Scholium Project Offline - Trestle on Tenth NYC 11/1/2010

WINE TALK
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First and foremost a big THANK YOU to Abe for generously donating so much wine and for coming to the event.

Thank you to Mike Pobega for making the excellent tasting notebooks at the last minute.

Ralf and the team at Trestle on Tenth did a very nice job accommodating 27 wine geeks drinking high alcohol wine.

Lastly it was great to meet so many Board members especially those from other cities include Glenn Levine and Mel and Josh Roberts and Erich Sachse.

On to the wines and my feeble recollections.

I was blown away by how well the older white wines showed. Abe’s view on oxigen must have something to do with this. Also the uniqueness of Abe’s style was very evident and it was fascinating to taste so many different wines. All were fascinating and many were spectacular.

2000 Les Tenebres

The first commercially released Scholium. Dark orange color. Bready mineral characteristics. A cross between an older Gruner and a White Burgundy. Glad I have several more in the cellar.

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2001 St Harrys Chapel from Magnum
The first commercially released red Scholium. Possibly my favorite wine of the night. Pepper and funk. The age has tamed the wine and it is very smooth and balanced and it melds very well with the food.

Abe also told a lovely story about how the vineyard owner put a chapel in the vineyard that was dedicated to his late wife.

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2002 Hudson Vineyards Scheria

If I have to pick an an all time favorite Scholium red it would be a toss up between the 1999 To Kalon Sangiovese and the 2002 Hudson Vineyards Scheria. This was really great bacon and smoked meats combined with dark fruits with just a hint a funk.

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2004 McDowell Vineyards Glos

Really spectacular showing for this wine. Oily texture with lots of depth. Minerality. Smokiness. A hint of funk on the nose. This is aging so well. I am glad I have more of this.

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2005 Lost Slough Vineyards Naucratis

This was stunning! One of the highlights of the night. This was the first Naucratis made and Abe did not know how to cold stabilize the wine so it has what he calls sea monkeys in the wine. The wine is drinking beautifully. A hint of sweetness with some mushroom/funk qualities. Reminds me of an old Gruner. If I knew that it was going to age this well I would have saved more. Interestingly Abe said he used less S02 in the early Naucratis’ that the current versions yet this is holding up extremely well. I wish I had more.

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2002 Maldonado Vineyards Prosperina

Always strange but fun. I can’t describe this wine because I have never had anything like it. It is on the lighter side with bizarre citrus characteristics. This was made in a ripasso style.

http://tinyurl.com/2c9dvjf


Abe brought along a vertical of Sylphs and with the 2002 that I brought we had every Sylphs made except the 2009. The Guman vineyard produces such a unique wine, It is truly unlike any other Chardonnay in California.

2002 Guman Vineyard Sylphs

With age it is getting a bit sweeter. Dark orange in color. Telltale Sylphs nutty character. Burnt carmel or butterscotch but not from an Oak treatment. A hint of funk. Some minerality. This wine brings back so many good memories.

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2006 Guman Vineyard Sylphs

A hint of sweetness. A white burgundy profile and the most Chardonnay like of all of the Sylphs.

2007 Guman Vineyard Sylphs

The tamest of the Sylphs and almost Chablis like and the least oxidized. A hint of vanilla. Some minerality.

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2008 Guman Vineyards Sylphs
Abe thinks this has the most aging potential. It has a shockingly high 17+ alcohol. . Extremely juicy. Bready. Oily texture. Some underlying sweetness.

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2005 Farina Vineyards Cena Trimalchionis

Easily my all time favorite Scholium wine. Another excellent showing. Burnt orange. A hint of sweetness. Minerality. Unlike any wine I have ever had.

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2006 Margit’s Vineyard A1

Awesome! A balanced and elegant classic cab yet it is a very big wine.

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2008 Choephoroi

Juicy and slightly oily. Honey. Minerality. Abe has a signature style with Chardonnay. I heard several comments that all of his chards did not taste like Chardonnay. 2004 Tenbrink Vineyards Babylon

This is really starting to calm down with some age. Beautiful dark fruits that paired very well with the duck.

