Gold Medal Wine Club: Platinum Series
Written By: Matthew Apsokardu on Mon, Dec 8th 2008
Welcome to the Platinum 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!
Platinum Series Intro
“Platinum Series recipients have the rare opportunity to journey into the cellars of California’s hidden treasure of world-class wineries. Each delivery brings you top-rated wines, hand-crafted in small lots of 100s, not 1000s of cases. Wines rated in the 90s, multiple Gold Medals and/or Best of Class type of distinctions – all worth raving about.” – GMWC packet
As its name suggests, the Platinum Series is concerned with high end quality. This California-centric club provides members with hard-to-get bottles that have scored very well with some of the world’s top tasters.
2006 Loring Pinot Noir (Cargasacchi Vineyard)
“Sourced from one of the most desirable vineyards in the Santa Maria Valley of Santa Barbara County, Loring’s 2006 Cargasacchi Vineyard Pinot Noir is among the best Pinots Brian Loring has ever produced.” – GMWC packet
Beginner Perspective:
First impression suggests that this is a classic Pinot. The color is light, translucent. Not the deep red you might get with a cabernet sauvignon.
The nose is a bit closed, meaning I can’t seem to detect any unusual or subtle aromas. This probably should have been decanted for an hour or so. I’m getting some good pinot-style red berry and even a little bit of pool water.
The taste is non-complex, but still very pleasant. The alcohol is not overpowering, yet has enough structure to make a nice finish. The same pinot-style berry that I caught on the nose is present here, and also a subtle hint of oaking.
Expert Perspective:
Lush fruit on the nose, classic California expression of the grape’s fruit character. Perhaps a bit hot, oak still needs a bit of time to integrate but there are nice vanilla and cinnamon notes; also, typical damp earth notes.
Heat from the alcohol is also apparent on the palate, but there’s enough ripe berry and cherry fruit here to withstand it, and just like the nose, the palate is still quite young and needs to come together. This wine almost seems a bit nervous (perhaps that is from shipment). A creaminess develops on the nose with time indicating a softer future once it all falls into place a bit better.
Sweet brown spice develops on the nose, very New World in style, acid is solid enough to hold it all together as it begins to knit together more completely, and the medium-grained tannins promise solid medium-length aging potential.
Finish is mostly fruit in the cherry arena. Dark cherry comes to dominate the palate eventually. Finish is a touch too short. Either needs decanting or 6 – 12 months in the bottle to calm down. After that, I would predict 3 – 5 years of development in the cellar should be interesting. Nice with duck-breast medallionas.
86 / 100.
2004 Buoncristiani O.P.C. Claret (Napa Valley)
“A proprietary blend that’s earned Buoncristiani an incredible reputation, the 2004 O.P.C. has quickly become a hot commodity. According to Ronn Wiegand, Master Sommelier and publisher of Restaurant Wine Magazine, ‘The Buoncristiani O.P.C. is just plain delicious; a wonderful blend and very attractively priced.’” – GMWC packet.
Beginner Perspective:
The Buoncristiani appears to be a very serious wine. The color is a deep red, and when swirling, reminds me of the classic Crayola red that you get in crayon boxes.
The nose is powerful and complex. It took me a minute or so to get passed the alcohol, but once it started to open up I detected some interesting characteristics. There was a vegetal, foresty component – not like autumn, but more of a musty forest floor. Beneath that were notes of dark chocolate.
The taste followed suit with the nose. Berry was there, of course; but mixed in was that forest and chocolate that I had detected earlier. The alcohol served as a minor hurdle when detecting the more subtle flavors, but all in all, a very intellectual and enjoyable wine.
Expert Perspective:
Buttery and creamy character on the nose; dark berries and currants, as well as a certain dried-meat character, like Bresaola; then caramel. This nose is all about dark tones and richness, like a velvety blanket.
This wine would benefit from time to come together—it’s showing its youthfulness at this point, and the elements have not yet really integrated. I feel like the cab might be bringing a touch of green; the tannins are chewy and the wine has enough stuffing to keep on evolving—likely developing tea, tobacco, and some subtle brown spice characteristics—for years. Drink 2011-2019.
88 / 100
Other notables about the Platinum Series:
If you’d like to experience these wines (and others) for yourself, get involved today!.
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.
