Esteban Martin

Easy drinking, complex enough to be interesting.

What: Red. 2018  

Where: Costco in Pocatello, Idaho (possibly in other stores) 

How Much: $10 / bottle

Rating: 4 out of 5

Review: Sorry, y’all. You can’t get there from here . . . and by that, I mean you can’t buy this wine in Utah (please shout out in the comments if you can buy it locally now). BUT you can go on a quick wine adventure to Pocatello (2 hours north) and stock up on badass wine and fantastic prices at Costco. If you drink as much wine as we do, then a Costco membership and quarterly pilgrimage to Pocatello is totally worth it (no offense to Utah liquor stores, you just can’t provide what we need).

92 points from Wine Enthusiast according to the little sticker on the bottle. So why the hell am I reviewing it, you wonder? Because I’ve had 92 point wine that tasted like week old sausage wrapped in a cured tobacco leaf. It was far from pleasant, but someone thought it was praiseworthy. I do believe in black and white when it comes to good and bad wine, but there’s a vast gray space in between the two where goodness dwells. Shit wine is real. Fantastic wine is real. Us normal people get to experience all the rest, and that includes 92 point sticker wine that may or may not be worth a damn. In this case, it’s pretty frickin’ good. Really good. Totally worth it. Buy now. Buy a case. Buy three. Two for you, and one as tasty gifts for family and friends.

Columbus Salami hits the spot with this wine. The salt props up the acid in the wine, brings out the more floral, red fruit characteristics of the wine.

My beloved Havarti . . . not so much. This cheese dulls the wine’s acid too much, making it a bit flaccid, but it does bring out a smooth mocha and an almost marshmallow flavor in the wine, which is interesting.

In the end, buy this if you can. I’ll be getting more next time I’m up in Pocatello.