Today, the focus is on finding the best $15 bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley by looking at labels sold exclusively by some of the largest wine retailers in the US. I’ll try one from Costco, another from Trader Joe’s, and a third from Total Wine. In addition, all three are from the 2023 vintage, a year regarded as one of the best over the last decade. I’ll taste the wines as a single blind tasting. Meaning, I know which three wines are in the tasting, but I won’t know the order in which they are poured. Let’s get right to it.
From Costco, I picked up a bottle of the Kirkland Signature Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. When available, it’s typically sold on full-pallet displays in most of their club stores. It’s not stocked year-round. From Trader Joe’s, I bought a bottle of the Momentum Legacy. The wine is typically part of their regular assortment and is available most of the year. And the third wine is from Total Wine and More: South Napa Vintners. It’s widely available in their stores, routinely available year-round.
All three wines are priced at $14.99
2023 Kirkland Signature Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon from Costco
2023 Momentum Legacy Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon from Trader Joe’s
2023 South Napa Vintners Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon from Total Wine
It was a difficult decision, but my top choice is the 2023 Momentum Legacy Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley from Trader Joe’s.
Producers for each of the labels in this video, as far as I can tell.
South Napa Vintners/Sonoma Bespoke
Kirkland Signature Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon/Plata Wine Company
Momentum Legacy/Fior di Sole
Chapter Markers:
00:00 – 01:26 Wines Selected for Blind Tasting
01:27 – 06:25 Comparison of Wines
06:26 – 08:51 Ranking of Wines
08:52 – 09:48 Who Creates the Private Label Wines
46 Comments
I kinda wish for Trader Joe’s you would have tried the TJ’s Grand Reserve or Platinum Reserve Cabs. So many people rave about those wines.
Are you a fan of the store brands of Costco, Trader Joe’s or Total Wine?
Thank you. I really enjoy this format.
Very interesting comparison of top 3 retailers.
Liked the format!
Nice tasting Bob. Napa Cabs around $15 are as rare as hen's teeth. I wonder what the producer paid per ton for the grapes. Anyway, thanks again. Enjoy your Oregon Tempranillo tasting today. Hot day in OR, very unusual.
Interesting format , very informative . I typically don't buy Napa Cabs, but if one night I want a burger, I'll go to Trader Joe's. Thanks for the video
Love the format Bob! Not sure how popular this would be, but with summer coming, maybe doing the same for rosé?
Wish we had a Total Wine here in Cleveland, OH, but, I live between a Trader Joes and Costco. Tonight, game 7 Cavs v Raptors,
needs Momentum! Gotta protect the ball and enjoy the wine like there's no tomorrow. Like the format, suspense is intense.
Love the format…there are so many wines at all the retailers that I would love to watch videos on.
Great video Bob. Would love to hear how the two wines developed after you work with them later and if you end up changing your perception of them after some aeration and if the story each wine tells changes in a big way. Not a big Cab guy but I do enjoy a good value cab once in a while. I found Aldi's Specially Selected Napa Cab to be a nice value at $14.99 and want to try the Kirkland next. Appreciate the great content as always.
Soon as I saw wine 3 I said to myself, self, that looks like a Tempranillo…. I love the blind videos.
Liked the format. But when you have two left, reveal the winner first.
Love the format Bob, you should do it more often! I will confess that I miss my Napa Cabs….thanks to Mr Trump!?! While living in Europe I am making do with CNDP, Hermitage and the occasional Bordeaux!?! Life is rough. Be well and keep the videos coming! Makes my Sunday evening!?!
I loved the format Bob. I wish I had better geographic access to these stores. One of the draw backs of a rural locale.
This was a great video, Bob. I really like the under $20. price range and these are the three stores where I buy our wine. If you ever move to Florida, I'd love to be your neighbor. Sounds like a sweet deal for just putting wine into bags. 🤣🤣🤣
Really great to meet you at Lotte! 🍷
Fresh format, really liked it! Something that I haven't seen much around there is a fully blind tasting–someone picking the wines for you–but without an attempt to figure out what the wine is, just focusing on its quality instead, free of prejudice. Cheers!
Loved the format Bob. How would it have looked if you left the revealed bottle behind the corresponding glass? Would they have partially hidden you face? Thanks for not disappointing with the cork toss over the shoulder!
That was fun. Nice having you as a neighbor!
I'm not surprised that the wine from Costco was the best. They routinely have excellent wines at great prices.
Love the format! Perhaps you can do one for the Germanic white wine varietals (Rieslings, GV, Pinot Blanc, Gewurtztraminer)?
thanks, Bob for this fun video. when you stated that each wine was opened for 1 hour, did you decant each or remove the cork only?
Totally awesome. This was great, well done. Watching you review comparable bottles really added to my sense of how good these were. Seeing how other varieties stack us using this format would be great. Also, is there any chance you neighbors are selling? LOL
This is a serious, well-conducted tasting, hitting the essentials without any nonsense. I could enjoy any of these wines, but before seeing the winner, I think I'd want to put #3 away for a couple additional years of aging. In any case and in most instances, a 2023 cabernet in early 2026 is still a bit young —though for $15-, it's hard to see how one could go wrong with any of the trio.
