Posts Tagged ‘wine club’
Wednesday, October 6th, 2010
To Whom It May Concern,
As a high school teacher, I have enjoyed a wide range of “thank you” gifts from grateful parents. Receiving two bottles of Gold Medal Wine this year was by far the most fantastic present of all! Both bottles were stunning, especially the Balletto Pinot Noir. We enjoyed it with friends who commented repeatedly about the wine, asking how we chose it “among all the dozens of possibilities at Trader Joe’s.” Naturally, we boasted about our Gold Medal Wine Club gift. Choosing a special wine to enjoy for unique moments is often a challenge. We don’t splurge on extravagance very often. Going to your website, I was inspired to see that there are many options for people in our income bracket. We have now signed up for the Gold Medal Wine Club, and look forward to our first shipment. It will be fun to plan special meals around the arrival of our wine!
Thanks much!
Alethea & George
Tags: Member Comments, wine club, wine club gift Posted in gifts, Rate the wines | No Comments »
Thursday, August 26th, 2010
Earlier this year, I had the opportunity to scout out different wineries while in New Zealand. My main focus was in Hawke’s Bay, a coastal region in the North Island particularly known for its Bordeaux blends and Chardonnays. While sampling at the various wineries, we found much more than full bouquets and fabulous wines! We picked up a very interesting fact about the use for sheep in a vineyard, and thought I’d share!
We took this trip back in late January, the height of New Zealand’s summer. The air was warm but not overly humid, and the grapes were showing but not overly ripe. As we drove through the beautiful countryside, marvelling at all the fantastic vines, one thing in particular caught my eye. Vineyard after vineyard was full of meandering sheep, cruising through the rows and nibbling on the vines. I couldn’t believe it! Surely someone left a gate open and unintentionally let the sheep into the vineyard? Were they eating this year’s crop??
We asked one of the vintners at the next winery about this discovery. His reply was so matter of fact, yet endearing, that I fell in love a little bit more with New Zealand. In mid to late summer, the grapes reach a critical point when the disastrous Botrytis could potentially wipe out an entire crop. Botrytis is the effect when moisture, worsened and locked in by leaf cover, creates a devastating fungus on the fruit and is also known as “bunch rot”.
There are a variety of preventative measures for handling this fungus, including the use of pesticides and spraying early in the season. A well managed canopy to prevent the moisture cover will help as well. Often, vintners will employ a crew to circulate the vines and hand pull the leaves off the precious fruit. However, growers in this region (and perhaps others) have discovered a window of approximately three weeks in the year when grapes are too bitter for sheep’s tastes but succulent leaves are tasty and attractive, thus providing an excellent formula for the use of sheep to do this job!
Vintners must keep a watchful eye over the sheep that they don’t over-pluck the leaves and that they work evenly throughout the vineyard, but the final outcome is more than economical, providing quite a few benefits to the vintners. The sheep work and eat for free, and even fertilize the fields, ahem, “naturally”. In a country where sheep outnumber humans 13 to one, I say good on you, New Zealand, for your forward thinking and economical solutions!
We are featuring New Zealand wines in this quarter’s International Series. All three of our selections come from Clearview Winery, located in Hawke’s Bay. The winery itself is a mere 70 yards from the ocean…arguably one of the closest vineyards to a large body of water anywhere! We are lucky enough to feature three medal winning wines from Clearview: 2008 Reserve Chardonnay, 2008 ‘Des Trois’ Pinot Noir, and 2007 Old Olive Block Red Blend. These wines are absolutely superb and we’re very happy to be able to offer them to you!
Tags: New Zealand, wine, wine club Posted in International Series | No Comments »
Tuesday, June 8th, 2010
What do we love? We love wine, of course! But we also love viticulture. We love the stories that develop over a bottle of wine. We love visiting wineries. We love food and wine. We love the living, breathing qualities of wine. We love that feeling we get after a frazzling day of work and finally having the chance to plop down on the couch with a glass of wine. But what we really love, what truly makes our hearts sing, is sharing these experiences with others! Its why we do what we do – because sharing wine with others can be one of the most rewarding experiences out there, especially when what we’re sharing is a truly fabulous bottle. We’re in the business of bringing high quality wines to your door; this much is obvious from our website. But what’s not so obvious is the amount we’re willing to bend our memberships to make them something that suits your needs. Which brings us to our last love, giving you what you really want.
