Gold Medal Wine Club: Pinot Noir Series
Written By: Matthew Apsokardu on Wed, Dec 10th 2008
Welcome to the Pinot Noir 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 gathered a wide range of wine drinkers and asked them each to sample the bottles honestly and create their own notes. By having both a beginner and expert perspective, you can learn and compare with us no matter what your personal level of experience. Enjoy!
Pinot Noir Series Intro
“Our NEW Series exclusively features captivating world-class Pinot Noirs from California and around the world. Every other month, receive two bottles of highly regarded, hard-to-find Pinots from top winemakers and discover why this grape has become one of the world’s most celebrated varietals. Learn about the wines and wineries in an informative, color publication and enjoy a rewarding tasting experience.” – GMWC packet
The Pinot Noir series provides a unique, encompassing experience. The folks at Gold Medal Wine Club really went all out to make sure recipients of this package enjoy the history, taste, and community involved with Pinot Noir. The newsletter-style publications that arrive with each shipment go above and beyond normal expectation. The only question is…are the wines any good!? Let’s find out:
“Inspired by the principles of organic farming and sustainable agriculture, Alma Rosa honors the undeniable relationship between the healthiness of the soil, the energy of the vines, and ultimately, the soul of the wine.” – GMWC packet
Beginner Perspective:
The Alma Rosa is a fun wine, I’m liking it right off the bat. Very pleasant nose that is driven by berry. The good thing is, once I spent a little time with it, I could detect some deeper aromas. Dark chocolate and something foresty and natural.
The taste did not disappoint either. It exuded what you would normally expect from a Pinot, but did it really well. Great balance and a solid finish. I would drink this at dinner or just for fun.
Expert Perspective:
Smells like wild-berry pie with its classic Santa Barbara fruit-sweetness but not overwhelming, just a natural expression of the nose of the grape in the appellation. Also carries a bit of forest-floor funk that counters the exuberant fruit nicely; quite a round nose.
More acid structure on the palate than the nose implies; comes in a wave of mouth-filling cherries with a hint of the very well-integrated oak softening it up. Silky and seductive in a very American way, and that’s not a bad thing at all.
91 / 100
“An emerging world-class wine entity in northern California, Lioco’s core belief is based on finding compelling vineyard sites, restraining their winemaking approach, and thus ‘building wines from the ground up.’” – GMWC packet.
Beginner Perspective:
The Lioco is a bit lighter than the Alma Rosa. It’s interesting to note that even inside a single varietal (pinot noir), there can be differences in every aspect – including color.
The Lioco has an interesting nose in that Pinot berry is mixed with something vegetal. Bell pepper, lemon rind, and a bit of something zesty all come through.
I found this wine very easy to drink. The tannins were mild, but present enough to keep things interesting. The finish was long and dry. Most dominant to me was a sense of cherry and black berry.
Expert Perspective:
Alcohol a bit overwhelming, but there are cranberry and autumn notes on the nose. There’s also an herbaceousness that strikes me as unusual.
There’s a weight to the wine on the palate, as well as a real sense of concentration, but I can’t help but wonder what’s been lost by producing such a big, brawny Pinot Noir. Tobacco and butterscotch on the nose comes out eventually and is quite pleasant. There’s a hint of mushroom on the finish, which reminds me of candy-coated apples. For fans of a modern style, this will be a crowd-pleaser. Still has the stuffing and extract to go for quite some time, and might develop more nuance in 3-6 years.
87 / 100.
Other notables about the Pinot Noir Series:
If you’d like to find out more about the pinot noir series, click here.
Members of this club receive a comprehensive package that includes two bottles every other month, club information, and top-notch newsletters about the bottles in each shipment.
