Even more reason to love Costco

[fdcg27]

Most wine is produced using the methods you describe. Any volume produced wine will be produced using what you describe as industrial methods.
This in no way impacts the quality of the finished wine.
Really good wines may be produced in small volumes using traditional methods, but no ten or twenty dollar bottle of wine is likely to have been produced that way.
I know that Costco does have a decent wine selection and there are some good values to be had. I also know that Trader Joe's offers the same.
I don't recall writing that two buck chuck is better than anything you'll find at Costco, but it is of comparable quality to most of what you'll find at Costco.

 

[sciphi]

There's a lot of good wine nearby me. If Costco were allowed to sell cases, some of the larger wineries would jump at the chance to sell cases there. And some of the smaller outfits looking to gain exposure.

For "industrial" wine, even the small vineyards have gone to mechanical picking for their everyday wines. It's much faster/cheaper to have a grape harvester do its thing than to hire a crew. I have bottles of wine picked both ways, including some homemade wine with grapes I picked myself. It's impossible to tell a difference between the two based on style of picking.

For ice wine, that picking has to be done by hand, and the price reflects it.

 

[CharlieBauer]

Here is a description for how my $6 @ Costco bottle of South African white blend was made:

Quote:
WINEMAKING
The grapes for this wine are all hand picked in the early hours of the morning
and transported by refrigerated trucks to our cellar where they are processed
in tiny 700kg batches in our small air bag press. All the varieties are kept
separate and are treated differently depending on the desired character for
the final blend. For example a portion of the Chenin Blanc and Viognier go
through skin contact; the Grenache Blanc is cold settled before racking to
stainless steel; some varieties go straight from the press tray into barrel and
are fermented on solids; and others are fermented in concrete nomblots.
All the batches then go through a spontaneous fermentation, which is
temperature controlled at around 13˚ Celsius. This maintains signature
freshness and fine aromatics. A portion of the wine is also handled
oxidatively to give added texture to the palate as well as provide longevity.
Towards the finish of the fermentation the wine is stirred on the lees and
aged for 9-12 months in light toast 500L French oak barrels. The malolactic
fermentation is encouraged on a portion of the Chardonnay and Chenin
Blanc and is discouraged on the remainder of the batches in order to keep a
freshness and good acidity on the palate. After maturation the chosen
components are blended together and the final blend is given a mild
filtration before bottling.

 

[CharlieBauer]

Here is some info on two buck chuck.

Quote:

The company uses machines to harvest the grapes, which helps keep labor costs low, but also increases the chances that bad grapes end up in the wine, according to Keith Wallace, executive director of the Wine School of Philadelphia.

"Everything is automated," Wallace told Business Insider. Mass-produced wine typically has higher amounts of residual sugar and added grape concentrate to mask the taste of inferior grapes, he said.

"The main issue facing wineries in the Central Valley," Taber writes of the region in which the San Joaquin Valley is located, "is heat. Grapes grow abundantly, and harvests can be huge. The flip side, though, is that too much heat reduces quality."

2. The company ferments wine with oak chips, which are cheaper than barrels, according to Taber, who interviewed Bronco Wine owner Fred Franzia for his book.

Most fine wine is fermented in oak barrels. "Oak improves the taste of wine, but also the price tag," Taber writes. "Bronco continues aging wines in oak, but uses less expensive forms of it, for example chips rather than barrels. American oak is also less expensive than French."

 

[53' Stude]

My reason the lady and I love Costco

 

[fdcg27]

If that's really what you're getting for six bucks from Costco, then you are getting a good value.

 

[CharlieBauer]

Just picked up this 95 point wine from Costco for $17. Drink between 2018 and 2038. Got a couple extra for gifts.

http://www.winemag.com/buying-guide/alain-brumont-2010-chateau-bouscasse-red-madiran

 

[BalticBob]

President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to support the American wine industry .......
He will "Make America Grape Again!"

 

[greenjp]

Originally Posted By: car51
My reason the lady and I love Costco

I realize this post is a month old now but have a suggestion. Try the 2.5lb bag of ground Kirkland coffee, it is much better than the 3 lb canned stuff. The bags go for $11.99-12.49. I stock the coffee mess at my office and we made the switch a few years ago.

jeff

 

[53' Stude]

No thanks