These 20 Facts About Buying Wine And Liquor From Costco Kinda Blew My Mind

And of that, wine makes up nearly half of Costco's overall alcohol sales. Annette Alvarez-Peters, Costco's beverage alcohol manager, told Market Watch magazine that the chain made $1.69 billion in wine sales in 2016, making it the largest wine retailer in the country.

In about a dozen states — including California, Massachusetts, and Connecticut — alcohol sales can't be exclusive to a club or membership. So if that applies to your local Costco and you aren't a member, just tell the employee at the door you're buying liquor; by law, they have to let you in.

In fact, there are lots of rumors that Kirkland and Grey Goose are made at the same plant. According to Munchies, that isn't entirely true — though the two vodkas are made with water sourced from Gensac Springs in Cognac, France. Even more surprising, Munchies explains that Kirkland vodka scored six points higher than Grey Goose in a handful of reputable blind tasting competitions.

Rumor is that their in-house wines are made in the same vineyards as the some of the most popular name brands out there, so always flip the bottle over to see if a name, producer's stamp, or vineyard location is listed. In any case, Kirkland's wines are made by winemakers all over the world from Sonoma County, California to Bordeaux, France and Mendoza, Argentina.

Costco sells this Brunello di Montalcino for under $20. When you look online to buy this same exact bottle, other wine shops around the country sell it for $28 to $40. According to the Daily Meal, most of the wine at Costco is sold for 10% to 20% less than at other wine stores.

They also sell some pretty ~fancy~ beverages, too. For example, this bottle of Sassicaia, a renowned Italian wine, retails for about $250.

Andrew Cullen, editor of the Costco Wine Blog, told the Daily Meal that if the price of a bottle ends in an unusual set of numbers (for example, $0.79 instead of $0.99), there's a good chance that means it's been marked down even further.

Costco's previous wine director, David Andrew, also told the Los Angeles Times that Costco is the country's biggest purchaser of Bordeaux bottles, a region home to some of the finest and most acclaimed wines in the world.

Kirkland's brut and rosé champagnes are made by Champagne de Bruyne, and the grapes are harvested from their grand cru vineyard in Verzenay, France, according to Wine Spectator.

Costco's line of Kirkland craft brewed IPAs and brown ales come from two breweries in Utica, New York, and San José, California. If you're a beer aficionado, you may have even heard of the breweries, called F.X. Matt Brewing Company and Gordon Biersch, as the Washington Post reported.

Costco has a handful of top-performing bottles for under $20, which you'll almost always find on the shelves. These wines include La Crema pinot noir, Coppola claret, and Kim Crawford sauvignon blanc, said Annette Alvarez-Peters in an interview with Market Watch magazine. But Costco's wine aisle is constantly changing. Costo's buyers tailor what's sold at different stores based on local preferences —?and you can often find rare, surprising, or collector's items. Alvarez-Peters calls these the "wow" items, which make shoppers want to return. So browse through the wine aisles carefully: It isn't rare to find a boutique label or a highly sought-after wine at an awesome value.

Should you find yourself in a foreign city craving your favorite wine...now you know where to go.

And tbh, there's some really good variety in it, great for anyone hoping to try some new kinds of wine.

It includes 24 cans of German-imported craft beer for $59.99, which shakes down to $2.50 per can.