Stagiaire Wine Sapphire 2018

Sapphire, Samphire & Saturn Returns is a skin-contact Sauvignon Blanc from Stagiaire winemaker Brent Mayeaux. The 2018 is made from the same fruit as his Sea Shells cuvee, but with a different approach in the cellar: the grapes were destemmed and macerated on skins for 8 days before being pressed to barrel, where fermentation finished and the wine aged for nearly 12 months.

The fruit comes from an organically dry-farmed old vineyard. Mayeaux works exclusively with vineyards farmed without synthetic inputs, targeting what he describes as regenerative practices rather than simple organic compliance. No sulfites are added at any point, making this a zero-zero wine in the strictest sense.

The 8-day skin contact produces a wine that sits at the lighter end of the orange spectrum. Expect a pale amber-gold color, a textured but not heavy palate, and the characteristic tension between Sauvignon Blanc's natural acidity and the savory, oxidative depth that comes from barrel aging. Notes lean toward green apple, lemon zest, dried herb, and baked bread.

Mayeaux trained in France's Jura under Philippe Bonard and in Australia with Gareth Belton of Gentle Folk before returning to California. That European sensibility around minimal intervention and site-specific winemaking is evident in how differently this wine reads compared to most California Sauvignon Blanc.