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I was looking up a wine and found out that one of my favorites received a Gold medal. I felt validated because that meant I wasn't crazy (all of my friends disliked it while I fell in love), so I thought that meant it was in the top tier of quality. But as I kept scrolling I found one that had received a Double Gold medal and it brought me much confusion. I didn't know there was a ranking above gold?!? And I've definitely never heard that term before.

I thought that if there was, it would be called something similar to platinum (like records in the music industry), but apparently not.

So what is a Double Gold medal? What makes it better than a normal Gold medal?

Here is where I came across it.

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It's simply grade inflation. I have won a few Double Golds at the Seattle Wine Awards. Contests were giving out too many Golds and they came up with Double Golds. Here is how it normally works. Judges sit around a table and taste together. Then they discuss and award medals as a group. If the majority thinks it's worth a gold, they give it a gold. If the whole table says it's a gold, then they give it a double gold.

There are Platinum awards too. Another group of judges (not from the same contest) taste all the Double Golds from a region or something from other contests and give Platinums. It's all a subjective thing based on the contest. There is no coordination among contests on what a double gold means.

Seattle Wine Awards

Platinum Awards Northwest Wines

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