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2005 Tenbink Vineyards Babylon

More tannic and structured than the 2004. Still needs some age. Very dark fruit with underlying minerality.

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Robert, you did great job with this large thirsty group. Thanks for setting this up.
A big ‘thank you’ goes out to a real gentleman named Abe. My first time meeting with Abe and will not be my last. I found him fun, informative and graciously humble. Oh, and he happens to make very interesting and sometimes polarizing wines too!

I will dig out my notes, but off the top of my head, that 2002 Hudson Scheria was awesome, The 2006 Margit’s Vineyard MB was my number 2 followed by the 2006 Margit’s Vineyard A1. There is a certain quality that most wines had in common that is difficult for me to put my finger on. All wonderful stuff indeed both for what they are and what they don’t want to be, the status quo. Well done! [cheers.gif]

Great to always meet new friends alongside my current ones, and was especially nice to meet fellow board-member Glenn Levine. My neck is stiff from looking upwards while chatting. He’s like 7 foot something! [basic-smile.gif]

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It was a wonderful evening. I am so grateful. My first thought is to return to Trestle very soon as a normal customer, and not spend two hours blocking the staff’s passage back and forth to the kitchen. I loved the food and our welcome by the restaurant was not just generous but gracious.
I can not say enough about Robert’s energy in organizing the event in the middle of serious non-vinous responsibilitlies. It was an honor for me to share some special wines with friends new and old of such passion and generosity. And an honor to receive the generosity manifested by so many special selections from private cellars. Lastly: this dinner was only the first.
The selection was helter skelter and encyclopedic at once. every single vintage from 2000 to 2009 was covered, every format from 375 to 1.5 (only 3l [and 5l-- for margit’s a1] was missing). Every grape-- from cinsault to semillon to sauvignon blanc to cabernet. every style-- from the steely purity of LSB to the unsulfured, porcini-redolent Les Tenebres; from the lightness and focus of 09 Chuey to the wild power of 05 Babylon. 9-year old St. Harry’s Chapel really tasted like good Grenache and showed that it had plenty of life left. I am still mystified how the cork could have been perfect after nearly a decade’s storage outside and upright in napa. The Proserpina was also amazing to me-- it was light and very exotic, and rather like the wines that I had in mind when I made it. much more like valpolicella than cabernet. the most amazing white for me was Les Tenebres-- my first chardonnay. Made without any so2, bottled after 2 years in barrel. it was pure and funky at once, not wild or microbial-- it reminded me the way that champagnes can age well even as they are losing their effervescence.
I look forward to seeing all of you again-- and to answering any questions that this explosion of wines might have engendered.

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I am so bummedvthat I couldn’t make this. Sounds like much fun was had.

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The more I read about these wines, the more intrigued I become! Thanks for posting.

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Some additional notes & impressions from Jay & Glenn are in the offline thread:

SCHOLIUM PROJECT OFFLINE NYC - Monday, November 1st - Event Planner - Online or Offline - WineBerserkers" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Glenn - I have one maybe two bottles of Sandlands. One has your name on it for either my next visit to Cali or your next visit to NYC.

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The Les Tenebres was the first Scholium I bought, and this was the last one I could find in the cellar. I have followed it through about 8 years of evolution. I did not realize it was unsulphured. This makes a great case that lower sulphur levels are not a bad thing and have nothing to do with premox. I agree with Abe’s assessment of the wine. It was not wild at all but was instead a well-aged chardonnay with elegant Burgundian characteristics without the premox. It might have been one of the more “normal” wines that Abe has made, which is neither good nor bad. I think the color looked a bit orange to Rob because it was dark in the room, but when I held it up to the light, it was more golden than orange. There was a tiny bit of nuttiness to go with granny smith apple, minerality and a bit of pear.

What! No love for the Requiwehr, or however you spell it. A gewurtz that was extremely fragrant with spice and lychee nuts without any of the back palate bitterness you somethimes find in Gewurtztraminer. I really enjoyed this.

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Jay you might be right about the color on the Les Tenebres. I thought orange was odd when I was transcribing my notes. Interestingly the 05 Naucratis, which I thought was the surprise of the night because it is meant to be consumed young, did not have a high amount of sulpher.

