7 Rare Wines That Are Sold At Costco

In the list of the items you may consider purchasing at Costco, fine wine may not be top of mind. However, it should be. The store carries widely available premium selections from producers such as Napa's Duckhorn Winery and Champagne's Veuve Cliquot, to exceptional, rare finds that may make you stumble over your grocery cart when you find them, including the seven options we are reporting on here.  

While many of these luxury wines sold at Costco will cost you a pretty penny, the wholesaler lives up to its reputation as one of the most affordable grocers in the country. Each of these rare selections is available for significantly less than you will pay at other retailers, if you can even find them. Shoppers spotted them at their local Costco within the past year. However, I would call your store to check availability if you are interested in investing in a bottle. 

And while most of the inventory at Costco rotates regularly, some pricier items may sit under the store's bright lights in an environment that is likely not temperature-controlled for some time, which may compromise the wine's quality. Additionally, Costco does not provide information on the older-vintage wines storage prior to their arrival. 

Still, if you opt to invest, these wines are worth it. I have spent the past 20 years as a Certified Sommelier and wine writer. During that time, I have had the opportunity to try several of these selections, and each time the wine was sensational.

Located in Sauternes, in France's Bordeaux region, Château d'Yquem's liquid gold is one of the world's finest expressions of sweet, botrytized wine. When France classified the Château of Bordeaux in 1855, one white wine earned the top Sauternes-Barsac Premier Cru Supérieur classification, Château d'Yquem. The selection was due to the historic estate's extraordinary, silky, honeyed,  Sauternes dessert wine that pairs incredibly with seared foie gras or fruit tarts. 

Château d'Yquem earns its status as one of the wine rarities due to the painstakingly difficult-to-produce wine. It's creation can only come to fruition when ideal circumstances occur. In the late harvest wine's production, winemakers leave fully ripened grapes on vines past their full ripening. During this time, a fungus known as botrytis cinerea, or noble rot, invades the grapes, forming a mold on the fruit. This noble rot fungus produces a rare wine by causing the grapes to lose water and shrivel, concentrating the aromas, sugars, and flavors of honey, citrus, and sweet tree fruit, while creating new ones. 

Château d'Yquem's 290-acre vineyard is arguably the best terroir for botrytis, Cooling mists off of Bordeaux's nearby Ciron and the Garonne Rivers encourages the fungus development on thin-skinned semillon and sauvignon blanc. Each d'Yquem grapevine produces one single glass of wine. Known for its age-worthiness, a 750-milliliter bottle's average price is $448. Costco offers the 100-point-rated 2021 vintage as a part of the Duclot collection, alongside eight other Bordeaux selections, for $7,999.

Luxury Champagne is the nectar of the gods. One of the finest is Cristal Champagne from producer Louis Roederer. The wine is always a vintage expression, and the Champagne house only produces it in the very best years. The prestige cuvée debuted in 1876 when Roederer made the wine for Tsar Alexander II to be served in his court. 

The champagne's golden label was a popular style for the time, a decorative demonstration of the wine's quality and an indication of its caliber. The brand has showcased its golden label since its first vintage. Its style has adapted over the years, moving from a sweeter wine favored in the 1800s to a drier Brut style. 

The wine blends chardonnay with pinot noir from Grand Cru vineyards and ages for 6 years in the bottle before disgorgement, followed by an additional 8 months prior to release. The resulting wine's palate balances freshness with richness and a distinct mineral note. The wine bottle's glass is clear, as Tsar Alexander II needed to ensure the bubbly was not poisoned when it was presented to him. Roederer wraps the bottle in a golden cellophane wrapper to protect it from UV lights, which is very beneficial for the bottle sitting under Costco's warehouse lights. 

The wholesaler offers the 2014 vintage for $299.99. A nice discount off the typical average price of $362. Additionally, one lucky Redditor claimed they purchased a bottle last year for $148 at Costco, a steal for the price.

Bordeaux's First Growth wines are some of the world's most sought-after wines, so seeing a 2021 First Growth wine on a Costco shelf is undoubtedly unique. Many Bordeaux wines are sold based on the quality of the Château and the vintage. The cool, damp 2021 vintage in Bordeaux was challenging, delivering lower yields, lower production, and, in many cases, wines of great quality.

Still, some Reddit commenters believe the quality was lacking in 2021 due to the vintage challenges. They questioned purchasing $399.97 bottles of First Growth wine from Costco, even with their considerable savings over their average $600 prices. However, when it comes to Château Haut-Brion Premier Grand Cru Classé, wine critics disagree. The First Growth wine received scores ranging from 95-98 points.

Wines such as Château Haut-Brion have broad appeal due to their elegance and age-ability. The 2021 vintage available at Costco leads with merlot, with varying amounts of cabernet sauvignon and cabernet franc, revealing supple silkiness with refined complexity and a mineral-rich backbone. It pairs perfectly grilled ribeye steak. 

The First Growth Bordeaux classification was created at the behest of Emperor Napoleon III in 1855. The ranking system based a wine's quality on its reputation, production, and dependability. The classification of the finest Premier Cru red wines focused on Bordeaux's Médoc region, with one exception: Château Haut-Brion within Bordeaux's Graves. The four wineries initially awarded the 1855 Premier Cru ranking will never lose their classification, contributing to their status, prestige, and allure.

