Gold Medal Wine Club: New Years Platinum Series
Written By: Matthew Apsokardu on Mon, Jan 5th 2009
Welcome to the Platinum Series of the Gold Medal Wine Club. This is a special New Years Edition that we’ve put out so you can enjoy some great new wines with your New Year. 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!
“The Calcareous 2005 Twisted Sisters Syrah was produced from a blend of two Westside Paso Robles properties, Killer Canyon and Starr Ranch Vineyards. These distinctive small vineyards have unique calcareous limestone-rich soils, from which the winery attributes its name and honors the region’s terroir.” – GMWC packet
Beginner Perspective:
This is a dark, jammy syrah. Generally, Syrahs seem to have a lot of body to them, and this one was no exception. There were strong berry components that dominated the nose for me, pretty much to the exclusion of finer aromas that may have been present.
The palate kept true to the nose – raspberry and blackberry pie. The overall taste was well rounded without over pronounced alcohol ruining the show. The finish was nice and smooth.
Expert Perspective:
The nose is filled with dark berry fruit. Blueberry and rich cherry are accentuated with a sense of sweet spice. The complexity indicates to me a potential for a complex and rewarding Syrah.
The palate followed through with different notes of jammy fruit. Cherry, raspberry, and blueberry were all present and intermingled seemingly in equal fashion. Following was a smooth baker’s chocolate that added a nice sense of depth. A very well balanced wine.
89/100
“The Charles Creek 2004 La Vista Cabernet Sauvignon was produced from the legendary Stagecoach Vineyard of Napa Valley. Cabernet Sauvignon grown on this site is prized for its intensity and complexity of flavor, and the La Vista Cabernet from Charles Creek is no exception.” – GMWC packet.
Beginner Perspective:
The cabernet sauvignon seemed like a dark brick kind of red, as opposed to the inky Syrah we tasted earlier. The nose, however, DID remind me a lot of that Syrah. Jammy blackberry was the most predominant aroma, and I wasn’t able to dig anything deeper out of it.
The taste was also jammy, but what stood out to me was the solid alcohol structure. Not overbearing, but certainly present was an alcoholic kick. I thought it was refreshing and added a sense of presence to the wine.
Expert Perspective:
Spicy black cherry explodes from the nose. Alcoholic heat indicates that this wine has a lot of attitude – but whether or not that will pay off has yet to be determined.
The palate is green, vegetative, and not overly fruit forward. Very interesting for a wine of this kind. There are notes of dark chocolate and I am even sensing some forest floor activity. The last note I am able to detect is a slight bit of mushroom. An intriguing wine.
87/100
Other notables about the Platinum Series:
If you liked the New Years selection here, don’t miss out on the next batch. Click here to make it yours.
Members of this club receive a package that includes detailed histories of each bottle, a special note from the producer, and information about the wine’s production.