I’ll use the Gold Series to set an example of the kind of tweaking we can do to your membership. The Gold Series is the most popular of our five wine club memberships. It is the least expensive of the selections, but the wines are high quality and very versatile. The website explains that the standard membership consists of two highly sought after small production, California wines, sent out on a monthly basis. Generally, it is one red and one white, but sometimes two different reds. The website also offers a Red only or White only option. But, what’s not advertised are alterations to this: if it is your preference, we can make sure that we always send you one red and one white, even in the months when “two reds” is the standard mix. Or, maybe you like red wine, but only Cabernet and Merlot, and in terms of white, you want to avoid Chardonnay and Viognier? (This is all hypothetical, of course. I can’t imagine why anyone would limit himself or herself in this way, but I do understand people have their preferences, and sometimes you just know what you like!) Well, to sum it up, we can accommodate these requests as well. Perhaps location is your thing. We can send you a shipment only when we feature wines from a particular area like Napa Valley. We’ll work with you to find out your particular preferences. In months that we feature something you’d rather not receive, we can send you something from a previous month’s selection, or we can skip that month entirely, or maybe there’s something else you want to do. Fine by us!
And what if two bottles each month just isn’t enough for you? (Now, we’re speaking my language…) The website offers a four bottle membership, which is essentially two of each of the featured wines from the month. But, believe me, by no means does it have to stop there. If you’d like to have four bottles each month but want three reds and one white, we can do that. Or three whites and one red? Yes! Like to try six wines each shipment? Yep, we can do that too. There is virtually no limit to the number of bottles we send you in a month.
And here’s another thing. Moving from the topic of wine selection to frequency of shipments, the website offers monthly, every-other, or quarterly shipments. But we actually can send shipments any time and as often as you like. If you want to have shipments only in months ending in “y”, we can do that. Or, only with the months with a major holiday, we can do that, too. As often as you would like a shipment, we’ll send one your way.
Want to save a few bucks on shipping costs? How about joining a club membership on a quarterly basis, but receiving all the wines from that quarter at once? Keeping to the example of the Gold Series, you could receive the wines we featured in January, February and March all together in March (totaling 6 different wines in March), then continue on a quarterly basis from there. It will save you money on shipping, but the only downside is that you’ll have to wait two months in between shipments…
Like the look of two of our Series, but can’t decide which one to choose and joining both is going to be too much wine? How about alternating? You could join the Gold Series every other month of the year, and in the alternate months, receive one of our premium clubs, like the Platinum or Diamond Series. You could even receive the Platinum Series on a monthly basis, but in your and your partner’s birthday months, treat yourselves to our highest rated wines club membership, the Diamond Series. Don’t let us stop you…Go wild! Get creative!
What I’m trying to make obvious for you is that this is YOUR membership. Don’t let the website fool you – we are YES people and we want you to have a great experience with the wine club. If that means you want only 92+ rated wines from Monterey and Napa Valley and you want them only in the months of the year when you visit your Aunt Sadie at her home in Boulder, Colorado, well, that’s just peachy with us. We’ll send ‘em your way. Just tell Aunt Sadie to share!
Call our Customer Service phone number to customize your membership or to talk about your options for a gift: (800) 266 – 8888.
