The Scholium Project, Rhododactylos 2017

Abe Schoener has a PhD in Ancient Greek Philosophy. Eighteen years ago, he was teaching at St. John’s College in Annapolis MD in the USA when he accidentally became entrained in grape-growing and winemaking. He moved to Napa in California on a sabbatical, to pursue some very rudimentary studies in grapevine physiology and the relation between vine physiology and wine quality This was not for the sake of ever making wine, it was just to better ground my thinking about the philosophy of plant biology in real experience. He was fortunate enough to win some very good internships, and the second was with John Kongsgaard, who had studied extensively in Burgundy. He was nearly alone in being committed to natural yeast fermentations, infrequent racking and topping, and minimal use of sulfites and he instructed him in all of theses (then) radical techniques. He also encouraged me to experiment widely, and to accept no rules as necessary, and no principles as given except for the drive for excellence!