Stagiaire "In Love with a Memory" San Benito County, California 2023

FROM STAGIAIRE:

THE WINE: Sauvignon 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.

THE PRODUCER: "Stagiaire": The French word for apprentice and what the winemaker I worked for in Jura called me when other local vigneron asked who the hell the guy speaking really bad French was. The name encapsulates humility, impermanence, and the never-ending pursuit of knowledge and improvement.

Vines are farmed beyond organically (kind of a low bar), actively seeking thoughtfull and regenerative practices instead of recipe farming. Most importantly I want to work with good people that are trying to farm in line with nature instead of against it. Vineyards are predominantly situated in a narrow strip of the California coast from Santa Cruz up to West County Sonoma. The confluence of the cold Pacific waters and the elevation of coastal mountain ranges produce real magic.

If we have good grapes, why add anything to them in the cellar?