Stagiaire "Plastic Stars and Paper Moons" Viognier, Santa Cruz, CA 2022

FROM THE PRODUCER:

THE WINE: Santa Cruz Mountains Viognier. Grown up white wine. No artifice or tricks to coax character into lackluster musts. Just the juice of a special place. Squeezed into barrels for fermentation and aging. I hate making reference to France these days but it seems to be what people understand. Think warm vintage white Burgundy(aka all vintages now) with a kiss of flint sealing in the plethora of florals and citrus. Nothing added or removed.

THE PRODUCER: 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 pursuit of knowledge.

I work with vineyards that are organic at a minimum, actively seeking thoughtfull and regenerative practices instead of recipe farming. Most importantly I want to work with good people that are trying to farm with nature instead of against it. Starting in 2020 I am farming a few parcels of my own.

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