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Robert:

Just wanted to offer a huge thank you for this great night. And also for introducing me to this board.

I couldnt agree with you more on the Naucratis. I wasn’t expecting much and this was probably in my top 3 wines of the night. The 06 Sylphs was drinking perfectly for my tastes - had some great Puligny-like notes. It was also the first time I had the 04 Glos which was awesome.

For the reds, the 06 Margits MB and 04 Babylon were my favorties. The 04 was was in a perfect spot. I thought the 05 Babylon had a great noze but was a bit tight otherwise.

Joe

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Put this in the orginal thread after a few hours sleep last night so here it is again:

Time for public gratitude to be bestowed upon on Robert for this august event Monday night so thank you man! Excellent venue, food (Crépinette of Pork a highlight) and camaraderie lead to celebration of a California winery that succeeds despite the economy, while promoting relatively non-commercial varieties. Kudos to Abe and all involved with Scholium Project.

My favorite tastes included the 02 Sylphs (love that Jura profile), the 04 Glos (bottle did really well while open the whole night too) and the very surprising 05 Naucratis, which had cool-looking precipitate in the bottle but really was tasty & weighty Verdelho now.

Reds that shone were the 02 Scheria and 07 Androkteinos and while I also loved the 06 Margit’s A1 (thank you Jay) I found myself wondering if the future of SP lies with Syrah. That being said the barrel sample of Abe’s current Sonoma Cab confirmed my initial impression from July that this will be a special wine, reminiscent of all that was glorious about Cabernet Sauvignon in years gone by. I made a consumers plea for an affordable pricepoint so maybe we can all load up when this wine becomes available!

I really enjoyed the dessert wine too but by night’s end I had way more than my usual 1-2 glasses! Had a foggy notion of a Tuesday but got home safely so all’s well that ends well. Are there no photos from Monday night?

My only disappointment was no Sandlands available, a wine which I have never tasted. I liked the Proserpina though IMO it didn’t thrive with air and I tried to get it poured for the other tables quickly. The lone surviving bottle at night’s end, the always lovely School of The Plains, was a source of amusement for Abe and me both.

Was a truly terrific evening and we hope some new friendships were made.

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I have some decade-old Savagnin we must open too, and some several decades-old Sauternes.

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Anyone have any recent experience with the 2004 Scheria?

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Abe told me it will last my lifetime.

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I thought you were of drinking age already.
I know I have had the 2004 but CT does not show any notes from me. I must have forgotten to write one. I cdertainly have no bad memories of any Scheria I have had, so my guess is that it is fine.

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LOL, I am clearly of age! Goodness we loved that 02 Scheria Monday night.

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any wine event that has Darren Palace is worth being at. [cheers.gif]

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Hi all – finally got around to moving my notes over to CT from the notebooks (Thanks Mike!). I feal cheap with my scores here – the wines were great and it is tough to represent that with such a unique variety. My favorites were some of the more powerful reds. The magnum of St Harrys Chapel was a treat as well, and seeing some of the interesting bottles – tartrates requiring a stent to get anything out, cloudy wines, etc – what a great adventure!

Great event Robert, Abe, and all those who participated – well worth the easy journey up from Philly…

I hope to meet many of you again…

-Erich

SCHOLIUM TASTING - Trestle on Tenth, NYC (11/1/2010)

We trekked up to NYC to taste through a variety of wines from the Scholium Project. As expected, it was quite an adventure. Abe Schoener himself was there to offer perspectives on the wines, stories, and brought some fun stuff from the library.

These wines are tough to score – in many cases they are non-traditional so there isn’t a benchmark to match them up to… but I gave it my best shot.

The highlights were the more powerful reds, especially the 05 Babylon and the 07 Androkenteinos. The 04 Glos and 05 Cena were my favorite of the whites. But no individual wine could match up to the experience of trying so many different things from the same winemaker trying different things.

Food and service was excellent at Trestle on Tenth.

I’m missing a few wines in here – most notably a barrel sample of the '09 Cabernet “Chuey” (sp?) that was quite nice. Also an Italian dessert wine and a few others I got a sip of.

