TN: 4x Scholium Project Whites

SCHOLIUM PROJECT WHITES - Weygandt Wines, Cleveland Park, Washington D.C. (6/22/2011)

I picked up the mixed pack of whites from Scholium Project after having the Gewurz at an offline back in December. The uniqueness of that bottle got me thinking that my friends in DC would like to give them a try too. All too often, I think wine drinkers tend to stay within their comfort zone, so it’s fun to mix things up with bottles like these.

• 2010 Scholium Project Rhododactylos Phillips Farm - USA, California, Central Valley, Lodi
  Pretty orangey-pink tones in the glass. This comes from 140 year old Cinsault grapes from Lodi. Nose started out attractive with small berry, minerals, and rose water. The nose did change over time to develop a dense nuttiness that was unlike anything I’d ever experienced on a Rose. The palate was tricky. The mid-palate had nice florals and strawberry, but the finish developed some weird cheese and vegetable notes that were a bit off-putting. The folks I drank this with were a bit more turned off by the finish than I was, but it was undeniably harsh. (84 pts.)
• 2009 Scholium Project Midan Al-Tahrir - USA, California
  A blend of Sauvginon and Verdelho that would have been hard to identify if we didn’t have the Scholium website to check. Another monster white clocking in just north of 16% ABV, that was viscous and packed with yellow florals, subtle herbs, sweet lemon, some honey and minerals. The finish on this was a bit disjointed with the alcohol really pushing through the dense flavors. (84 pts.)
• 2009 Scholium Project Marcher Sûr la Lune Reserve Bokisch Ranches - USA, California, Central Valley, Lodi
  In my limited experience with Verdelho, I’ve never come across anything like this. Far fuller and richer than anything I could ever imagine being produced. At first this reminded me of a Southern Rhone Blanc…and eerily similiar to the 2006 Twisted Oak %@#$!. Both bottles had distinct banana and melon with subtle honey and herbs… This really pushed the envelope with its viscosity…and a quick glance at the 16.3% ABV made you realize why! (84 pts.)
• 2009 Scholium Project Riquewihr Lost Slough Vineyards - USA, California, Central Valley, Clarksburg
  Continues to be one of the weirdest & wildest Gewurztraminer’s I’ve ever had. Actually, by day two, this SCREAMED like Austrian Gruner Veltliner with fresh herbs, pepper and minerals. Leave your expectations at the door and fasten your seat belt. (89 pts.)

Posted from CellarTracker

Matt,

Thanks again for generously sharing these wines with us. It was an interesting experience! I think the wines are very eclectic in their approach and their monolithic nature. Lots of density but perhaps requiring more balance and delicacy to be moreso up my alley. I would wonder how they age and how their reds stack up to the whites. Nonetheless, wines like these, aka off-the-beaten-path regions/varieties and singular approaches to standard representations, help keep one’s palate away from groupthink, something that happens if you sip only GC Burg or top-growth Bordeaux all-day.

Cheers

Matt,

Thanks for setting this up – I really enjoyed geeking out and tasting these wines, and they were certainly quite interesting.

I wouldn’t have rated any of them as high as you did, but I really enjoyed tasting them.

With the 2010 Scholium Project Rhododactylos Phillips Farm, I loved the nose – it was super fragrant, with a seductive combination of flowers and peanuts. The palate, though, tasted like dirty, sweaty socks. And that was hard to get past!!!

As for the 2009 Scholium Project Midan Al-Tahrir, my notes were close to yours – but again, I picked up something really off-putting. Several of us were commenting on this “creamy” element, but not White Burgundy creaminess… more like “milk that’s on its last legs and going to be sour soon” creaminess.

I really enjoyed the 2009 Scholium Project Marcher Sûr la Lune Reserve Bokisch Ranches. I, too, have very little experience with Verdelho, but I certainly wouldn’t have expected something so full and rich. I loved the “subtle honey and herbs” you picked out, and actually found quite a bit of Christmas spices and orange zest in it, especially mid-palate. It was my favorite of the bunch.

The NOSE on the 2009 Scholium Project Riquewihr Lost Slough Vineyards was awesome. Joe Dabrowski said it smelled like Blue Moon beer, and he was spot-on. The nose was a dead-ringer for Blue Moon, with a huge organge slice thrown in there, along with some fresh herbs and remind-me-of-Oregon gray minerals. The palate, though, was hugely disappointing – I couldn’t get past this chemically perfume taste.

I know these notes are harsh, but I really, really enjoyed the experience of tasting such unusual wines. Next time, though, I might go with unusual grape varieties – not wine produced by a mad scientist!