Tags: wine, wine club, wine of the month club Posted in About Gold Medal Wine Club, about the wines, Diamond Series, Gold Series, International Series, Pinot Noir Series, Platinum Series | No Comments »
Thursday, April 22nd, 2010
Remember when you were little, and you spent all day working so hard at making that perfect gift for mom for Mother’s Day? It took hours of preparation and focused energy, which was, let’s be honest here, a bonus gift for mom that you were so happily–and quietly– working on your masterpiece… You poured your little heart and soul into it- a painting, a new ruler made from a stick, a sculpture of her favorite pet made from clay - Sometimes the end product resulted in that fateful question that helped decipher its meaning, “Oh..honey…it’s delightful! Tell me more about this ‘creation’!” But regardless of what you were making, it was always going to be awesome because it was from the heart.
I remember one Mother’s Day, my little sister and I had the brilliant idea to create a photo album full of pictures of none other than her darling little angels. We were probably 7 & 5 years old at the time. I remember thinking that we couldn’t use mere paper for the album, because that was too flimsy. We needed something sturdier that would withstand the true test of time, as we were sure this was going to be kept for centuries to come. We always had an abundance of leather around the house, as mom designed leather wallets at that time. Perfect. For hours on end we locked ourselves in the back rooms and searched through endless family photo albums, pulling out pictures that we thought she would like. After making our selections, we glued them onto the leather “sheets” of the album pages, cut from her leather inventory. We bound the pages with small strips of leather from the same source. This present was going to be the end-all of amazing gifts.
As an adult looking back, I can just about imagine the absolute shock in her eyes as she unwrapped her homemade gift to find that her most favorite family pictures and portraits had been ripped from their resting places and glued, yes glued, onto soft leather album pages, captioned with our names in silver permanent marker, just in case anyone forgot. And as a bonus, this was done in the 80′s, before the age of digital cameras, and I’m certain those were the only copies of the prints. Just for you, Mom, and we did it all by ourselves.
Now, I’m sure that like all homemade gifts that children make for their parents, she did treasure it in the special way that only mothers can. To us, her smiling face and hugs in return were satisfaction enough that we had yet again brilliantly displayed how much we loved her on Mother’s Day (even though I never saw that album ever again…)
For the safety of household family portraits everywhere, kids grow up. As an adult, my ability to put gifts together has changed with my upgrade from the “50 cents-per-household-chore” budget. But that same feeling remains – the desire to WOW mom with perfect gift that shows her that her little angel still loves her dearly. Because of this, I was delighted to see the selections that Gold Medal Wine Club is offering for Mother’s Day this year. Check them out! Choose from gift baskets, gift packs or FREE items with purchase of a membership. My favorites are the gift baskets — such attention to detail. Plus, what mom can resist a basket that’s full of goodies designed especially for her?!
Mother’s Day is May 9, just around the corner…. Give the gift of award-winning, hard-to-find wines this year, and show her how much you love her without spending six hours terrorizing the family portraits with a gluestick!
Tags: Free Gift with Purchase, Free with purchase, mother's day, Mother's Day gift, wine, wine club, wine of the month club Posted in gifts, Gold Series, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Wednesday, April 7th, 2010
Make sure we have your email address, and you’ll be the first to hear about special discounts,exclusive promotions and private wine sales…before the public even knows about it! Throughout the year, we’re able to offer a range of special deals, and we want you to hear about it first. Having your email address on file is also a good idea when it comes to your scheduled wine club shipments. As each wine delivery is sent out, we’ll send you an email notification of the shipment with personal tracking information – this way you can plan and anticipate its arrival. Many of our wine club members are already enjoying the benefits of email notifications, and you can too!
Please give us a call today at 1-800-266-8888, and we can easily verify your account information and add your email address to our private list. And rest assured, we always keep email information confidential and never share it with anyone. Be in the know. Join the VIP list today!
Tags: wine, wine club, wine clubs, wine of the month Posted in about the wines, SALE!, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010
Gold Medal Wine Club offers a Platinum Series Plus! selection each month. Last month’s Respite 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon is, in a word, stellar. If there’s any reason at all to join the Plus! program, this bottle might be it, and might be worth it simply for the potential bragging rights.
I attended a party over the weekend and was asked to bring a bottle of wine for all to enjoy. Normally I’m not fazed by this type of request, however, I became worried as the realization kicked in that I’d be in attendance with some really knowledgeable wine folks.
