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Stagiaire Wine

Let's Get Fizzical 2020

Price: $34.95
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Tasting notes

Old-vine Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay from one of California's most historic dry-farmed sites gives this pét-nat real grip and presence rather than the watery fizz the category sometimes produces. The 2020's early harvest locked in bright acidity and kept alcohol in check, making it lively and food-friendly straight from the fridge.

BodyFruitTanninAcidity
Lemon PeelApricotGooseberryBrioche
  • Style: Dry pét-nat sparkling; near-equal Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc; bright citrus and orchard fruit; gentle fizz; 12% ABV
  • Grapes & Terroir: Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay; Lolonis Vineyard, Redwood Valley AVA, Mendocino; vines planted 1944-1945; dry-farmed; red clay soils at ~800 ft; CCOF certified organic
  • Winemaking: Pét-nat method; native yeast fermentation; bottled at ~1 brix; disgorged before release; zero sulfur; zero additions
  • Serving: Serve well chilled at 45-48F; no decanting; pop and pour
  • Pairing: Oysters, grilled shrimp, fried chicken, soft cheeses, prosciutto, ceviche
  • Similar To: For fans of Vouette et Sorbée Blanc d'Argile or Lassaigne pét-nat who want a California expression with old-vine weight

Let's Get Fizzical 2020 is a pét-nat from Brent Mayeaux of Stagiaire Wine, made from nearly equal parts Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc sourced from Lolonis Vineyard in Redwood Valley, Mendocino County. The vines were planted in 1944 and 1945, are head-trained and dry-farmed on red clay soils laced with fist-sized rocks at roughly 800 feet elevation. The vineyard has been certified organic since its earliest decades and is among the oldest known Sauvignon Blanc plantings in California.

The 2020 vintage came in exceptionally early. Mayeaux sampled the Sauvignon Blanc at 22 brix — the same ripeness level he had picked at the prior year — but arrived a full month ahead of schedule. He was among the first to pick that season, a sharp contrast to 2019 when he was among the last. The wine is made with zero sulfur added and no other additions or removals, in keeping with his zero-zero approach.

As a pét-nat, the wine completes its fermentation in bottle, producing a low, gentle fizz. Mayeaux bottles at approximately 1 brix residual sugar and disgorges before release so the bubbles stay in the glass rather than the bottle neck. Expect bright citrus and orchard fruit from the old-vine Chardonnay, with the Sauvignon Blanc adding tension and a lightly herbal edge.

Stagiaire Wine is produced on Treasure Island in the San Francisco Bay. Production is minuscule and the wines are released in limited quantities through Mayeaux's mailing list and select retailers.

Serve cold alongside oysters, grilled shrimp, or a plate of soft cheeses and prosciutto. The wine's acidity and light effervescence cut through rich or briny flavors cleanly. It also works well with fried chicken or vegetable tempura where you want something refreshing.

Wine details

Dry/Sweet:, Dry
Wine Type:, Sparkling Wine
Wine Style:, Sparkling
Grapes:, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay
Farming:, Organic
Vintage:, 2020
Alcohol:, 12%
Country:, United States
Region:, Mendocino
Appellation:, Redwood Valley AVA
Bottle Size:, 750ml
Sugar Level:, Zero Added Sugar

We will process and ship your order in 2-3 business days, you will receive a shipping confirmation email with tracking as soon as the Carrier scans the shipping label.

Ground shipping time depends on location, here's a breakdown:

West Coast: 1-2 business days
Midwest: 3-4 business days
East Coast: 5 business days

Process time is not shipping time. Shipping time starts from the days successive to the day of shipping, after the order has been processed.

See here our shipping policy.


Important Compliance Requirements

FedEx and other carriers we might occasionally use can only deliver wine to customers who are 21 years or older. Someone must be at the address to receive the package, carriers don't just drop a package and leave. They must ensure the person receiving the wine is 21 or older.


Re-shipping a Package

If a package is returned to us after three failed delivery attempts, we can only re-ship the wine upon payment of a re-shipping fee, to be determined based on the shipping address and number of bottles. Shipping wine is extremely expensive. We are sorry about this, but we have no other choice. Please make sure there's always someone at the address you enter as your shipping address.

If you'd like to receive a refund for a package that was returned to us after FedEx made three delivery attempts, we can do that but we must keep a $20 refund fee; FedEx charges us a lot of money for returns, unfortunately, I can't stress this enough.


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If you'd like to reroute a package after it's been shipped, we can do so for a $20 re-routing fee. We cannot re-route a package across state borders. For any change of address, please contact us as soon as possible, ideally within 1-2 days from placing the order or we cannot guarantee we'll be able to reroute or change your order's shipping address.


