Platinum Series Wine Club Review

Wine Club Overview & Details
Wine Club Rating:
This wine club is...
Summary
If you're ready to upgrade to a higher quality wine from California and explore what all of the artisanal buzz is about, this should be your first stop. These mostly red wines from the best small wineries typically retail in the $35-90 range but you pay a much lower price to have them delivered. Joining for yourself means variable shipment prices, but if you buy as a pre-paid gift subscription you'll know your price in advance. Hint: Buy yourself a pre-paid gift subscription instead of joining as an ongoing member.
What I Like
I spend a lot of time wine tasting in California and are personally familiar with many of the wineries shipped in Gold Medal's Platinum Series. They ship my favorites and must-try wines like Dilécta GSM from Paso Robles, Volker Eisele Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa, and Frank Family Petite Sirah from Napa to name a few.
Improvements
With such an amazing breadth of white wine being produced in California, I'm sort of disappointed that all of the white wine in the Platinum series has been Chardonnay. I'd love to see some bold Rhone white selections from Paso Robles, some Sauvignon Blanc from Santa Barbara, and of course, surprise grapes.
Benefits
- 90+ rated wines
- Small California wineries
- Wines rarely available outside the winery
- Buy more, save more
Drawbacks
- Shipping is extra
- Not always a great value
Platinum Series Wine Club delivers to
AL AK AZ AR CA CO CT DE DC FL GA HI ID IL IN IA KS LA ME MD MA MN MO MT NE NV NH NJ NM NY NC ND OH OK OR PA RI SC SD TN TX VT VA WA WV WI WY
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FYI: I find great wine deals so you don’t have to. To keep me on the hunt, I earn a commission when you buy wine based on my recommendations.
Coupons & Promo Codes
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Give a wine club gift of 12 shipments and save 5%. Click for this deal
Platinum Series Wine Club Review
The Platinum Series by Gold Medal is one of their premium-level clubs and at this price-point, Gold Medal brings its customers impressive California wines, ready to drink now or to rest a bit in the cellar. Every wine in this high-end wine subscription is rated 90 points or higher. Each shipment contains two noteworthy wines and their full-color tasting sheets giving you all of the info you need and want about the wines.
In 10+ years of reviewing Gold Medal Wine Club, we're sure they offer one of the better Premium wine clubs. They constantly strive to wow their customers — and their customers' lucky gift recipients.
Being a member of a Gold Medal Wine Club is like being a member of every winery wine club in California. Gold Medal wine club members get very similar pricing to the winery's own wine club members (sometimes better). Of course you do miss out on those fun wine-club pick-up parties, but then again, you get the wine shipped right to your door and don't have to lug it home!
The Platinum Wine Club comes with several options:
- The standard subscription is two bottles, pick Mostly Red or Always Red wine.
- Upgrade to the four-bottle version double your fun — save 5%.
- Upgrade to the Plus Program which features wine of the same caliber as the regular membership, but there aren't enough to go around. The Platinum Plus Program members get these ultra-rare gems all to themselves.
- Get delivery monthly, every other month, or quarterly.
- Choose anywhere from 1-12 shipments, or an ongoing subscription until you cancel.
- And of course, like any proper wine club, there are no sign-up fees and you can cancel any time.
Wine Review
My Platinum Club
Wine Ratings
Quality of Wine | |
Price of Wine | |
Wine Curation |
Our reviewed shipment included the Sagebrush Annie's Cabernet Sauvingon from Santa Barbara County (retail price $60). Let's just say the last bottle of wine we tried from Sagebrush Annie's (an old-vine Merlot) knocked our socks off and this one was also excellent.
The other gem in this shipment is one we're very familiar with. 2012 Santa Rita Hills Pinot Noir (retail price $60) from Dragonette Cellars — one of our most favorite wineries. We tasted this at the Dragonette tasting room in Los Olivos a week before we received this bottle, and we already knew it was a great choice.
Some of their more recent shipments include these droolworthy selections:
- Grimm's Bluff 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon (Happy Canyon, California, only 100 cases produced). This vineyard's impeccable background was selected by Dragonette Vineyards as they source new grapes to expand their lineup.
