Grand Cru Society?

WINE TALK
1

Any members? Any opinions of the organization? Thanks.

2

Great wine, and I think NOW the service is going to be excellent. The last woman they had running it had me so confused I was ready to leave the club, but the new person seems very on the ball.

I had 3 different orders from spring to this fall that were so screwed up it took her (the new person) and I several phone calls to straighten them out, but she did fix them and on the newest order I requested a change, and she made it happen with one email.

The sales make it a special club to belong to and well worth the time in my opinion.

3

Only one I’m a member of is Arcadian. However, I don’t think this is the one you are referencing when you say ‘organization’.

4

There were definitely issues, hopefully the new person will finally take this club to the next level which would be great for Arcadian.

5

Rochelle has been awesome so far, no worries here.

6

If you are referring to Arcadian, I am a fairly long-term member. Russ turned me onto them years ago. The club is very flexible, with two different bottles offered 5-6 times a year. The number you select is up to you. You can sit some out, substitute other bottlings, and if you get a case, shipping is free. They also offer Catch and Release sales to get early looks, and other sales from time to time. They offer pinot, chard and syrah, with an occasional rose thrown in. You also get access to a great number of library bottles, and of course, you get a GCS discount of 20% on many bottles.

Arcadian is my 2nd largest holding, with over 12 cases in my cellar. The wines, including the chards are quite age worthy. Among my favorites are the Pisoni and Sleepy Hollow pinots (the 01 Gary’s is no slouch either), and the SH chard. I still have a couple bottles of the 2000 Bien Nacido chard, which is sublime, and am looking for the right setting to pop my lone bottle of the 1998 SH chard. Many rave about their syrahs as well.

I don’t think you can go wrong giving it a try. I would suggest buying a couple well-aged bottles to see what they are all about. If you (or others) get to the Cleveland area, look me up and will be happy to pop a few.

7

I just about shipped my pants (see Kmart commercial if you haven’t already) when they just offered the '05 Sleepy Hollow for 40% off to GCS members. Ummmm, yes please.

8

So, Arcadian has a club which is called GCS? And there is a separate organization called the Grand Cru Society? Or, are they one and the same?

9

I didn’t think you were talking about Arcadian’s club.

Dave - very cool as I didn’t realize I did this to you, or at least I don’t remember. Old age has a way of doing that. None-the-less, happy I could share the wealth. [cheers.gif]

10

Arcadian’s Grand Cru Society: http://www.arcadianwinery.com/scripts/wineClubList.cfm


DISCLOSURE: I have a commercial interest in Arcadian Winery.

11

arcadian’s gcs is pretty damn awesome.

12

There is the Arcadian Grand Cru Society and there is another one that has something to do with boats and rowing. I am a member of the Arcadian one — less strain. And the wine is great and you don’t get wet.

13

I get it now. How is it clubs like Arcadian’s can ship multiple times a year with the window for acceptable weather being so narrow?

14

And the other one definitely causes strokes, even though half their focus is on port.

(Disclosure: President, http://www.honolulurowing.org)

15

The shipments happen in the shipping windows, mostly spring and fall, but spread out over them. I received my last shipment a couple of weeks ago, and the new offer just came out, which should ship in the not too distant future.

16

[thumbs-up.gif]

17

I was about to leave also, because of so many screw-ups, but Joe stepped in and helped straighten it out. Frustrating because I love the wines, and I am sticking with them with the hope that things work more smoothly.

18

Arcadian GCS is near the top of my list. Their wines, with enough age, are on the level of wines like Rhys, Copain, Mount Eden and other AFWE stalwarts, at something like 1/2 to 2/3 the price.

Plus, they seem to have ample stocks of older vintages (late 1990s, early to mid 2000s), and they sell them at very fair prices, and sometimes even discount them down to mega-bargains. And they hold back the current releases for many years – I think the 2008s are the most recent pinots they’ve released?

Don’t overlook the chardonnays, with are superb, very reasonably priced, and age well for 10-15 years.

19

Since I am running another thread on PNs, do you enablers think I need to pursue this one as well? [truce.gif]

20

The only qualm I have at this point is the relatively expensive shipping cost. It is costing me $8-$9/btl which has the effect of cutting the GCS discount by at least 50% and in some instances 100%. Other wineries are shipping for $4-$5/btl not to mention oil prices are relatively low.