What Makes This Year's Costco Wine Advent Calendars Different

It's hard to believe Hallothanksmas, the time of year when stores stock shelves full of goodies for Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas at a maddening pace, is almost upon us (via Urban Dictionary). For shoppers who like to plan early, this is good news! It means while you're picking up your candy to reward trick-or-treaters, you can also nab a gift to recognize someone who will be checking the nice box on Santa's list this year.

Costco's popular wine Advent calendars are already back on the shelves in some locations, and if bigger means better, they are better than ever! Costco wine buyer Kirk Johnson explained in Costco Connection, "We made this item bigger and better by using half bottles instead of the standard 187-millimeter bottles you see in other packs." We love the sound of that! Of course, Costco isn't the only store that will be selling wine Advent calendars this year. "We didn't develop this idea, but we Costco-sized it," Johnson pointed out. In addition to bigger bottles, this year's wine calendar promises to be an "Advent-ure."

A lot of thought goes into putting together Costco's wine Advent calendar. As Kirk Johnson explained in Costco Connection, "Each year we taste hundreds of wines in order to reach the final assortment." While we'd love to be on that wine-tasting dream team, buying one of the calendars may be as close as we come in real life. (This year, anyway! Fingers crossed for next!) According to The Drinks Business, the wine Advent calendars will be available in more locations by October and retail for $99.99.

According to Eat This, Not That!, buyers of this year's calendar can expect to see bottles of Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, and Merlot, as well as other varieties from countries like Bulgaria, France, Greece, Italy, and Portugal. "It's our goal to make the pack a fun and interactive discovery of wines from around the world," Johnson said in Costco Connection. A virtual calendar has even been set up coinciding with Costco's wine Advent calendar at Wineadvent-ure.com containing a wine profile, description, and information about the wine-making process for each day's wine. Don't worry, if reading all that info sounds like a bit too much work while you're trying to enjoy your 357 millimeters of wine, there is a short, cheery video posted for each wine as well.

Rushing the holiday season has its drawbacks, but we have to admit some fun videos and a box of wine has us feeling rather Adventur-ous!