round and long with lingering citrus and some nice buttery notes. While I don’t know that we can call this butterlicious anymore, it is delicious and a great value at this price.

Looking for more of our favorite Costco wine selections? Browse our multi-page listing of recommended wines along with more information on how to best shop the store!

You can also find more of our favorite Chardonnay here.

And here’s our previous review of the 2022 vintage:

The 2022 Kirkland Signature Sonoma County Chardonnay opens with a pleasing aroma of citrus, apples and a touch of toasty oak. We found the butteriness to be even more restrained in this vintage with just a hint on the nose.

Tasting the wine reveals it is also even a bit less buttery in the mouth than the last vintage, which we appreciate, but may not be what previous buyers are expecting. It is also filled with citrus and sweet apple along with touches of tart tropical fruits. Thanks to a smooth, slightly creamy texture this is quite easy to drink.

It ends with good length and some lingering citrus notes and just a hint of butter. While it may no longer be butterlicious, this is still quite a tasty Chardonnay.