<Insert panic here.>
Now, don’t get me wrong, I always find joy in trying a new bottle. The living, breathing qualities of the life of wine intrigue me, and I’m always excited at the prospect of opening a highly rated bottle. But when it comes to bringing an offering to a party of well-versed wine enthusiasts, my excitement quickly melts away to apprehension. I think to myself, “Don’t appear pretentious by bringing an overly expensive wine, but don’t underachieve either. Above all, don’t let on that I’m nervous about it.” Anyone been here before?
After checking my wine cellar, I decided on Respite 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon, a brave choice because I had no idea what food was to be served. With such a hearty Cabernet in hand, I could really hit or miss the food pairing. Also, I’d never tried this particular bottle before. I knew it would be good, Wine Enthusiast recently awarded it 91 Points, but they also pointed out that it might want a few more years in the cellar.
As I walked into the party, I was greeted by eye contact, then bottle contact as my selection was scrutinized. “I’ve never heard of that winery, we must open it up,” my host offered. I smiled and glanced around the room to the tables of hour d’ourves – so many tables of food that a formal dinner had to be out of the question. A selection of various antipasto-type finger foods including cheeses, marinated veggies, breads, tapenades and fruit plates were meticulously displayed, and then I saw, jackpot, tapas portion sized steaks, fish, and meaty lasagna. Hurdle number one, pairing, conquered.
We opened the bottle and without decanting or aerating, the wine was quickly dispersed into wine glasses that seemed to appear out of every corner of the room. Swirl, sniff, “ooh’s” and “ah’s” at the aromas of fruit and red currants, followed by the ever fateful first sips. As each person took a mouthful, the reaction was priceless as eyes lit up around the kitchen island and met my gaze with delighted squints and smiles. And let me say, I also thoroughly enjoyed those few seconds, as the wine filtered through my senses. Delectable. The structure and balance were exactly on par with the high standards of this group, and might I say as well that the Wine Enthusiast must have rated this wine a couple of years ago, because it is outstanding right now.
The rest of the night was highly enjoyable, but it was extra sweet because I had officially stamped a great impression upon the group, achieving credibility and bragging rights on having such great taste in wine. The best part? I didn’t have to find this bottle, it came to my doorstep and all I had to do was add the Plus! bottle to my regular shipment. Plus! wines really are “all that” and more!
If you haven’t done so already, you might consider adding a Plus Bottle to your wine club membership. The wines featured with that program are rare, exquisite, and downright tasty! There’s simply not enough quantity to feature the bottles to everyone, which is why it is offered as an add-on. This extra bottle is available for Gold, Platinum or Diamond Series memberships , and may be included in every shipment or as often as you like. It simply adds that something extra and special to an already great thing. Try it out, even just once in your next shipment. I know you won’t be disappointed, and maybe, just maybe, it will bring you bragging rights at your next party.
Tags: Add-On, cabernet sauvignon, Platinum Series, Respite, wine, wine club, wine of the month club Posted in Platinum Series, PLUS! program, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Monday, March 15th, 2010
Today kicks off our newest contest, and, boy, are we excited about it! Our biggest giveaway to date, the grand prize is a Seven-Day voyage for two from Rome to Venice, beginning in the Tyrrhenian Sea, travelling through the Ionian Sea and finishing in the Adriatic aboard Windstar Cruise’s luxury, white-sailed yacht. You’ll enjoy days of exploration and evenings of fine wine and dining over the glistening waters aboard this privatised liner where the crew members know you by name.
The cruise takes you to a different port nearly every morning, allowing you to explore each beautiful location every day. And, since Windstar’s yacht’s are smaller and more private than your typical cruise ship, with a maximum capacity of just over 300 guests, they are able to visit some of the more intimate and exclusive ports along the Italian coast and in the surrounding seas.
The adventure begins on July 25, 2010, in one of the oldest and most interesting cities in the world, Rome, a city where the rich history of viticulture is intertwined with the very fabric of ancient and modern civilization. You’ll want to make sure to spend a day or more exploring and losing yourself in the city before you set sail.