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If you'd like to cancel an order after it's been shipped, we can do so upon payment of a small cancellation fee – the amount depends on the size of the order. Carriers charge us a lot of money to recall a package en-route.


Heat/Frost damage

We are not responsible for heat- or frost-related issues. We offer ice-packs upon request. Please let us know if you think that there could be heat-related issues. If we don't hear anything from you regarding weather issues before an order is shipped, or if you don't request a hold due to the weather, we are not responsible for heat/frost damage.


Placed an order. What next?

1. You will receive an order confirmation email with your order summary.*

2. As soon as your order ships from the warehouse, usually within 2-3 business days, this applies to all shipping rates, you will receive a shipping confirmation email with your tracking information. 2DAY shipping refers to shipping time; we still need 2-3 business days to prepare an order. We need to pick and pack, QA, add printed collateral, and palletize the orders.

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4. The carrier will attempt delivery a maximum of 3 times. After 3 delivery attempts, your package will be sent back to our warehouse.**

*Please ensure your email address is correct; otherwise, you will not receive the order and shipping confirmation emails.

**If delivery is attempted 3 times without success, or if you fail to retrieve your package from the carrier depot by the stated deadline, the shipping fee will not be refunded to the customer.

Returns Policy

If you are not satisfied with your purchase, please contact us at (424) 414-2040 or via e-mail at hello@primalwine.com between 9 am and 5 pm Pacific Standard Time, Monday through Sunday, we would like to understand and try to solve your concerns. We can offer refunds only as store credit.

Producer profile

Stagiaire Wine

Stagiaire Wine is the project of Brent Mayeaux, a New Orleans native who studied engineering before moving into wine. The name comes from the French word for apprentice — the term used by the winemaker he worked under in the Jura when locals asked who the poorly-French-speaking newcomer was. Mayeaux spent time in Central Otago, New Zealand, and then in France and Australia, where winemakers Philippe Bornard in the Jura and Gareth Belton of Gentle Folk in the Adelaide Hills shaped his thinking around natural winemaking.

Mayeaux returned to California in 2018 and initially worked to farm his own vines, a rare ambition among non-legacy winemakers in a state where vineyard land is prohibitively expensive. After logistical difficulties managing sites across Northern California, he shifted in 2021 to working as a négociant, sourcing from organically and regeneratively farmed vineyards he knows well. His cellar is a former industrial space on Treasure Island, a reclaimed island in the middle of the San Francisco Bay.

All Stagiaire wines are made zero-zero: no sulfur added, no fining, no filtration, no additions of any kind. Mayeaux uses spontaneous native yeast fermentation throughout. For the pét-nat wines, he bottles at roughly 1 brix residual sugar to allow the fermentation to complete in bottle, then disgorges before release. Production across the entire range is very small, released through his mailing list in limited drops.

Wine region

Mendocino, United States

Redwood Valley is an upland valley in Mendocino County, located approximately 130 miles north of San Francisco in the eastern, warmer corridor of the county. The valley sits at roughly 800 feet elevation, and a gap in the coastal ridge allows cool Pacific air to penetrate, producing significant diurnal temperature swings that slow ripening and preserve acidity. The dominant soils are red clay loam, iron-rich and free-draining, which stress vines into producing small, concentrated fruit.

Redwood Valley became California's first designated organic wine region of note: Frey Vineyards, based here, was the first certified organic and first certified biodynamic winery in the United States. Mendocino County as a whole has roughly 25% of its vineyard acreage certified organic, the highest proportion of any California county. Lolonis Vineyard, a primary source for Stagiaire's Fizzical wines, sits on the Ricetti Bench within Redwood Valley and has been farmed organically since the 1950s. The valley's key varieties include Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel, and — at heritage sites like Lolonis — ancient plantings of Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay.

Frequently asked question

We will process and ship your order in 2-3 business days, you will receive a shipping confirmation email with tracking as soon as the Carrier scans the shipping label.

Ground shipping time depends on location, here's a breakdown:

West Coast: 1-2 business days
Midwest: 3-4 business days
East Coast: 5 business days

Process time is not shipping time. Shipping time starts from the days successive to the day of shipping, after the order has been processed.

See here our shipping policy.

Signature on delivery is mandatory for wine deliveries. Please make sure someone is at the shipping address to sign for the package.

If applicable, please consider delivering the package to a business address to ensure someone is available to sign for the package.

We also have the option of delivering the package to a Carrier's store for pickup. Please reach out to us to coordinate.

Carrier will try to delivery a package up to three times before returning the package to us.

See here our shipping policy.

If you miss a delivery and a package gets returned to us we have two options:

1) Reship the package right away: due to the very high cost of shipping and returns, we must charge a re-shipping fee to be determined based on package size and shipping destination.

2) Consolidate the returned package with your next order: this option is free of charge and it's the most popular option.

See here our shipping policy.

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