Price check: 2005 Caronne-Ste-Gemme Haut Medoc

2005 Caronne-Ste-Gemme, Bordeaux, Costco, Price Check, Whole Foods

Today, we find ourselves the victims of our own “price check” feature. We had to pick a few items up at Costco, and as is our habit, we also perused the wine aisles. Sadly, we found ourselves in the position of Whole Foods, seeing one item in common with Costco that we’re far from competitive on from a price perspective. In fact, Costco not offers a better price. They offer a much, much, much better price. Like, ridiculously good. What some wine stores might bill in email blasts as “an out-and-out steal” worthy of a “five case buy!”

So, while we’re going to suggest you buy the 2005 Caronne-Ste-Gemme, don’t buy it from us — at least not yet, anyhow. We’re currently charging $29.99 for it, our regular retail mark-up based on our wholesale cost. At Costco, the same bottle will run you a mere $13.99. Less than half our price. Holy crapola!

We’re thinking that maybe this pricing is a mistake, since the only store offering the CSG for in the teens is Zachy’s, and it’s listed there at $15.99, but for a 375ml bottle. The retailer closest to Costco’s price, in the LA area, is Wine Exchange in Orange, offering a 750ml bottle for $21.99. WineEx undoubtedly bought this on pre-arrival, or perhaps they import themselves. Not really sure about that.

Mistake or not, this is one you should take advantage of while it lasts. We picked up a bottle for ourselves (heck, it cost us less than from our distributor) and popped it open last night. We were amazed at the approachability and depth of the wine, and feel that at $29.99 it’s a good buy. At $13.99 it’s a ridonkulous steal, and you’re not going to find a California Cab at this level for anywhere near this price. Go buy yourself some of this wine at Costco…and don’t worry about us, since once their supply diminishes (or they correct their pricing error), we think demand on this Haut-Medoc will stay strong. It may take some time, but we shouldn’t have a problem placing our bottles — eventually.

FYI, we saw this at the Los Feliz location of Costco in Los Angeles, and just confirmed that it’s also available at the Culver City/Marina del Rey location for the same price (maybe it’s not a mistake after all). It is very likely available at other branches. Oddly, it was placed away from the higher end wines, and closer to the Kirkland brands, so you may have to peek around to find it. Don’t know what’s up with that.

NB, we do not mark up this wine any more than standard retail percentages, so our price is based solely on our cost. We’ll set ourselves aside from Whole Foods in this regard, since our major issue with WF comes when we’ve deduced that their mark up exceeds a percentage we consider fair.

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