The Wine Fairy

“What’s the house wine?” you ask, glancing over the menu. “It’s red or white,” the server replies.

And if, despite your trepidation, you go ahead and order the red wine, you’re likely to end up with a glass a lot like this one, the Baciato dal Sol from Costco. It’s the epitome of mystery red blends everywhere: Ripe and fruity, vaguely Mediterranean, and really quite enjoyable if you temper your expectations.

If you’re just joining us at The Wine Fairy, we’re about halfway through all the cheapo half-bottles in the 2025 Costco Wine Advent-ure Calendar. So far, the wines have been middling, but we’re holding out hope that each new bottle will be the one to put a little sunshine in our glass.

The Label

From the producer: “This Italian Red Blend truly showcases the region’s winemaking artistry. Its deep ruby color draws you in, revealing an intense bouquet of ripe wild berries, with layers of cherries, plums, and blackcurrants. On the palate, it offers a velvety texture and rich, fruity character, beautifully balanced with subtle hints of spice and a long, elegant finish.”

The Tasting

Baciato dal Sol (“kiss of the sun”) is from Puglia, one of Italy’s warmest, most southerly wine regions. Costco doesn’t tell us the blend–but this is Primitivo country, and the deep red bells of your Primitivo alarm system should be blaring by now.

This wine is dark ruby with an inky center. Aromas of cooked black and red plum, baking spice, and pastry cream. Simple flavors of blackberry, black cherry, and mulled wine. It’s dry with good flavor intensity and soft, medium-plus tannins. Alcohol is noticeable but manageable at 13.9%. It finishes with cinnamon spice and a hint of tart, vegetal complexity–a spoonful of Branston pickle to liven up its jammy ripeness.

Baciato dal Sol has quite high acidity that’s incongruous with its extra-soft fruit. It’s a sign that this wine was possibly “fixed in post” (i.e., acidified)–but I’m not mad about it. Cheap reds from Southern Italy can sometimes taste like plummy sludge, and this doesn’t. In fact, it’s one of the better red wines in the Costco lineup so far.

In short, Baciato dal Sol is okay! But is it enough? I’m never sure. Last week, a boring-ass Chardonnay made me wistful and sad. This week, a workhorse red blend tasted adequate and earned my gratitude. That’s probably more a function of my expectations and state of mind than I’d like to admit.

If you’ll pardon a couple paragraphs of philosophical douchiness appended to the end of this review, I’m fascinated with the question of “bad” wine. It’s the main reason I decided to take an in-depth look at the Costco advent calendar juice this year–even though I knew that it probably wouldn’t be that great-tasting. I certainly didn’t think it would be on par with the special-occasion wines that I tend to review for this blog.

But “bad” wine, really? Most wine is made for consistency, tastes like fruit, is true to style, and is helpfully alcoholic. The worst bottles on the lowest shelf would be the envy of most humans who have every lived.

So, what is bad wine, and why does it offend the aesthetes more than any other unremarkable foodstuff? Does wine actually need to be good or great? What is lost if we over-examine and over-sentimentalize wine? What is lost if we don’t? Because clearly, wine is not like other food. It’s not even like other alcohol.

We don’t talk about the terroir of lunchbox oranges. We don’t apply 100-point scales to birthday cake, or worry if each bacon cheeseburger or frozen margarita is the highest and truest expression of the form.

But somehow wine exists in a separate category. We expect more of wine. We grade it harder–we project more of our values and hopes and dreams upon it, like a gifted kid at the front of the classroom.

To extend that metaphor to individual wines, the Costco Class of 2025 are like solid “C” students. They won’t wow anyone with their talent or ambition…but they do show up and do the work. And they just might get a better score on certain days when the teacher is in a good mood.

So, Baciato dal Sol gets a “B” from me today. Good effort, Baciato dal Sol! I paired it with dumplings and kimchi soup from New Koreatown and it was the right kind of dry red to wash down a takeout dinner.

Wine: Baciato dal Sol Red Blend (2023) – Italy

Costco Wine Advent-ure Calendar Number: 11

Grade: B

Finish the bottle? Yep.

I’m tasting all 24 wines in the 2025 Costco Wine Advent-ure calendar! See previous reviews here.

Review disclosure: I was not compensated or provided any free products for this review. Opinions expressed on The Wine Fairy blog are entirely my own.