AbeSchoener/ScholiumProject Wines??

Haven’t heard much buzz about these wines for quite some time. Now located down in LosAngeles
as the LosAngeles River Wine Company. I gather he’s still in business and still has wines to sell.

Has anyone tried any of his wines of late??
Tom

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No, not in a great while. I was supposed to see him on my drive from Paso Robles to Laguna Beach a couple of years ago but ran out of time. A tasting trip specifically to Los Angeles is something that would need to include some other stops in town to shoot photography for the art magazine. Just not a high priority now though I have been a fan of Abe and his winemaking journey since the beginning.

It’s been a couple of years since I’ve seen or had one. I usually enjoyed the wines.

He sends out emails. I just don’t have the wallet or cellar space, despite how interesting the new wines sound.

I have not bought in quite a while but his new location and offerings sure sound interesting. I have some earlier ones tucked away … should open and see how they are doing.

I had a couple of his (one off I think) Clos Thales bottlings and they were quite interesting; I would have liked to put them in blind panels with a bunch of higher end Rhones and see how they compared. The stated list prices are pretty high, so one would have to be strong supporter to buy directly.

The premiere vintage of 2002 Scholium Project Chardonnay, The Sylphs, Guman Vineyard was exceptional on release.

These were so expensive upon release I would usually see them in the closeout bin later on in life.

I got a few of the recent releases. He’s working with some old vine SoCal vineyards that sound fascinating- early 20th century Grenache and Zin plantings among others. Haven’t received the wines yet but will post TNs when I do.

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Lopez Vineyard in Rancho Cucamonga? I drive by that vineyard every time I go to Southern California. I have always wanted to try a wine from that vineyard.

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Here’s info on the vineyards he’s working with:

https://mailchi.mp/scholiumwines.com/a-second-report-on-lone-wolf-we-prepare-for-pruning-5881152

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It’s cool what Abe is going - kind of what others have done up in Sonoma and out in Lodi but, heck, it’s Southern California so it’ll probably not garner as much ‘buzz’ . . .

Cheers.

Yeah, it would be fascinating to see what some other folks would do with these old vine vineyards. The six pack samplers work out to about $50 per bottle, which didn’t strike me as exorbitant pricing.

Carol Shelton makes OV Zin from Cucamonga… or used to.
Tom

As far as I know, Scholium Project is now taking a backseat and LA River Co is the focus.

I think I still get occasional emails thought I haven’t bought in a long time (I was one of the original “56” or whatever number it was). I found many of his wines to be very interesting and a few to be downright wonderful. Unfortunately some wines were very big misses and I couldn’t justify the price point for the number of winners vs losers. I hope his new project goes well.

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Am I the only person thinking of Johnny Carson?

I can add a few updates. I hung out with Abe this weekend in Napa.

We were both in town for the 2nd Old California tasting - Sandlands ~tegan on Instagram: "What we talked about when we talk about Napa Cabernet. #cabernetstudy #swanlake"

Abe - soilpimp on Instagram

He was pruning Guman on Sunday so he is still working on some Scholium Project wines.

@dougwilder - I had 02 Sylphs a couple of weeks ago and it was stunning maybe the best of the 100 or so bottles I have had. Your 100 point review was spot on. We also had the legendary 99 Scholium Project Sangiovese from To Kalon and it to was stunning. This was the first ever Scholium wine but it was never commercially released and is only allowed to be served at Dance Parties.

Also Abe’s dad passed recently at 95 and the NY Times wrote a wonderful obit.

I have only had a couple of the LA Wine Company wines and they are a unique expression of California unlike any other regions. I look forward to trying more.

I have ordered his most recent collection after not ordering for a while because I own too much wine. I have generally enjoyed his wine for about 18 years since I was first tipped off to his Les Tenebres and picked up a case. However, some of them are an acquired taste and remind me of a comment someone made that I cannot take credit for, “Abe’s wines are often science experiments.”

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Yup, Jay… science experiments that have gone South in many cases.

Tasting his wines was always a grand adventure. They were all over the map. But, in general, “interesting”. Thank Gawd is didn’t get, really,
into natural wine. We would have then seen some real doozies.
Tom