Abe Schoener founded The LA River Wine Co in 2019, but the seed had been planted many years previously. Once a philosophy professor at St John’s College, he took a sabbatical in 1998, turning his... Read More

Abe Schoener founded The LA River Wine Co in 2019, but the seed had been planted many years previously. Once a philosophy professor at St John’s College, he took a sabbatical in 1998, turning his hand to grape growing and that's all it took. Soon thereafter he began to craft wines under his label the Scholium Project where he developed not only a fondness, but a deep dedication to the somewhat underdog vines of California. In the process he has helped to highlight the lesser-known but magical vineyards that exist in the state, such as the deep-rooted ancient vines of Lodi.

At Scholium, almost all of the fruit he worked with was derived from Cali's northern climes. But Abe’s a bit of a history nerd and once he learned about the history of southern California wine, it sparked a fire deep within, so much so that he uprooted his life in Napa to move to Los Angeles, in order to explore the potential of SoCal’s unheralded terroir.