Certain wines from Napa Valley have helped the region achieve international acclaim. Producers such as Harlan, Dominus, Chappellet, Joseph Phelps, and Inglenook put Napa on the international map. However, perhaps none represents a cult Napa cabernet sauvignon more than Screaming Eagle. In 2000, the Napa Valley Wine Auction sold a six-liter bottle of the wine for $500,000. The average price today for a 750-milliliter bottle is $3,558.00. 

While the price today is extraordinarily high, it didn't start that way. Still, founder Jean Phillips knew she had something special, pricing the initial 172-case release in 1992 at the expensive price of $75 a bottle. At the time, the most expensive Napa cabernet sauvignon was typically priced closer to $50. The initial release was produced by Napa Valley winemaking royalty, Heidi Pettersen Barret, earning a 100-point score from famed wine critic Robert Parker. Over the years, the acclaimed wine has received the perfect score multiple times. 

These high scores, the limited release of only a few hundred cases a year, the decades-long membership waiting list, and immense acclaim contribute to its rarity. These factors also make the availability at select Costco locations that much more unique and rather unheard of. And, you'll get not just one but three bottles of the highly allocated 2014 vintage for $8,200.29, a bargain by any standard. 

Quality wines from Spain don't often receive the notoriety and recognition that wines from regions such as Napa Valley, Bordeaux, or Barolo receive. Still, if you know where to look, you will find rare treasures that will set your heart on fire. Lying along the banks of the Douro River, in Northern Spain's Castilla y León, fruit grown in Ribera del Duero produces stand-out, age-worthy selections. Few showcase this more than Dominio de Pingus with its signature Pingus red wine. 

The region's dominant grape is tempranillo, known locally as tinto fino. Founder and winemaker Peter Sisseck crafts the rare Spanish wine from 100% of the variety, sourced from the oldest vines in the area, growing in sedimentary clay and limestone soils in arid, hot conditions. The roots of the biodynamically farmed, old-vines have dug deep into the earth to find water and nutrients to survive, resulting in fruit that optimally represents the region's terroir. Using only the finest fruit from the best, low-yielding vines, Sisseck produces less than 500 cases of Pingus annually. 

The first release of the wine was in 1995, which received immense notoriety for its expressive character, quickly earning it cult status and an increasingly high price. The average price today for a 750-milliliter bottle is $1,160. Costco is offering the 2018 vintage to California Costco shoppers as part of the Ultimate Great Wines of the World 6-pack for $6,999.99.

Another exceptional selection in the Ultimate Great Wines of the World collection, priced at $6,999.99, is the 2017 vintage of Penfolds Grange Bin 95. The wine is arguably the most famous selection from Australia, earning multiple hundred-point scores since its debut in 1951. 

The wine did not start with the expectation of the greatness it has achieved. Critics at the time panned the robust and powerful selection from visionary winemaker Max Schubert. Schubert's goal was to put the New World wine on the international map, highlighting the quality and age-ability of his red wine blend, which would be similar to the finest Bordeaux selections. 

It would take years for the wine to achieve the acclaim it has come to know with name recognition among wine enthusiasts worldwide. This was mainly due to the need to allow for bottle aging. The wine needed time to allow the wine to soften and evolve, mellowing the tannins, while achieving optimal complexity.   

Penfolds Grange is an American oak-aged, shiraz-based blend from various regions across Australia, showcasing the country's premium growing areas. Penfolds ages the wine for 18-20 months, then adds several years of additional bottle aging in the cellar before release ensuring it is ready to drink upon release, and also had additional age-ability. In 2001, the wine was declared a South Australian heritage icon. In 2021, a bottle of 1951 Penfolds Grange Bin 1 from Schubert's first vintage sold for $150,000. Today, a typical bottle costs just north of $700.

Although the 1855 Bordeaux Classification focused solely on the Left Bank wines, it was certainly not representative of the entire region. To the east of the Dordogne River, Bordeaux's Right Bank Château crafts some of the most exceptional selections. These wines, which tend to have a merlot and cabernet franc base instead of a cabernet sauvignon base, are plush, rich, and supple, with distinction and refinement. They are the wines that pair as easily with slowly-braised short ribs to umami-rich roasted duck breast with mushroom stuffing.

One of the finest is Petrus Grand Vin. Nestled within the prestigious Pomerol region, Petrus is perfectly situated to produce its noteworthy merlot-based wine due to its terroir. The estate sits atop a plateau of blue clay subsoil, the highest vineyard in the region. The blue clay soil's qualities help produce tannin-rich wines, which have considerable age worthiness. At the same time, the clay holds water, helping produce opulent, elegant wines with fully developed phenolic character.  

Petrus crafts a single 100% merlot wine each year. Only 2,500 cases are produced. Although the production is higher than some of Costco's other noteworthy rare wines, it doesn't compromise the wine's rarity, as it has a consistent reputation for premium quality, which justifies its price. The average 2009 vintage bottle price for Petrus is around $8,500. Costco offers the 2009 vintage for $5,699. Or, if you enjoy a splurge and live in California, you can purchase an 11-year-vertical ranging from 1971 to 1981 for $84,999.99.