What is 12 Seats?
The question itself betrays the origin of our enterprise: it is a question from the Platonic dialogues, a question at the center of a certain form of education: "What is virtue?" asks Meno of Socrates. It's a question that dominates much of the Freshman year at St. John's College, where I used to teach before I made wine.
You could say that each session of 12 Seats is a kind of class, somewhere between a seminar and a symposium. And you could say that the enterprise itself is a little like a school, or perhaps like a loosely organized society that meets irregularly. We sell tickets for the seats, to support our enterprise, and limit participation to 14 guests in total, including me and the guest host.We begin each session with an opening question, asked by me. And we have wine on the table. And even if the guest host is a winemaker, the guest host is discouraged from talking directly about her wines. 12 Seats is not a tasting, even if sometimes we taste wine, or other beverages, in a somewhat structured and academic way. At its heart, it's a discussion, with drinking, somehow tied to, even if not centered on, the world of wine. We spend a lot of time talking about farming, about microbiology, but also history, culture, education.
Any winery provides a context for understanding the wines that it produces. 12 Seats helps to make explicit the spirit that inhabits our winery and informs our wines.
Kaeley and I realized from the beginning that books were really important. We had access to my father's library— he had died during the pandemic. We bought raw planks for shelves and started shelving his books.
Zach Negin, our first guest. He brought in a selection of wines from the Valle de Guadalupe.
Ashkahn Shahparnia, an old friend and new winemaker, presented his second release ever.
Not all of the sessions are focused on wine or winemaking, or even farming or geology. Walter Sterling came from St. John's College, and helped lead a seminar on Machiavelli and Place.
The sessions are festive and convivial, no matter how serious they are.
Michele Ouillet of Lorenza and Kaeley.
Chiara Pepe on her second visit
Brenna Quigley made two visits, one by herself, and one with Paul Wasserman
Christina Rasmussen, who helped us to found the winery, returned to speak about some wines that are particularly dear to her, and to show us the precious wine that she made on Naud Street in 2019
Maria Niedrist and David Rosoff after her session
It's such an honor. Truly remarkable people, the most celestial citizens of wine world, have visited us.
Goodnight