The Brand That's Behind Costco's Kirkland Boxed Wine

Costco's an astonishingly multifaceted store; it offers many incredible products in one space. On a single trip, you can snag some shopper recommended kitchen staples, find some decadent Bulgarian caviar, buy a new washing machine, and in certain states, pick up booze to toast a successful haul.

Recently, the alcohol section has been capturing consumer's attention with low prices, mysterious producers, and a wide range of offerings. You can snag just about any staple at the store, including your affordable boxed wine fix. The Kirkland Brand offers both a red Cabernet Sauvignon  and a white Pinot Grigio, at a price point that's below $15 for a 3 liter container.

It's a great way to provide a large volume of wine for a crowd and the flavor's surprisingly tasty, especially considering the price. So logically, such an offering immediately begs the question, who's the producer? Well, Kirkland's a secretive brand, so the exact origin is undisclosed. However, as these boxed wines are labeled as Californian, consumers speculate that wine giant E&J Gallo Winery has been producing the brand's offerings.

There are many popular wines to buy at Costco, some that are sold under recognizable labels, and others as part of the Kirkland Signature line. The releases are often seasonal, with limited availability of a specific bottle once stock runs out. And the offerings encompass many varying wineries, some of which can be found by inspecting the fine details on the label, or by consulting a database released by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau.

It's this federally released info that reveals who really makes Costco's wines, and it's shown Californian expressions are interlinked with E&J Gallo Winery. However, this detail doesn't definitively apply to the boxed wine offerings, so it's hardly a giveaway of a specific winery. And furthermore, E&J Gallo Winery manages over a hundred smaller brands and is the biggest family-owned winery globally. So perhaps, the company's involvement is limited to just the distribution of certain Kirkland Californian wines,.

The region of California from which these boxed wines originate isn't listed, so there aren't many terroir specific for wine-lovers to uncover with these varieties. However, at such a price point — and with such a decent flavor — there's no reason to stress in the backstory. At its core, it's a casual offering worth purchasing and sharing with others.