2012 Scholium Project La Severita Di Bruto Farina Vineyard

The Scholium Project was founded in Napa Valley by Abe Schoener, a former college professor with a doctorate in pre-Socratic philosophy. Schoener worked at Stag’s Leap and Luna Vineyards in the late 1990s and early 2000s before making his own wine from sourced grapes beginning in the early 2000s. Along with several partners, Schoener continues to expand his portfolio of offerings of reds, whites and blends. The wines are made in very small quantities and are often given names with references to ancient history.

Napa Valley AVA is the most famous winemaking region in the United States and one of the most prestigious in the world. With nearly 43,000 acres of vineyards and more than 300 wineries, it is the heart of fine wine production in the United States. Winemaking started in Napa in 1838 when George C. Yount planted grapes and began producing wine commercially. Other winemaking pioneers followed in the late 19th century, including the founders of Charles Krug, Schramsberg, Inglenook and Beaulieu Vineyards. An infestation of phylloxera, an insect that attacks vine roots, and the onset of Prohibition nearly wiped out the nascent Napa wine industry in the early 20th century. But by the late 1950s and early 1960s Robert Mondavi and other visionaries were producing quality wines easily distinguishable from the mass-produced jug wines made in California’s Central Valley. Napa Valley’s AVA was established in 1983, and today there are 16 sub-appellations within the Napa Valley AVA. Many grapes grow well in Napa’s Mediterranean climate, but the region is best known for Cabernet Sauvignon. Chardonnay is also very successfully cultivated, and about 30% of the AVA’s acreage is planted to white grapes, with the majority of those grapes being Chardonnay,