- Kimsey 2015 Syrah (Santa Ynez Valley, Califorina, only 249 cases produced). Syrah wine produced from fruit grown in this area is outrageously good. Stolpman Vineyards is located in Ballard Canyon and they're famous for their Syrah.
- Potek 2014 Syrah (Sta. Rita Hills, California, only 184 cases produced). Potek has a stellar reputation among serious winos in Santa Barbara. We're fans of winemaker David Potter's "side project," Municipal Winemakers, too.
- Joseph Jewell 2016 Grist Vineyard Zinfandel (Dry Creek Valley, California, only 200 cases produced). Zinfandel thrives in Dry Creek Valley, expressing just the right amount of brambly dark fruits and spices without too much alcohol.
Gold Medal Wine Club is located in Santa Barbara and they definitely have a bias toward the wines of Santa Barbara County. We can't blame them — when it comes to exceptional quality and taste, the Santa Barbara region overdelivers on value. No need to pay Napa prices to get amazing red wine these days.
Membership Benefits
My Platinum Club
Benefits Ratings
Satisfaction Guarantee | |
Customer Service | |
Wine Education | |
Convenience |
Discount Opportunities. Gold Medal does not regularly offer an introductory offer, though during peak holidays like Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, Father's Day, and Christmas you'll find free gifts with purchase like gourmet truffles (chocolate) and wine accessories.
Gold Medal does offer discounts on reorders, while supplies last—buy 2-5 bottles more and pay the regular price, buy 6-11 bottles and save up to 10%, buy 12-23 bottles and save up to 12%, buy 24 or more bottles and save up to 15%. Four-bottle members save more on reorders.
Lastly, members-only special deals are limited. There are occasionally members-only sales. Since their wines are already very competitively priced, we don't mind that there aren't more offers coming from them.
Customer Service Record. In 14+ years of working with Gold Medal we have never had a single customer complaint. That's amazing to us. Our usual Internet sleuthing failed to turn up any customer complaints. Kudos to them!
Satisfaction Guarantee. In our eyes, this is the weakest aspect of the Gold Medal wine club program and it's why they don't have a 5-star rating from us. They say "Satisfaction Guaranteed" on their website, but what they really mean is that they believe you'll love what they ship, not that they'll replace anything you don't like as most other clubs of this caliber promise.
Their Return Policy: “If a shipment is damaged in transit we will replace the product at no additional charge. If the wine is corked from the winery, we will replace the bottle at no charge. On the rare occasion members receive the wrong product, a discount is offered, or the shipment can be returned at no-charge to the member.”
That said, we'd be genuinely surprised and concerned if you received a stinker from Gold Medal.
Convenience. Gold Medal is a more old-fashioned company. If you need to hold your service for a vacation or want to cancel your membership you'll need to call and speak to someone during regular business hours. You can handle reorders yourself online, as well as see a record of the wines you've received and when you received them.
Wine Education. The Platinum Series wine club comes with a two-page brief on each wine included in the box. They discuss at length the winery and winemakers, and then a section covering all the essentials about the wine itself.
Who Should Join the Platinum Wine Club?
As a luxury wine club featuring boutique wines from California wineries, we think this club is perfect for:
- Red wine lovers who prefer California wine to other regions
- Entertainers who want to impress their guests
- Anyone who wants to drink ultra-premium California red wine and doesn't want to have to find it themselves
Platinum Wine Club sounds good but you want wines that are even more rare? Try their Garagiste Wine Club.
Gift Review
New Gift Wrap on Bottles
If you have a red wine lover you really want to impress, this is a fantastic wine club gift. Between the gift presentation and the incredible selection of wines, you'll be that wine lover's favorite person for a while. Four shipment gifts are "a year of wine" and would make the gift extra special.
The wines in the first shipment come wrapped in organza gift bags. Upgrade for a custom printed gift notice and an artist-designed gift box to make it extra awesome.
Platinum Series Wine Club