Scholium Tasting
Trestle on Tenth, NYC
Tasted Monday, November 1, 2010 by ews3 with 837 views
Introduction
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 Choêphoroi Los Olivos Vineyard 85 Points
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.
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2005 Scholium Project Naucratis Lost Slough Vineyards 88 Points
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.
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2008 Scholium Project Naucratis Lost Slough Vineyards 90 Points
USA, California, Central Valley, Clarksburg
a different and younger version. fresh acidity. floral notes, citrus and minerality. crisp finish. great value.
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2004 Scholium Project Glos McDowell 93 Points
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.
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2009 Scholium Project Rhododactylos 88 Points
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.
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2008 Scholium Project Riquewihr Lost Slough Vineyards 87 Points
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.
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2002 Scholium Project The Sylphs Guman Vineyard 91 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley, Coombsville
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.
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2005 Scholium Project Cena Trimalchionis Farina 92 Points
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.
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2002 Scholium Project Proserpina Maldonado Los Olivos 86 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley
sweet plum, dark cherry candy. hint of cough syrup flavor was not appealing. med(+) finish.
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2001 Scholium Project St. Harry's Chapel 87 Points
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.
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2007 Scholium Project The Sylphs Guman Vineyard 87 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley, Coombsville
moderate light putty/roux nose. light vanilla american oak. overall lighter bodied example of the sylphs and surprisingly agile. med(-) finish disappoints.
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2008 Scholium Project The Sylphs Guman Vineyard 92 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley, Coombsville
fatty green apple. nice acidity, but you definitely feel the alcohol. med(+) finish turns a bit hot.
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2006 Scholium Project The Sylphs Guman Vineyard 89 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley, Coombsville
apple with a splash of lemon and nuttiness. interesting combination of green apple with an extra kick of acid. med (-) finish.
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2007 Scholium Project La Severità di Bruto Farina 90 Points
USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Mountain
honeysuckle and melon. sweet spice surprises. med(-) finish.
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1973 Mastroberardino Taurasi 90 Points
Italy, Campania, Taurasi DOCG
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.
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2004 Scholium Project Babylon Tenbrink Vineyards 92 Points
USA, California
very tannic. wonderful red fruit profile -- cherry, cranberry -- delicious. med(+) finish.
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2005 Scholium Project Babylon Tenbrink Vineyards 95 Points
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.
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2000 Scholium Project Les Ténèbres 85 Points
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.
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2008 Scholium Project Gardens of Babylon 89 Points
USA, California
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.
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2004 Scholium Project Lydian Queen Oro Puro 89 Points
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.
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2006 Scholium Project Margit's Master Blend 92 Points
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.
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2006 Scholium Project The School Of The Plains Elsa's Vineyard 90 Points
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.
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2007 Scholium Project The Prince In His Caves Farina 88 Points
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.
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2002 Scholium Project Scheria Hudson Vineyard 93 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley
blood, red fruit, and black pepper -- a hint of sweet spice. really rich wine with a med(+) finish. good stuff.
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2006 Scholium Project Gemella Lost Slough Vineyards 88 Points
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.
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2007 Scholium Project Androkteinos Hudson Vineyard 94 Points
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.
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