After a night’s sail, you’ll wake up the first morning in the port of the idyllic Island of Capri, just off the coast of Naples. With any luck and the most calmed waters, you’ll have the opportunity to kayak through the island’s famed grotto’s to view the spectacularly neon blue waters. If you’re feeling active, the island offers moderate hikes through the town’s outskirts, or perhaps renting a scooter to visit the far stretches of the island and private beaches will be more your style…
The second morning you’ll arrive at the base of one of Sicily’s top travel destinations, Taormina. Located approximately 200 meters above sea level, the town offers an array of visual sensations, mixing history with modernity. You’ll want to visit the town’s medieval quarter and Greek theater, but never be too far from some of the greatest modern shops and restaurants the area has to offer. June through August boasts the Taormina Arte Festival, a celebration of all facets of human creativity, with emphasis on music, theater, movies, dance and canvassed art. You won’t want to miss it!
 Windstar Sailing Past Portofino
On Wednesday, July 28, you’ll enjoy a day at sea aboard the yacht as you make your way around the southern tip of Italy. On board you’ll have the chance to explore and indulge in the many on board activities including the luxurious WindSpa – “The most tranquil place on earth, at Sea”, the Fitness Center, Casino, Library or just relax on the Fly Bridge. Actually, the Stateroom in which you’ll be staying is a luxury in itself, with a Queen sized bed, flat screen TV with DVD’s, and Room Service delivered with the same polished quality as The Restaurant, so maybe you’ll want to just stay in for the evening!
Day four you’ll wake off the coast of Montenegro headed to its beautiful port of Kotor, a sea port of the finest calibre with many stories within its borders. This midieval city was constructed sometime between the 12th and 14th centuries, and is a well preserved visualization of life in the middle ages. In fact, UNESCO gave the maritime city the high honor of a “World Heritage Site” – a place that is of such a calibre of cultural and natural heritage of humanity that it is to be preserved under this title.
 Elite destination town of Dubrovnik
On Friday and Saturday, you’ll have the opportunity to explore two towns in Croatia, Dubrovnik and Hvar. Another UNESCO World Heritage site, the city of Dubrovnik has been nicknamed the pearl of the Adriatic, a place most definitely ”to be seen.” Croatian history is deeply rooted in the city, where much of its language was developed, and has been home and vacation home to many notable figures, including diplomats, nobles, and celebrities. The island of Hvar, alternatively, offers a different kind of splendor, a more rural setting as it is off the mainland of Croatia and is famous not only for its nautical positioning, but for its tranquil beauty. Not to be missed in the town of Hvar is the cathedral of Hvar, the fortress Fortica, famous theater built in 1612 and the Franciscan monastery. You’ll want to lose yourself in the stone lined streets where undoubtedly you’ll find at least a few quaint cafes and family run restaurants.
You’ll say goodbye to Windstar Cruises on your seventh morning as you land in Venice, Italy, where hopefully you’ll still have some energy in your reserves to explore all that this City of Canals has to offer…
We hope you’re as excited about this sea adventure as we are! Enter to win today by visiting Our Entry Form page. The drawing will be held on June 30, so it might be a good idea to start looking at flights just in case… From all of us at Gold Medal Wine Club, GOOD LUCK!
Tags: contest, Croatia, Cruise, Giveaway, italy, Montenegro, Sicily, Voyage, Windstar, wine, wine club Posted in Contests, International Series | No Comments »
Friday, January 1st, 2010
For most people we know, 2009 has been a tumultuous year full of ups and downs and uncertainty. Together we made it through. We wanted to take this opportunity to thank all of our loyal wine club customers for your patronage, support and trust in us to bring you hard-to-find, remarkable wines. We are hoping the wine shipments you received in 2009 were exciting gifts that enhanced your meals, and brought cherished friends and families together. After all, what a better reason to bring people together than over a fine bottle of wine?
