On Tue, 07 Oct 2003 10:25:21 GMT, "dick" wrote:

If you contact Costco Corp...the wine dept can tell you there the lynch
bages are.

But they can't necessarily get it to you. Liquor restrictions of the
various states have sway over where Costco can ship alcohol. For
instance, at Costco.com they say they can only ship to addresses in
Washington State.

Also, just because their computers say they have the wine doesn't
necessarily mean you can find it. The February 2001 Costco Connection
magazine listed a slew of 1998 Bdx they were going to stock, including
the Ch. l' Angelus. SKU numbers were listed alongside the wines, so I
kept checking to see when the Angelus was in. It never arrived. Or at
least the Costco computers couldn't find it. I don't know what
happened, but I miss it already.

Another case in point: I recently bought a real nice 1998 CdP at the
Kirkland (Washington) Costco for $15.59. When I went back to get more
it was gone, (Well, duh. heh) But the computer said there were 13
bottles at the Aurora Village store, so I streaked out there. Even
with a massive amount of assistance from Costco customer service, we
couldn't find a single bottle.

All was not lost, however. I did find seven remaining bottles of 2000
Font-Sane Gigondas for $13, and a nice selection of 2000 Bordeaux. I
took home some Ch. Maucaillou Moulis, Ch. Haut-Brisson Grand Cru and
Ch. Malecasse (Haut-Medoc). They were all $15-18. I passed on the
Pagodes de Cos at $27, as it's $24 at K&L. (Anybody know what the
Pagodes is like?) Didn't see any Lynch-Bages.

One other thing to know about Costco is that the various store
managers can pick and choose what wines they feature. This can really
make a difference in selection. The Kirkland store, for example,
didn't have the 2000 Bdx's I listed above, but Aurora had them in a
huge display separate from the usual wine bins. I'll never forget my
visit two years ago to the Costco in Santa Cruz. Boo-yah, talk about a
wine section! But that's the way wine works in Cal. In Washington we
have a liquor board whose cork is tighter than a new CdP.

They divide their little treasures around based upon demographics. However
this was at a store I would not have beleived had the trade for it.

I'm not so sure about the demographics aspect. The Kirkland store is
in the heart of the affluent East Side, a stone's throw from Microsoft
and surrounded by a lot of people with expendable income. The Aurora
store is in more of a mixed neighborhood, tending towards lower-mid
income. I would have expected the Bordeaux display at Kirkland, not at
Aurora. I imagine a factor is the availability of floor space,
Kirkland being one of the older (and smaller) stores in the chain.

JJ
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