Today we have a special offering of back-vintage library wines from Abe Schoener's Scholium Project. You may know Abe from his work at The Red Hook Winery here in New York, or his Scythians project with Raj Parr, or perhaps his more recent Los Angeles River Wine Company which he started in 2019 (we'll save that for another email). Abe stopped by the shop recently to share these wines and we're glad he did--they are singular, unique wines that express California terroir unlike any others.

The Scholium Project came to be when Abe, working as a philosophy professor at the time, took a sabbatical from teaching at St. John's College to head to Napa and dive into the world of wine, first as a way to understand viticulture and farming and eventually to push the boundaries of what winemaking could achieve. Abe took an internship at Stag's Leap in 1998 and studied under John Kongsgaard before making the first Scholium wine in 2000. Since then it's been a long and shifting road with several home bases and numerous collaborators along the way, but the focus has always been to challenge the conventions of what wine could be through deliberate and measured experimentation and attention to detail both in the vines and in the cellar, where he employs a hands-off approach using little to no sulfur and allowing the grapes to tell their own story. Abe is adept at seeking out oftentimes tiny plots of old vines that have been overlooked by Big Wine in California, then working with independent growers to understand each site and how to coax the best out of each vine. These are not your everyday California Merlots, Sauvignon Blancs and Chardonnays, but instead use this framework to expand your perception of what that even means. Each wine is an experience, both thought-provoking and sublimely beautiful. While these wines have been at times boisterous and admittedly a bit volatile in their youth, having time to evolve and mature has given them another dimension and added layers of personality.

Abe was kind enough to share some personal notes on the wines we're offering today:
 
La Severita di Bruto 2016:
From the Farina vineyard on an east-facing slope on Sonoma mountain. A great vintage; last year we found a few cases in a warehouse in NJ. We recently did a tasting in LA going back to 2007 and the wines were amazing— vibrant and powerful
 
NV La Geante:
Solera begun in 2012 with wines dating back to 2009. Based on a skin-fermented blend. In 2012 we decided, instead of bottling it, to keep adding wine to it adventurously and not tasting it for a few years. We made the first bottling in 2017, added more wine in 2017 and 2018, and let it sit until 2022. This bottling used up all the wine; we are considering starting again with some 2022 wine in LA.
 
Prince in his Caves 2019:
The best vintage! Foot-treaded by me, I am embarrassed to say, and fermented for 30 days before pressing. 2 years in barrel without topping or so2. Once I had really let the barrels go, I was terrified of opening them, so just let them go further. When we finally opened them, they were amazing. Utterly fresh and beautiful, and super powerful. This was the last vintage of the wine until 2024. We just bottled the 2024 and it is really good.

1MN 2016:
A great vintage, much more earthy than most vintages— but some of this is an expression of the aging. The wine seems to age like Beaujolais, with earthy, animal, notes superseding charming fruit.

Pergamos 2014:
From a merlot vineyard planted on a conical hill in Martinez with soils of such distinct marine uplift that we often found seashells. Some Sangiovese on the slopes and at the top of the hill too. Harvested together and co-fermented. Also 3 years in barrel with no s02 and only one topping. Our last vintage was 2016.

The Sylphs 2018:
The last vintage of this amazing wine. The vineyard was gradually dying from phylloxera, oak root fungus, and various trunk diseases and finally gave out in 2019. We got a tiny bit of fruit in 2022 which we co-fermented with some chardonnay from a friend’s vineyard nearby. This was made in the typical way: no skin contact, no so2. Fermented and aged in neutral oak, some barrels only 30 gallons. Topped once in December 2018 and then no topping again. Bottled in 2022 after 3 years in barrel. 

These wines represent the past of Scholium. The pandemic almost kept scholium from continuing: I had started the LA project in 2019 and once the pandemic struck, I could not see how I could keep both projects going. I devoted myself to what was beginning in LA and was resigned to allow never making Scholium again. In 2023, I began to see a way to sustain both projects. The 2024 marks the rebirth of scholium, just as these wines help present its history. -Abe Schoener
 
The 2018 Sylphs was a particular highlight from tasting with Abe recently, an incredible wine that felt more akin to a Jura Chardonnay than anything from California, with plenty of depth and an underlying mineral cut which lends the structure to age longer. All of these wines are special in their own right, and we're thrilled to be able to offer them! -Jeff DiLorenzo
 
**Wines arrive next week, please allow until 7/8 for pickup or delivery**