Seattle is a boom town. From manufacturing to tech, some of the world's biggest companies have brought jobs and wealth to the region.

But that comes with real growing pains. I'm Joshua McNichols. And I'm Monica Nicholsberg. We host Booming, a podcast that helps you make sense of the economic forces shaping our lives here in the Pacific Northwest.

From the big budget projects on Seattle's to-do list to the artificial intelligence age,

we get into the stories that hit your wallet and our region. Listen now on the KUOW app or wherever

you get podcasts.

Hey, good morning. I'm Patricia Murphy. It's Wednesday. This is Seattle now. Today we're bringing you the best from another

KUOW show, Seattle Eats. The holidays are here, the season for cookies, roasts, seafood, and wine.

And if you want the best deals on good wine, Seattle Times food critic Ton Vin says head to Costco.

On the latest episode of Seattle Eats, Ton sat down with Seattle Times food critic, Tonvin, says head to Costco. On the latest episode of Seattle Eats,

Tan sat down with Seattle Times politics reporter David Gutman

to taste test Costco's best wines that are $20 or less.

Hey, Seattle Eaters, we got a pack show today with so many wines to cover.

I needed help, so I put up the bat signal and rappelling down into

the studio is Gutman. David Gutman, welcome to the show. Happy to be here. Thanks, Ton. So, you're here

to taste wine at 10 a.m. in the morning? It's like 10.30. Let's be reasonable. I wouldn't drink wine at 10 a.m. But it's 10.30, so I'm ready. Good, good. Well, Gutman, a little bit about yourself. Your political reporter, the star political reporter at Seattle Times. But in your previous life, you had a stint in some of the best kitchens in Seattle. You used to be a sous chef at the French restaurant, Lergoman. And you had a cameo at Lake of East, which, in my opinion, is the best wine bar in Seattle. It's one of the most places you have to hit. So you worked at two French restaurants. Did you learn a lot about wines when you're there? You know, I think I learned

enough. I'm not an encyclopedia, but I learned to appreciate them. I learned to like French

wines. I like France. And, you know, it's fun talking about France. Well, as luck would have it,

we have three bottles here to taste. You know, one of the things we do here at the Seattle Times,

we have our annual Costco wine review.

It's one of the most red things during the holiday season.

You cannot, for the quality, you cannot beat the value that Costco has for wine.

Some of these bottles that were tasting today, David,

...