Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Kirkland Brand Wine... what?!?

I love Costco. I do. But when Mr. Purple first brought home a bottle of Kirkland brand Chateauneuf-du-pape, I will admit I told him to save the Kirkland brand for diapers.  And we don't even buy diapers anymore.  Not that I'm a brand snob... really.  Its just that I don't associate fine wine with the Kirkland brand.  And I now stand corrected.

Before I review tasting notes though, one of the best parts of drinking Chateauneuf-du-pape is just saying the name. Since I'm not familiar with how to add sound to blogs, I'll do my best at spelling it phonetically.  Shat-a-NOOF-de-pop.  And if you say it with your best French accent, it sounds even better.

Chateauneuf-du-pape is the name of an appellation in the southern region of France in the Rhone Valley.  Wines with that designation are blended red wine and thirteen varietals of grapes are allowed - with the predominant varietal being Grenache, followed by Syrah and Mourvedre (see my earlier blog post about Mourvedre). Kirkland's brand is estate grown at Domaine de Nalys, one of the oldest domaines and has been around since 1778.

The color is deep ruby red with a nose of berries and spices. Like most wine from this area of the world, the taste is much more earthy than fruity, although I did get hints of cranberry and spice.  This wine is definitely young and could stand to age a few years.  Not a bad buy though for $19.95.  And, it comes with the added bonus of impressing your friends with your knowledge and pronunciation of French wines.  As long as they can look past the fact that their wine may share the same brand as their toilet paper.