Arcadian Retrospective Tasting / Offline in the OC on 7/18

After posting a note on an older bottle of Arcadian chardonnay in Wine Talk, a few of us started kicking around the idea of putting together an Arcadian retrospective tasting to get a sense of how Joe’s wines are evolving and coming along. To get things moving, I thought I’d post here and get a sense of the level of availability and interest from the group.

The goal will be to pull together a few verticals across his chardonnays, pinots and syrahs in a casual manner, with a pot-luck feast to accompany the wines. The venerable Mr. Dietz has agreed to host the gathering at his abode in Santa Ana on Saturday July 18th in the afternoon. I was thinking we’d put an initial cap of 12 or so attendees to allow for a decent pour from the wines, unless we can double up on bottles to get more attendees. Thoughts?

What: Arcadian Retrospective Tasting / Offline and pot-luck dinner
Where: Chez Dietz, Santa Ana
When: Saturday July 18th, 5pm start

Who, based on responses thus far in the other thread(TN: 2000 Arcadian Chardonnay Bien Nacido Vineyard - WINE TALK - WineBerserkers):

1. Jim Dietz - carne asada and salsas
2. Bryan Cottriel - smoked brisket
3. Mindi Cottriel
4. Charlie Fu
5. Ryan Johnson - brownies
6. Brian Grafstrom
7. Rick Joyer - corn salad
8. Tyler Rico
9. Mike Stoneking
10. +1 (Dana)
11. Gregg Greenbaum - chips and guacamole
12. Marshall Gelb - grilled sausages
13. Diana Gelb - Caprese salad
14. Andy Velebil
15. Joe Davis
16. Dennis Callahan - chicken taquitos
17. +1
18. Paul Lin - Chinese beef rolls
19. Leslie Goldsmith

Wait List:

1. Jay Selman

Based on what has been posted thusfar in the thread, here is how I see the breakdown of wines committed to date:

1997 Bien Nacido Chardonnay x2 (Bryan Cottriel/Jim Dietz)

1999 Sleepy Hollow Chardonnay x2 (Dennis Callahan)
2000 Sleepy Hollow Chardonnay x2 (Joe Davis/Rick Joyer)
2005 Sleepy Hollow Chardonnay x2 (Ryan Johnson/Rick Joyer)
2006 Sleepy Hollow Chardonnay x2 (Jim Dietz/Rick Joyer)
2007 Sleepy Hollow Chardonnay x2 (Tyler Rico/Rick Joyer)
2008 Sleepy Hollow Chardonnay x2 (Tyler Rico/Rick Joyer)

2006 Dierberg Vineyard Chardonnay x2 (Leslie Goldsmith)

1999 Pisoni Vineyard Pinot Noir x2 (Bryan Cottriel/Rick Joyer)
2000 Pisoni Vineyard Pinot Noir x2 (Joe Davis)
2001 Pisoni Vineyard Pinot Noir x2 (Ryan Johnson/Rick Joyer)
2004 Pisoni Vineyard Pinot Noir x2 (Paul Lin/Mike Stoneking)
2005 Pisoni Vineyard Pinot Noir x2 (Mike Stoneking)

2001 Sleepy Hollow Vineyard Pinot Noir x2 (Charlie Fu/Rick Joyer)
2002 Sleepy Hollow Vineyard Pinot Noir x2 (Paul Lin/Rick Joyer)
2005 Sleepy Hollow Vineyard Pinot Noir x2 (Ryan Johnson/Rick Joyer)
2007 Sleepy Hollow Vineyard Pinot Noir x2 (Tyler Rico/Dennis Callahan)

2001 Fiddlestix Vineyard Pinot Noir x2 (Bryan Cottriel/Rick Joyer)
2002 Fiddlestix Vineyard Pinot Noir x2 (Dennis Callahan/Rick Joyer)
2005 Fiddlestix Vineyard Pinot Noir x2 (Andy Velebil)

2000 Francesca’s Cuvee Pinot Noir x2 (Charlie Fu/Brian Grafstrom)
2001 Francesca’s Cuvée Pinot Noir x2 (Joe Davis/Rick Joyer)

2005 Clos Pepe Vineyard Pinot Noir x2 (Marshall Gelb)

2005 Dierberg Pinot Noir x2 (Gregg Greenbaum/Andy Velebil)

2001 Garys’ Pinot Noir x2 (Jim Dietz/Ryan Johnson)

2006 Hommage a Max Syrah x2 (Brian Grafstrom/Ryan Johnson)

In.

