The $17,000 Champagne Collection You Can Only Buy At Costco In California

If you're looking for a special gift this holiday season, you'll probably be able to save a few bucks by shopping at Costco. From festive fruit towers to enormous chocolate boxes and fun gifts for little ones, there's something for everyone. For adults, though, the warehouse club's wine section is where it's at. Costco sells a variety of brands at shockingly low prices, including a bottle of Prosecco that's big enough to kill a grown man. This year, Costco is also offering a special type of champagne only available in California. 

This very exclusive and unusual item is the Dom Pérignon Champagne Collector's Edition Vertical Set, and includes vintages from 1976 through 2012. Packaged in wooden boxes, the 24 bottles come with tasting notes for each specific year. If you're a big champagne fan and are thinking this sounds like a fantastic present, you might want to rethink pulling out your wallet. That's because this collection costs $17,499. 

You read that correctly. This is one of the single most expensive things ever sold at Costco. Although this is way out of most folks' price range, the big question is whether this is still a luxury Costco wine deal that's a huge steal or a blatant money-grab preying on California wine-snob culture. Let's break it down a little — each bottle in the collection comes out to a price of roughly $729. An average bottle of Dom costs anywhere from $250 to $400, depending on where you buy it. So, at first glance, this doesn't seem like a good deal. Before you attribute this exorbitant price to mere greed, however, there are a few other factors to consider.

To grasp why this bundle has an over $17,000 price tag, you must first understand a little about Dom Pérignon itself. Named for a 1600s monk who, according to myth, invented champagne, Dom Pérignon is made in Hautvillers in northeastern France. Every bottle made is vintage, meaning only grapes from that year are harvested and stored in careful conditions for peak drinkability later on. While newer bottles cost hundreds, some older, well-regarded vintages cost thousands and are deeply sought after by wine collectors. It's difficult to store and care for Dom since champagne requires cool, constant temperatures away from light. This means that having a company guarantee satisfaction on decades-old bubbly is a boon in its own right. 

The 1978 vintage alone can fetch nearly $2,000, and the more recent 2012 is going for around $700. If you're able to care for the wine properly, the value of these vintages is likely to increase greatly, meaning individual bottles could easily double in price with time. While drinking the champagne can offer cherished memories, as an investment piece, this wine collection is definitely a bargain, Costco style.

If you're not convinced that it's a good financial decision, you should also factor in transportation costs. The collection is pickup-only from the Costco Burbank Business Center in North Hollywood, where it is stored properly. So you can rest easy knowing none of the older vintages have been exposed to harmful conditions or come in problematic vessels like these Prosecco bottles from Costco. So, are you up for a road trip?