Inside The California Costco That Sells The World's Rarest Wines
If you're in the market for a rare wine, you might stop by an area specialty wine store or search online — but also consider Costco, specifically the Costco Burbank Business Center in North Hollywood, California, home to some of the world's rarest wines at a variety of price points. While Costco is primarily known for its big-buy grocery items (like the gourmet cheese it sells in bulk), discount food court (especially its famous food court hot dog), and is Food Republic's choice for the best grocery store to purchase meat from, it is also the U.S.'s second-largest wine retailer, only surpassed by Total Wine & More.
Even if you're not a business owner, any member can visit this location. Rare wines here include an 18-bottle vertical set of Cos d'Estournel, comprising bottles from 2000 to 2017, for $5,799.99 — about $322.22 per bottle. Another rare wine sold there is the Chateau Latour 30 Bottle Vertical Collector's Set, with bottles from 1985 to 2014, valued at $37,999. A steal at $1,266.63 per bottle!
If a six-pack of wine is more your speed, then the Chateau Margaux La Trilogie 2019 Horizontal Set could be yours for $4,499.99. And if you've got $6,999.99 in hand, you could own another six pack, A Piece of Chateau Lafite Rothschild History Set.
To acquire these rare vintages, you need to do more than just drop by. You must email the staff contact listed to make the order, pay for it up front, and then coordinate the pickup from the Burbank Center.
What makes a wine rare?
Rare isn't a word wine retailers just throw around. Several components are in play, including whether the wine was produced in a small quantity, its age, whether weather such as frost or excessive heat reduced crop size dramatically, and more. Cases of the 2003 Cos d'Etournel, for example, were produced from low yields due to unusually hot weather.
If investors and collectors snap up certain wines, they may become rare due to the resulting scarcity. Case in point is the Chateau Margaux La Trilogie 2019 Horizontal Set, which is a limited series collection of only one thousand cases.
Vertical collections like the Cos d'Estournel 18 Bottle Vertical Set and the Chateau Latour 30 Bottle Vertical Collector's Set (also a limited release) are often coveted by collectors to trace how one estate evolves its wine production through different growing conditions over several decades. Age is a factor too – each bottle represents a particular season, and older bottles can be more difficult to source — aka rarer.
Historical significance also contributes to a wine's rarity. Chateau Latour, Chateau Margaux, and Chateau Lafite Rothschild are three of only five First Growth producers from Bordeaux, France – the best of the best. The Chateau Lafite Rothschild property has existed since at least 1234 (its first known mention on record), and in the 1670s and 1680s, the Lafite vineyards were first planted. According to Costco, the 2016 Lafite has already demonstrated its aging potential, which will make it all the more collectible.