I love Abe’s wines, especially his whites. I haven’t had the 10 Rhododactylos but kind of liked the 09 just for its dryness; Rose and sweetness just don’t fly for me. While @ the release last spring this wine didn’t shine for me but several of us enjoyed a bottle during an offline in Modesto a few months later. Haven’t had the 2009 Midan yet either but I know Abe is proud of this wine, sorry to read that you found it hot and off-putting - not sure a worse review can be succinctly penned.

2009 Marcher Sûr la Lune Reserve Bokisch Ranches is a wine I have had many times and absolutely adore! We may prefer this to Naucratis which is Abe’s other out-of-this-world treatment of Verdelho. We have loved every bottle of this and generally drink it close to cellar temp in our hot summertime. I think it has a viscous quality too though I don’t find that overwhelming or the wine’s premier quality.

Riquewihr is The SP white I feel needs the most bottle age. I have a 07, a real rarity, and I’ll check in ~ 2017. 08s also need time sideways IMO and I’ve not had the 09.

You definitely picked some wild wines of his to try, how did you miss The Prince?

Great notes, thanks. That Riquewihr is always controversial, no matter what the crowd and the setting. I’m with Glenn … it absolutely needs bottle age. At the Scholium tasting in NYC in November, we gave an 08 some air and it drank very well.

This thread made me want to pull one of mine, so I grabbed the 2009 Naucratis for dinner. I will write a formal note tomorrow, but it was an excellent wine. MInerals, acidity, floral notes and tropical fruit. I was tired and had a very busy day today, so I must admit that the 15.3% ABV seemed to knock me for a bit of a loop. No big deal. The Requewihr is just a weird wine but I have really liked it every time I have tried it. If I always wanted my wine to taste the same, I would buy Gallo or Charles Shaw. I have probably bought over 200 bottles of Abe’s wine in the past 7 years and with the exception of one bottle of 2002 Sylphs that had a terminal case of VA, I have enjoyed every one of them. There might have been a few that I didn’t like at tastings so I never bought them, but just because 1973 Mouton is awful doesn’t mean that Mouton makes bad wine. I like Abe’s willingness to experiment - how often do you have a Cabernet Ripasso in which it ripassoed over syrah skins - and he usually hits the mark.

I love what Abe is doing, do not get this confused with I love all of Abe’s wines. They are very polarizing, a quality which he does not posses. He is one of the most down to Earth Wine professionals. I view the wines as experiments or “projects” some meh, flawed, and the rest out the world. I remembering tasting the 2008 Hudson Syrah androkteinos out of barrel thinking "OMG OMG OMG OMG best domestic Syrah every. Keep an open mind with all of Abe’s wines its all about the experience. And the best part he makes his wines at Tenbrink (which is Schiolium minus the experimentation) in my home town of Fairfield, go Susiun Valley AVA.

Matt - I believe those wines were recently bottled and delivered. Abe’s wine definitely need time to recover from bottle and travel shock. I tasted all of those wines at the barrel tastings and your notes and certainly scores are not consistent with the wines I tasted. Abe’s whites also benefit from some air and age extremely well. I hope you give them another try in the future.

I am excited to get my next shipment of Scholium wines. I have limited expierance, but so far all of Abe’s wines have been delicious!

I want to thank Matt for setting this up and his generosity. The SP wines are intriguing - this is the perfect way to try these wines. I doubt I would want to sit and drink a whole bottle, they just didn’t seem that “serious”. The noses were typically better than the palates. interesting stuff though, it’s nice to have a group of DC berserkers to try this stuff with!

hey matt and other DC guys–
I had one thought when I read your posts: I want to taste with these guys!
I had a great visit to DC about a month ago and did a wonderful winemaker dinner at the Jefferson. I met some really good, serious, critical wine people. you all seem like part of the same tribe. we did not taste any of the new wines; I had not released them yet. and to me, they are just beginning to taste really good. so my thinking is, return to DC in august, find an air-conditioned venue or a porch with a breeze, and taste through these wines again together. I will invite some of the people from the jefferson, we will reunite your crew, and I will bring the new releases and a couple wines from the library to put the new wines in their (scholium) historical context. what do you think?

Abe,

Welcome to the board! And your plan for August sounds fantastic – count me in!

Abe -

Thanks for posting! Definitely count me in too.

In!

Welcome, Abe! Had a lot of fun tasting in NYC a few months ago. If you happen to make the tasting the weekend of August 6-7, I will be in DC at that time for the Court of Master Somms Intro Class and would love to join in!

FWIW, had the MSL last week and found it showed profoundly better after 2-hour double decant.

I support an August D.C. Scholium event wholeheartedly!

Abe, what about the Canada event?