  • 2008 Scholium Project Chardonnay Choephoroi Los Olivos Vineyard - USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Ynez Valley
    interesting – tropical fruit and watermelon jolly rancher. not what i would expect from a chardonnay, but i kept drinking it. honeyed note on med(-) finish. (85 pts.)
  • 2005 Scholium Project Naucratis Lost Slough Vineyards - USA, California, Central Valley, Clarksburg
    how is this wine still alive? amazing, and my score cannot tell how impressive this was. lime, peach, and underripe pear. med(+) acidity. tartrate crystals all over in the bottle. a little sour on finish. (88 pts.)
  • 2008 Scholium Project Naucratis Lost Slough Vineyards - USA, California, Central Valley, Clarksburg
    a different and younger version. fresh acidity. floral notes, citrus and minerality. crisp finish. great value. (90 pts.)
  • 2004 Scholium Project Glos McDowell - USA, California, Napa Valley, Rutherford
    really nice. weighty body that is really surprising for sauv blanc. peach, apricot, pink flowers. some toffee. very nasal quality to the mouthfeel that was surprising and reminded me of an alsatian gewurz in its aromatic quality. long finish is pleasant and interesting at the same time. (93 pts.)
  • 2009 Scholium Project Rhododactylos Phillips Farm - USA, California, Central Valley, Lodi
    shockingly light color – took me a few glances to believe it was a rose. very aromatic and floral with light strawberry flavors. shortish finish shows a little heat. (88 pts.)
  • 2008 Scholium Project Riquewihr Lost Slough Vineyards - USA, California, Central Valley, Clarksburg
    interesting/odd – can’t decide which… very hot on the palate and finish, but a wonderful aromatic nose – flower concentrate. (87 pts.)
  • 2002 Scholium Project Sylphs Guman Vineyard - USA, California, North Coast, Carneros
    honey and smoke dominate on this with a very rich mouthfeel. some oxidation already. lovely flavor and nose – the mouthfeel gets a little flabby and could use some acid to carry it through to the finish. (91 pts.)
  • 2005 Scholium Project Cena Trimalchionis Farina - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Mountain
    after the Riquewihr, this one fell on the interesting side of the “interesting” vs “strange” tug-of-war. Honey, citrus, white flowers, and tree sap. sweet nose but dry palate. fascinating. (92 pts.)
  • 2002 Scholium Project Proserpina Maldonado Los Olivos - USA, California, Napa Valley
    sweet plum, dark cherry candy. hint of cough syrup flavor was not appealing. med(+) finish. (86 pts.)
  • 2001 Scholium Project St. Harry’s Chapel - USA, California, North Coast, Solano County
    From magnum – Abe told a story about how it had boon out on his deck near a laundry machine… heat, vibration, the whole 9 yards… and yet holding up surprisingly well. light bodied grenache, but the flavors show nicely – black pepper dominates with a hint of light sanguine flavor. shortish finish. impressive given the history. (87 pts.)
  • 2007 Scholium Project Sylphs Guman Vineyard - USA, California, North Coast, Carneros
    moderate light putty/roux nose. light vanilla american oak. overall lighter bodied example of the sylphs and surprisingly agile. med(-) finish disappoints. (87 pts.)
  • 2008 Scholium Project Sylphs Guman Vineyard - USA, California, North Coast, Carneros
    fatty green apple. nice acidity, but you definitely feel the alcohol. med(+) finish turns a bit hot. (92 pts.)
  • 2006 Scholium Project Sylphs Guman Vineyard - USA, California, North Coast, Carneros
    apple with a splash of lemon and nuttiness. interesting combination of green apple with an extra kick of acid. med (-) finish. (89 pts.)
  • 2007 Scholium Project La Severità di Bruto Farina - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Mountain
    honeysuckle and melon. sweet spice surprises. med(-) finish. (90 pts.)
  • 1973 Mastroberardino Taurasi - Italy, Campania, Taurasi
    very italian and thrown in the middle of a scholium tasting – an odd twist to a night full of odd twists in the glass. tar with a surprising floral hint. light finish leaves a little heat. (90 pts.)
  • 2004 Scholium Project Babylon Tenbrink Vineyards - USA, California
    very tannic. wonderful red fruit profile – cherry, cranberry – delicious. med(+) finish. (92 pts.)
  • 2005 Scholium Project Babylon Tenbrink Vineyards - USA, California
    really great. although less tannic than the 04, there was better structure, with powdery tannins that coated the mouth. this leaned more towards the black fruit but was more concentrated with a longer finish. delightful. (95 pts.)
  • 2000 Scholium Project Les Ténèbres - USA, California, Napa Valley
    Many were a fan of this – I did not think it was holding up quite as well. Honey, marmalade, a little RS and some oxidation starting to show. where it disappointed most was ont he med(-) finish, which was a bit clipped. (85 pts.)
  • 2008 Scholium Project Gardens of Babylon Tenbrink Vineyards - USA, California, North Coast, Suisun Valley
    nice lighter red. more fruity than some of the powerful reds, with a lighter body and more sweetness/juice-box flavor to the fruit. shortish but pleasant finish. (89 pts.)
  • 2004 Scholium Project Lydian Queen Oro Puro - USA, California, Napa Valley
    interesting battle between caramel and honey – enough acidity to prevent cloying – finish is only medium and left me a little disappointed. (89 pts.)
  • 2006 Scholium Project Margit’s Master Blend - USA, California
    really delicious stuff. dark fruit, floral notes. slight hint of oxidation, though my palate could have been tired by this point… well balanced wine that leads into a med(+) finish. (92 pts.)
  • 2006 Scholium Project The School Of The Plains Elsa’s Vineyard - USA, California, Napa Valley
    nice summer wine. fresh acidity underpins some tropical fruit and peach notes. a little honey comes late on the midpalate. medium finish. (90 pts.)
  • 2007 Scholium Project The Prince In His Caves Farina - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Mountain
    fascinating wine. cloudy in a way that mwill be offputting to many. most dominant note i got was pink grapefruit, but there was also some stone fruit and minerality behind it. shortish finish. (88 pts.)
  • 2002 Scholium Project Scheria Hudson Vineyard - USA, California, Napa Valley
    blood, red fruit, and black pepper – a hint of sweet spice. really rich wine with a med(+) finish. good stuff. (93 pts.)
  • 2006 Scholium Project Gemella Lost Slough Vineyards - USA, California, Central Valley, Clarksburg
    loved the nose on this – citrus dominated. palate couldn’t quite live up to it, but was an interesting transition to stone fruit and minerality. (88 pts.)
  • 2007 Scholium Project Androkteinos Hudson Vineyard - USA, California, Napa Valley
    delicious! black pepper, smoke, meat. this is like steak in a bottle. med(+) body and a delicious midpalate the moves into a long finish. wish the price were lower, but it is worth every penny. (94 pts.)

