Great Vinegars to Get at Costco
As someone who is more inclined towards shopping small business, plotting out each and every artisan food store to visit during my travels, I am in awe of the massive volume that big-box retail giant Costco sells in solely food and sundries; $109.5 billion in 2025, 40% of their $270 billion total sales, which is up more than 8% from the previous year. The members-only retailer sells diamond rings ($350,000), collections of Château Latour Bordeaux, 65-year-old single malts ($30,000), and 1-ounce gold bars for the low, low price of $5,000. But the majority of its sales are common household items: toilet paper, clothing and gallons of gasoline. When it comes to convenience food, Costco sells 250 million $1.50 hot dogs and 20 oz fountain drink combos, and 150 million $4.99 rotisserie chicken.
Then there are well-priced luxury food items, like a 72-pound wheel of imported Parmigiano-Reggiano which averages around $1000, at $14-15 per lb, Costco beats out the national average of $30 per pound. And quietly, Costco has become a hub for vinegar, from gallon jugs of white distilled to top-notch bottles of world renowned balsamic makers, which pair nicely with that parm. Here’s a list of what you should look to fill up your cart with:
Balsamic
Giusti 5-pack
Giusti, the legendary balsamic vinegar maker in Modena, Italy since 1605, sells a compare and contrast 5-pack of 3.38oz bottles of varying ages for around $200, perfect for that at-home tasting and vinegar education. But it’s the 3.4 ounces of Giusti’s 50-year-old DOP balsamic at $500 that’s really rarified air. Pulled from the oldest casks at Giusti (some over 100 years old), the bottles of thick, velvety liquid even comes in its own box decorated with a 24-karat gold plaque. Even though each and every drop feels precious coming from the small blown-glass pipette that comes with the bottle, that’s only about 25 cents per drop (at approximately 1/10th -1/12th teaspoon per)!
Acetaia del Christo’s Black Diamond
Acetaia del Christo’s Black Diamond, is also 50-years old, and feels like a steal at $150. It’s DOP-certified too, and comes in a bulbous consortium approved glass bottle by Giugiaro, a famous car designer, to show off the balsamic’s beautiful, deep-chestnut hue. Of course it’s good with cheese, but it’s also worthy of drizzling on vanilla ice cream — in other words: dairy and balsamic are best friends.
Mazzetti Artistry Edition
Mazzetti, another Modenese option that is rich and complex in flavor, but not necessarily price, offering a $110 25-year and a $70 12-year selection, both with the same pomp as any tradizionale. If you’re just dipping your toes into the world of balsamic, their Artistry Edition is only a $40 investment for an Invechiatto, a high quality PGI product, that at 8.45 ounces, more than double the size of DOPs, feels like a steal. It’s even got enough depth to cook Tagliata alla Modenese, Modena-style balsamic steak, with it!
Kirkland Signature Organic Balsamic Vinegar of Modena
Working with Acetum, the world’s largest balsamic vinegar maker, Costco has a private label balsamic, part of its Kirkland Signature, Costco’s exclusive private-label brand. I like the Organic Balsamic Vinegar of Modena, which comes in a two-pack for $40 (only $20 a bottle), and is the best budget conscious choice for making salad dressing en masse. It also reduces well for sticky balsamic glazed ribs.
Compagnia del Montale’s balsamic pearls
Though these aren't as everyday as balsamic should be (in my humble opinion!), Compagnia del Montale’s balsamic pearls, are an awesome ornate addition to oysters or any seafood tower, acting as an alternative to mignonette and in lieu of caviar all in one! They sell in a black-and-white ying-yang two-pack: balsamic and white balsamic, which love embellishing a summertime Caprese salad with! $45
Acetum ACV
Whereas balsamic is the bulk of Costco’s vinegar category, Acetum also delivers an organic, non-GMO, apple cider vinegar, with mother, in a massive 128oz jug for Kirkland. It’s raw, unfiltered and unpasteurized, and is only made from fresh apples, not concentrated like many other brands, which not only tastes terrifically tangy, but they claim to have beautifully bright health benefits too! That equates to more than 4 months of your daily dose of ACV shots. $25
Four Monks White Distilled
Finally an elusive and exclusive find is Four Monks White Distilled — which Costco carries as two separate 1-gallon containers in a cardboard box. The vintage American vinegar maker started in San Francisco after the repeal of Prohibition, and had vinegar breweries across the US (NY, TN, MO) is now operated by Mizkan, Four Monks is reprised every so often through regional facilities, and feels like part of the United States’ vinegar making past, so keep an eye out for a piece of history — once they’re announced they sell out fast!