We are looking forward to 2010 and are working on securing some incredible selections for each of our five wine clubs in the new year.
Cheers and Happy 2010!
~The Gold Medal Wine Club Staff.
Tags: new years, wine, wine club Posted in About Gold Medal Wine Club | No Comments »
Wednesday, December 30th, 2009
Since their establishment in 1981, White Oak Vineyards of Sonoma County, California has enjoyed a reputation as one of Sonoma’s best wineries. Not because they spent marketing dollars to get the word out, but because the quality of their wines speak for themselves. Their wines have won the “Sweepstakes” at the Sonoma County Wine Festival twice. (In ’90 and ’06) This award is regarded as the most important wine award not only in Sonoma, but throughout California.
Recently, with the help of investors, Bill Myers (White Oak winery owner) acquired a unique parcel of land in Alexander Valley to expand the operation. The property contained some sixteen acres of old vine Zinfandel that had been planted sometime during the 1920s and now houses White Oak’s new winery and tasting room, a splendid Mediterranean-inspired villa that Bill Myers designed and built almost by hand.
The new acquisition adds to White Oak’s 325-acre ranch in Sonoma’s Russian River Region that is planted entirely in Chardonnay and that produces unusually high-caliber fruit, and 420 acres in Napa Valley that is planted to Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petite Verdot, Malbec and Syrah.
Myer’s goal has been to do well even in a down economy. He has accomplished his goal and attributes this to to the fact that White Oak’s wines are perceived as exceptional values in that national and international marketplace.
Gold Medal features the White Oak Vineyards & Winery’s 2005 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon and 2005 Syrah for the most recent Gold Series wine club selection. We consider both of these wines excellent values.
Connoisseurs’ Guide awarded this Cabernet vintage 90 points and names it a ‘best buy’. Wine & Spirits awarded the 2005 Napa Valley Syrah 90 Points. The Syrah also received a Gold Medal from the Orange County Wine Society Commercial Wine Competition and an 88 from Connoisseurs’ Guide.
Gold Medal Wine Club is also offering the 2008 Chardonnay as a special selection wine. As a brand new release, when the 2008 Russian River Valley Chardonnay is sent out for review in the coming months, we are confident it will garner both the attention and accolades to match those of its popular predecessors.
“When we started in Healdsburg, there wasn’t any money for marketing or anything. It was simply word of mouth and most of our customers were from the local area. I realized that if I could make wines that impressed these people who had a whole assortment of wines and wineries to choose from, I might just be able to make it. Over the years I have made some incredible friends and they have enjoyed some remarkable wines.”
We hope our Gold Medal Wine Club members will enjoy these wines as much as we have. As always, we have a limited amount of these wines available for sale in our wine store . Whether you are a member or not, you can order White Oak wines at discount prices (deeper discounts are available for wine club members).
Enjoy and Cheers!
Tags: cabernet sauvignon, chardonnay, Gold Series, syrah, White Oak Vineyards, wine club, wine clubs, wine of the month club Posted in Gold Series | No Comments »
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Wine Club gifts make great “Thank You” presents!
Wednesday, October 6th, 2010To Whom It May Concern,
As a high school teacher, I have enjoyed a wide range of “thank you” gifts from grateful parents. Receiving two bottles of Gold Medal Wine this year was by far the most fantastic present of all! Both bottles were stunning, especially the Balletto Pinot Noir. We enjoyed it with friends who commented repeatedly about the wine, asking how we chose it “among all the dozens of possibilities at Trader Joe’s.” Naturally, we boasted about our Gold Medal Wine Club gift. Choosing a special wine to enjoy for unique moments is often a challenge. We don’t splurge on extravagance very often. Going to your website, I was inspired to see that there are many options for people in our income bracket. We have now signed up for the Gold Medal Wine Club, and look forward to our first shipment. It will be fun to plan special meals around the arrival of our wine!
Thanks much!
Alethea & George
Tags: Member Comments, wine club, wine club gift
Posted in gifts, Rate the wines | No Comments »