Posted from CellarTracker

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Eric- The 08 GOB as a “lighter red”…LOL, shows that with Abe’s wines, it’s all relative! Great notes; thanks to all for posting such voluminous detail on these great wines and this super event. My main take-home message was that most of Abe’s whites can take some age with rewarding results. I’ll try to hold off on them, although many drink so well when young (esp. Glos). I was particularly surprised to hear that the Naucratis 05 is still kickin’! I wonder if more current releases of this wine will age similarly, since I surmise that Abe has used somewhat different winemaking technique than he did 5 years ago? My last bottle of the 08 Naucratis seemed to be losing some of its youthful freshness that made it so attractive, but maybe that just signifies a transition to another, potentially more interesting place? I definitely think the new MSL Reserve will age well, and it was one of the standouts at the release party last month.

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Eric - great notes!

I think the 05 has less S02 and maybe more exposure to oxygen. The more recent Naucratis’ have more S02 and I wonder if they will go through a shut down period like many German Rieslings? The recent Naucratis’ are flamboyantly aromatic in the first 1-2 years…my guess is they will quiet down for awhile and reemerge around year five. I hope I have another 05 Naucratis because I would like to check back on it a few years from now.

Nate - When is the West Coast Scholium Project Offline? I expect to see a similar array of offerings!

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I tried to take some pictures…