Blind Zinfandel Tasting: Kirkland Signature vs. Seghesio
Updated: Jun 18, 2020
Kirkland Signature, Old Vine Zinfandel, Sonoma County ,2017
vs
Seghesio, Zinfandel, Sonoma County, 2018
Here we go again! Recently we purchased a pair of Zinfandels from Costco for our side-by-side bind tasting series. California Zin seemed like a perfect pairing with turkey burgers and sweet potato fries, to be enjoyed on our back deck. Kirkland wines have been coming out on top in our blind tasting series recently, so let's see how they fared in this go around with our group of tasters.
Wine #1: Medium purple (not deep) in the glass, smooth mouthfeel, clean, blueberry notes, fruity, baking spice, fun. Long and easy finish.
Wine #2: Deeper purple in the glass, overly fruity, sickly/artificially sweet, oaky and heavy, maraschino cherry, jammy, big, "feels like I might have a headache if I drink too much of this one!".
This round was no contest - wine #1 was clearly preferred by all four tasters. The reveal - Seghesio Zinfandel ($19.99) completely knocked the socks off of the Kirkland Signature Old Vine Zin ($9.99). KS just didn't seem to hit any of the right notes on our palates, which is of no surprise to us since we tend to prefer wines with more acidity and freshness over those with sweeter, more oaky characteristics. We aren't big Zinfandel drinkers, but we did happen to taste another one this week that we enjoyed a bit more. Dashe 2018 Vineyard Select Zinfandel from Northern California seemed to strike a better overall balance between fruit/oak/sweetness. It's a similar price point to the Seghesio ($19.99 from Wine.com) but the enjoyment level was noticeably higher for us.
Check out the Costco Wine Blog for reviews of both the Kirkland and the Seghesio. He also scores the Seghesio wine higher than the Kirkland.
Quick note here....ideally, we would like to have two wines from the same location, same vintage, and similar price point to get the most relevant comparison possible. The Seghesio wine was the closest match to the Kirkland that we could find at our Costco location at the time of purchase.
There you have it. Sorry Kirkland, guess you can't win 'em all!