Has anyone notified Joe?

Jason

There is plenty of space at the house to accommodate more folks if the interest is there. If you have a SO who would like to just hang at the pool, that would be cool, too.

I assume we will do pot luck/BBQ. And given that it’s July, and it might be hot, maybe a 5 pm start??? Earlier? Later??

Just added you to the list, Jason. I was also thinking of including Joe like we did last time. I’ll ping him and gauge his availability.

Dietz - 5pm start seems like a good time as, like you mention, it could be rather warm in July.

I’ve been needing to get down to so cal and this sounds like a good excuse to, mark me down.

Add Mike and Dana to the list.

Rick & Jim…thanks for putting this together…my +1 one is my wife Mindi

I just spoke with Joe…he said he would love to attend and will put it in his calendar. He also said if we can post what wines we will bring, he will fill in any holes that are needed.

The 2 bottles I have are both 2005’s, Pisoni PN and Sleepy Hollow Syrah. Will check the interwebs for other options.

Hey Bryan - that’s great that Joe can join us…I actually emailed him last night about the gathering as well, so am glad to hear you were able to connect with him and get it on his calendar.

I’ll have to start thinking about wines, but I know I’ve got a lone bottle of the '99 Pisoni that’ll make the trek down with me. I’ll try to get a list of options together and throw it out to the group, but I can likely plug a lot of holes for us.

I’ll need to buy so let me know!

IMHO I think it would be pretty cool to try and drink the wines that you guys had at the first get together. I have quite a few of Joe’s wines from the 90’s…I’m looking forward to sharing!

If you have room, I’d love to make this.

I think we can go to 25.

Two bottles of each wine a person?

I think two bottles/person is too much.

If Wetrock was an accurate bookkeeper, then here’s a list of what appeared at that event:

2000 Sleepy Hollow Pinot Noir
2000 Pisoni Pinot Noir
2001 Sleepy Hollow Pinot Noir
2001 Pisoni Pinot Noir
2001 Garys’ Pinot Noir
2001 Fracesca’s Pinot Noir
2002 Sleepy Hollow Pinot Noir
2002 Pisoni Pinot Noir
2002 Dierberg Pinot Noir
2003 Rio Vista Pinot Noir
2003 Dierberg Pinot Noir
2003 Francesca’s Pinot Noir
2004 Pisoni Pinot Noir

1996 Bien Nacido Chardonnay
1998 Bien Nacido Chardonnay
2000 Bien Nacido Chardonnay
2001 Sleepy Hollow Chardonnay
2002 Sleepy Hollow Chardonnay
2003 Sleepy Hollow Chardonnay
2005 Sleepy Hollow Chardonnay

2001 Garys’ Syrah
2003 Robert Fleming Star Lane Syrah
2003 Max Syrah
2004 Stolpman Syrah
2005 Max Syrah
2005 Purisima Syrah

I like the way Charlie is thinking

Brian…those are some great wine…this is going to be fun!

Nice. Was that from eBob? Maybe you could print it and post it here. Or is it from CT?

Jason

I have no problem opening the event up to allow for more folks to join in the fun, but am struggling to figure out a way to get everyone a decent pour from the wines. I’m reluctant to spread the bottles so thin that everyone is getting a 1oz pour, so I think the only way to really make it work with more attendees is if there’s two bottles of each wine, which could prove difficult on some of the contributions. As it stands with 13 tasters + Joe, we’re already inside of the 2oz pour mark, so I think we need to make a call that we either narrow our focus and double up on bottles or limit the group size to keep pours at a decent level. Thoughts from the group?

Alternatively, I suppose we could all bring wines and just accept the fact that not everyone will get to taste every wine though, I have to admit, this isn’t my favorite of the 3 options (but am willing to happily go down this route if that is what the group decides).

Tonight I had a kind Berserker PM me the full set of notes I had scribed to eBob after the tasting and see that Wetrock is missing the '98 Pisoni from his list, but otherwise it looks pretty complete. I have to say that I had forgotten just how comprehensive that tasting was and, seeing it now in print, I am remembering some of the truly great bottles from the evening…its going to be fun putting together the list of wines for this gathering and seeing what we end up with. Personally, I’d love to get some representation from the '05 Pinots in the flights, as I think they’re (along with the '01s) Joe’s best effort.