title_body: Why is there a Double Gold medal?
upvoted_answer: 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