Costco wine: Let’s drink local
by Wine Curmudgeon Posted On
Costco, perhaps the most influential wine retailer in the world, wants to sell regional wine
How does Costco – perhaps the most influential wine retailer in the world – decide what to carry? It wants to drink local.
Annette Alvarez-Peters, who oversees the chain’s wine buying, said half of the its wine labels change regularly and that its 12 regional buyers look for local wine to help fill in those blanks. Or, as she told a California trade seminar: “It really has to be, ‘Why is your item so compelling, and why does your item fit in our section?’ ”
This is one of the few times that Costco and Alvarez-Peters have defined publicly what the chain is looking for; Costco has traditionally been reluctant to discuss its wine buying practices. This matters because it sells so much wine, almost $2 billion worth in 2015, equal to about four percent of the U.S. total – and in just 412 stores.
And that Costco wants to drink local is another reason to declare victory in the battle for regional wine recognition. The retailer can carry any wine it wants, and even the biggest producers make tremendous price concessions to get on its shelves. Which means that Costco is saving space for bottles not from Big Wine, but from small, local producers.
I learned about this recently when the Costco buyer for Texas approached one of the state’s wineries. The winery, its sales person told me, was flabbergasted. Why would Costco want to sell its wine? If nothing else, it didn’t make enough to fill one of Costco’s huge displays. But quantity doesn’t matter as much as quality, part of what the chain’s founder/guru Jim Sinegal told me years ago when I was lucky enough to interview him for an airline in-flight magazine. The retailer wants shopping to be like a treasure hunt, where its customers run across something they didn’t expect to find. In this case, quality local wine.
So pay attention, all those retailers and restaurants that don’t want to drink local. If Costco can do it, why can’t you?
More on Costco wine:
• Costco wine and its retail domination
• Costco and its role in the wine business
that’ll be great news for Arizona wineries….
Wine by Joe Pinot noir at Costco for $12.49
We asked our local Costco to carry our wines and were told they charge $300 per month for the privilege of being in their system.