For generations the Poors have been farming their property in the mountains east of Hopland whose peaks separate Mendocino County from neighboring Lake County. They don’t drink, and they farm grapes as if they were any other crop. It just so happens that grapes are what they can grow up there without water.
Across many expositions and elevations they work with only red varieties that do well in hot and arid environments. All plantings are done from their own nursery and grafted onto St George rootstock. A very low vigor and drought tolerant selection. Classic California organic farming consisting of cross-discing for weed management and sulfur dusting for powdery mildew control. Nothing else. Very low input. Yields are very low depending on the block. The Syrah for this wine comes from the Upper vineyard which yields between 1-2 tons per acre. You feel like you are on a different planet up there.
The deep-rooted vines bake in the sun without regard for the number on the thermostat, focusing their energy into the few concentrated clusters they can eke out each year. It isn’t a site for making rose or delicate chilled reds. The wines want to be opulent and full. To force them to do something else is hubristic.
2021 was a drought year and the fruit was especially concentrated and powerful. Destemmed to mitigate tannin and vegetal character and preserve some acidity. It sat on the skins with daily pumpovers for about 2 weeks until dry. The fermentation was so aromatic. Mortadella, chocolate, blueberries, spent brewers grains. It aged in barrel for two years before bottling to tame the angry fruit and soften tannins.
I expect it to kill on the holiday dinner table next to wild delicacies and loud conversations full of laughter. I can already see the black stained smiles.
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.
