Gold Medal Wine Club: Diamond Series
Written By: Anonymous on Mon, Dec 15th 2008
Welcome to the Diamond Series of the Gold Medal Wine Club. We conducted a tasting of the featured wines inside this months’ shipment and are very excited to share our results with you.
How can this article benefit you? During our tasting, we utilized a wide range of wine drinkers and asked them each to sample the bottles honestly and create their own notes. By gathering both a beginner and expert perspective, you can learn and compare with us no matter what your personal level of experience. Enjoy!
Diamond Series Intro
"The Diamond Series provides a unique opportunity for a fortunate few to enjoy the ultimate wine tasting adventure. These extraordinary wines are all highly sought-after and strictly allocated to a very limited audience...[this] is the most exclusive series we offer" - GMWC packet
The Diamond Series provides you with high roller action for a very reasonable rate. It’s extremely difficult to appreciate wine to its fullest degree if you never get to experience top-of-the-line bottles, and the Diamond Series takes the guess work out of finding those bottles. Almost every wine in this series received a rating of 93 points or higher...so if you’ve had your fill of mediocre bottles, taste along with us as we explore the Diamond Series -
2005 Vergari Pinot Noir "Van der Kamp Vineyard" Sonoma Mountain
"After years of experience working at wineries on three different continents, David Vergari has found his niche making seamless, world-class Pinot Noirs from the Sonoma Mountains, many of which are some of the most sought after Pinots in California. The 2005 Van der Kamp Vineyard Pinot Noir is truly one of Vergari’s greatest achievements thus far." - GMWC packet
Beginner Perspective:
The color was a ruby red that is indicative of Pinot Noir. Of all the red varietals, I think Pinot has one of the most immediately noticeable colorations.
The nose had a compelling mixture of earthy tones with classic Pinot fruit. No shortage of dark berries here and even a hint of dark chocolate, but I had to spend a little time to finally come to that conclusion. The nose required patience and attention.
The taste was noticeably acidic and brought a solid dose of alcohol, but not too much. The mid-palate contained a definite kick and the finish was well balanced.
Expert Perspective:
Almost a brick-toned color to this wine, lovely cool-weather nose, not quite Burgundian in style but certainly doesn’t have all the lush, bold fruit of the, for example, Russian River Valley fruit. Very well integrated oak that doesn’t overwhelm the cherry, and there is a gentle sense of perfumed spiciness on the nose, sweet tobacco too.
Great structure on the palate, bright acidity and nice soft tannins, the structure is here for 2 - 5 years of evolution, and I think that the tobacco, spice notes, vanilla and other oak characteristics will really develop nicely. This is all about finesse - cherry and a hint of dried thyme, very balanced, juicy and earthy at the same time.
Lightly grilled lighter meats, perhaps game birds with a mushroom fricassee would work well here. Good concentration on a lightish frame. Cocoa on the nose too, but bittersweet, not chocolatey.
91 / 100.
2003 Valdicava Brunello di Montalcino
"It’s not often a winery can continually release 95+ rated vintages, but its become a regular occurrence at Valdicava, including an impossible 100-point-rated wine for their 2001 vintage. The concept at Valdicava is to first nurture a great respect for the tradition and flavors of Montalcino, while at the same time valuing their own individual character." - GMWC packet.
Beginner Perspective:
The Valdicava Brunello starts of with a very rich red color. There is no mistaking this for the Pinot accompanying this bottle. The nose is extremely interesting. I’ve heard terms like 'barnyard' and 'hay' used to describe wines before, but was never able to detect it myself. This wine introduced me to those characters. On top of that, there is a vegetal component that doesn’t overpower the beautiful natural fruits notes of Brunello.
The taste is extraordinarily well balanced. Drinking this wine invited me into intellectual examination. The earthy, hay components detected on the nose were present during tasting, but what kept impressing me was the strong tannin structure that left me wanting more.
Expert Perspective:
Beautiful, perfumed and floral Brunello aspects. Mushrooms, flowers, and leather on the nose. There’s a real sense of depth to the nose here, dried figs too, but there is also a delicacy. The ripe plum fruit starts to make itself known too on the nose.
The tannins and acid suggest a long lifetime in the cellar in the future for this wine, I would say 5 - 15 years minimum as this is a good, old-fashioned style of Brunello and built for the long-haul, hint of vague bell pepper on the nose keeps it fresh. Warm licorice and brick flavors on the palate too, and despite the strength of the tannins, the finish rolls on and on and grows more floral as it does so, raspberry eventually comes out on the finish too, as does more new-belt leather. Also, red clay earth on the nose with a bit of air.
93 / 100.
Other notables about the Diamond Series:
If you’d like to find out more about the prestigious diamond series, click here.
Members of this club receive a very impressive package that includes detailed histories of each bottle and separately sheathed tasting histories for easy storage in a notebook.
