"Napa Cabernet. Not something I saw in the cards when starting Stagiaire 8 years ago. Specifically this vineyard is in Lovall Valley: a cold, high elevation, volcanic valley situated between Napa and Sonoma valleys, but only accessible from the Sonoma side(its weird). South-west exposition. Very shallow soils strewn with blistered chunks of lava. The vines from age and maybe just the right amount of neglect produce only a few tiny intense clusters that are just now starting to tease something promising…

This vineyard was offered to me years ago(I passed). Caleb Leisure farmed it for maybe 2 seasons. And now my friend Coral Wang stewards this site. We met when she moved back to the states from France during covid, bonding over our shared inability to make things work in europe and the struggles of starting something here in California. She changed my life buy getting me a rice cooker for my birthday back in 2021. It’s been an honor to get some grapes from her and follow along as she grows as a farmer and winemaker."

-Brent Mayeaux, Stagiaire

Stagiaire

Brent Mayeaux launched Stagiaire in California in 2018. Originally from New Orleans, where his family worked in the restaurant business, Mayeaux first pursued a career in mechanical engineering in Central America before finding his way back to food and wine. His curiosity into how wine is made led him overseas to work harvests and cellar jobs with producers in Australia and France.

In Australia, he worked with Gareth Belton of Gentle Folk. In France, he spent time with Philippe Bornard in the Jura, then worked with Catherine Dumora and Manu Duveau during the 2018 growing season in Auvergne. These experiences gave him a practical education in the vineyard and cellar, and the confidence to start making wine on his own terms back in California.

Stagiaire began in Santa Cruz, where Mayeaux managed a small amount of vineyard land and made wine from fruit he farmed himself alongside purchased grapes. In 2020, he lost access to his original cellar and moved production to a shared facility on Treasure Island in the San Francisco Bay. The added distance from his vineyards made farming and winemaking increasingly difficult to manage together, and after the 2022 vintage, he stepped away from managing his own vines to focus on working with growers.

Brents approach in the cellar is adaptive and exploratory, guided by the fruit available each year rather than a specific house style. The wines are made using zero-zero principles, utilizing native yeast fermentations, no fining or filtration, and no added sulfur. The name Stagiaire means apprentice in French, a fitting choice for a winemaker whose path has been shaped by learning from others and continuing to figure things out for himself. The only real constant has been his willingness to evolve and change as the project develops and life's circumstances take form. Brent recently left Treasure Island and has settled in Sonoma where the proximity of cellar, vines, and his home means that he will be able to return to a more hands-on approach in the vines as well as provide a welcomed sense of work/life balance. 

Brent’s willingness to look beyond California’s usual priorities and work with what the state’s vineyards have to offer, rather than what the market expects, is what makes this project special. In a scene still heavily shaped by expensive fruit, established varieties, and polished winemaking, his wines take a more open-ended approach, embracing the quirks of individual vineyards and vintages without trying to force them into a predetermined style. The result is a project that feels distinctly Californian, but operates on its own terms.