Stagiaire Wine Still Life with Woodyard 2018

Still Life with Woodyard is 100% Zinfandel from the Woodyard block at Poor Ranch, a 5.71-acre parcel sitting at roughly 1,162 feet in the eastern hills above Hopland in Mendocino County. The Poor family homesteaded this land in 1888, and the Woodyard block vines have never been irrigated or treated with synthetic chemicals. The vines are head-trained on St. George rootstock, dry-farmed, and CCOF-certified organic.

Winemaker Brent Mayeaux split the fruit into two ferments: one carbonic maceration in stainless steel, and one using 50% whole clusters with 50% direct-pressed juice infused on top. Both ferments ran for four weeks before being pressed together into old barrels for nearly 12 months of aging. No sulfur or other additives were used at any stage.

The result lands closer to a Gamay-brained Zinfandel than anything extracted or jammy — fresh strawberry and dried herb notes with a savory, slightly earthy undercurrent from the high-elevation hillside site. At 12.5% ABV, it is light on its feet for the variety.