Love the format. Pt scoring could be cool
Really like this format. I run the wine section of the TJs I work at but in my state I can’t sample the wines in the store. I learn so much about my own wines watching your videos! Thank you!
“Won’t you be my neighbor”🍷😉
I like this format for a change but your other video formats are good as well. Interestingly, i just drank a bottle of that Kirkland Napa cab two weeks ago. It was a pleasant experience. I think it is gone from my Costco now.
Well done, loved this video.
My son is a Cab Sauv drinker. He's not much of a red blend drinker like I am, but there are a few out there that we both enjoy that are like the TJ's and have a slight percentage of another grape in them. That makes me think and wonder: The TJ's wine is labeled as a Cab Sauv, but is actually a blend with Merlot? Is there any sort of rule in the wine industry that says if there is a certain percentage of another grape or grapes that when blended in that they have to then call the wine a blend? Does that make sense? Like when the main grape of the wine (Cab Sauv) drops below a certain percentage when blended they then have to call that wine a red blend instead of a Cab Sauv? Also, when wine makers blend wine together like this TJ's one, do they HAVE to list the other grape(s)? How do we really know if that bottle of Cab Sauv is really 100% Cab Sauv?
Sorry, that's a lot of questions. But when you showed the percentage of that TJ's wine I went back and saw that this bottle is shown as a Cab Sauv, not a blend. Maybe that's something to talk about in another video, instead of replying to this comment. Or a short video. Thank, Bob! You are an encyclopedia of wine knowledge, that's for sure!
Hi Bob, what a great job on this wine tasting video! We have a small group, called the WINEOS, and we meet once a month for wine tasting. We used to try and keep the pricing at around $25 or less per bottle, but when it comes to California Cabs, that's been almost impossible! That said, if I a find these wines at COSTCO, I'll try it, but in CT, wines cannot be sold in grocery stores, so no Trader Joe options. Of course we have a Total Wines, so maybe I can find two of these! I'll send this video to my wine buddies! By the way where did you source the wine bags? I need to get some for my next wine tasting! And lastly, Bob, I'd love to see you do a Brunnello tasting! The little brown ones, 100% Sangiovesi,
Thank you Bob, great video and I liked the format.
Liked the format. Do you think the blend with Merlot contributed to the complexity of the Trader Joe’s Cab?
When I was at our warehouse last week here in Nor-Cal the Kirkland 2023 Napa Valley Cab. with the (brown label?) $14.99 was one you reviewed recently.This "Signature" 2023 Kirkland Cab. in this video has the black label.Are they the same wine or am I losing my mind? Dude you are amazing in that you can tell what a Napa Cab. is/should be just by your nose.Good informal video as always Bob.Well done. Oh BTW I believe I also saw a Kirkland single vineyard Cab. Suscol vineyard if I`m remembering correctly,I don`t recall the vintage maybe 2022 just under $20.
3:42 Smokey Woodnote sounds like a 50's jazz piano player.
Thank you for these reviews. It is easy for us casual drinkers to be overwhelmed by the choices as the stores you mentioned. Subscribed.
Aeration—please elaborate. Decant or simply uncork. How long for these wines?
By coincidence I'm visiting friends in California, and tonight the host served the South Napa Cab from TW. From the description of the aroma and palate in the video I was 100% sure even before the reveal that was #1. A nice, simple crowd-pleaser, but nothing more.
Video idea: Best red at 13.0% abv or lower. Trader Joe's tend to have some at lower abv. The Charles Shaw Shiraz was only 12.5 and while quite simple, I wouldn't have guessed it was that low. Also sometimes can find base Bourgogne and Italian in that lower abv range.
Love the format! I do most of my shopping at costco, so good to see how it stacks up against the others for best wine at that value
So glad you did this. We are fortunate to have all 3 where I am plus Sam’s. I'm expecting to make the rounds tomorrow to try each (or something close). My wine drinking days are drawing to a close but this is intriguing. 🍷🍷🍷🍷
Great video as always Bob, have you considered making a video about wine storage? For example, are certain wine fridges good quality? Is it better to have dual-zone temps? Etc.
With the current imbalance of supply in CA wines (including Napa Valley) the Private Label market has never been better for quality. Thank you for focussing on these great values for us!
Great format thank you, I have seen that Kirkland Cabernet at my local Costco. I plan to go to Costco next week, seek it out. I plan to to look for Momentum from TJ's, I prefer the blends with more Cabernet grapes than Merlot. Gracias.
Please review value Napa mountain wines, relative values as I’m sure there are higher cost, such as Howell Mountain or Mount Vadeer. Thank you!
Bob, you could not customize these vids any more for me! I buy basically all of my wine from these three, and Cab is my favorite. But you have taught me so much, i have unlocked the piggybank to buy more of the wines you suggest. What i am really trying to say is that you have stolen me from the barefoot/blackbox crowd into the "semi-big-girl wine drinker!!
Thanks for sharing, I like the format and plan to try that trader Joe wine, but it is a little bit of a blend, so more interesting than a cab to me