{"product_id":"stagiaire-in-love-with-a-memory-2023","title":"Stagiaire 'In Love with a Memory' 2023","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eSauvignon Blanc from the famous Enz vineyard in Lime Kiln Valley. Old dry farmed vines rooted deeply into limestone and granitic soild. Gently macerated and in barrel for a year.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFROM THE WINEMAKER\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"\"\u003eAncient Sauvignon Blanc from historic Enz Vineyard on limestone and granite in an almost forgotten great California viticultural region in the shadow of the Gabilan Mountains in Southern San benito County. It is an honor to work with this site that so many great winemakers and wineries have produced benchmark wines from. The Sauvignon Blanc had been grafted over to red grapes at some point in the past, but a few years ago they cut below those red grafts to allow the old Sauvignon material to come back.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"\"\u003eDry farmed Sauvignon Blanc from these warmer and dryer sites can be finicky to grow and ferment. But the results are impressive. This wine is inspired by my old cuvee ‘Sapphires, Samphires, and Saturn Returns’. Using what I learned from that wine, this first release of ILWAM turned out pretty darn good I think.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"\"\u003eDestemmed and macerated for 10 days, 3 days longer than the 2022 version. Pressed before fermentation really even kicked off. It was one of the first picks of the season and the last wine to go to barrel. The ferment in tank was so so so slow. The wine rested in barrel for a year. Light oxidative character tempering the lush California tropical fruit and ripe citrus and locking in the added density of its soft extraction. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eABOUT\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"\"\u003eStagiaire Wine is the brainchild of New Orleans native Brent Mayeaux. The project takes its name from Brent’s time spent as an apprentice - or \u003cem\u003estagiaire - \u003c\/em\u003eat various wineries around the world at the beginning of his career. He began by working under more conventionally-minded winemakers in California, but it was during experiences in Australia and then France, where his head was turned towards natural wine by the likes of luminaries such as Philippe Bonard in the Jura and Gareth Belton of Gentle Folk in the Adelaide Hills.  \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"\"\u003eMayeaux returned to California in 2018 armed with a more European sensibility around winemaking and the role of the vineyard. Initially, he strived to manage his own vines – often a given in France – which is seen as an almost impossibility for most young, non-legacy or finance-backed winemakers in California due to the unattainably high price of vines. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"\"\u003eFollowing a series of logistical setbacks, exhaustion from the long days and longer drives between vineyards all over northern California, and a general feeling under-appreciation for at  least trying – unlike most natural winemakers in California – to work with what he farmed, Mayeaux shifted tact in 2021 and has begun focusing on négociant grapes from high-quality sites.  He finds this a more manageable approach that allows him to take more care and time in the cellar. After parting ways with a shared cellar space, he moved his winemaking operation to a former industrial space on Treasure Island, a reclaimed piece of land in the middle of the San Francisco Bay.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"\"\u003eBrent’s wines are hard to define. There are the crazy bottlings easier put into the “natty” space (a piquette-like creation; a co-ferment of Merlot and Sauvignon). But a seriousness and  patience, a precision and deft touch, shines through in most of his wines, particularly the single parcel Sauvignon Blancs and Pinot Noirs. He makes many cuvées each vintage, often  shifting approaches year to year based on available fruit and what its potential might deliver in the bottle. Whatever they might be or not be, we find Stagiaire to represent the best of  California today: natural winemaking in a place that has always been suspicious of the label, but with a dedication to terroir.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Stagiaire","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51274216276277,"sku":null,"price":40.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0750\/5739\/8069\/files\/Stagiaire_InLovewithaMemory_2023.png?v=1757212702","url":"https:\/\/www.petitewine.com\/products\/stagiaire-in-love-with-a-memory-2023","provider":"Petite Wine","version":"1.0","type":"link"}