Pet Nat Wines are Having a Moment – Wait, What?

Fast facts:

• 2022 Amuse Bouche, Pétillant Naturel, Sparkling White Wine, France ($11.99 @ Trader Joe’s, California)

  Sometimes it seems like there is very little new in the wine market. Then something like this comes along.  But it’s actually not very new, after all. Read on…

  Let’s assume you have never even heard of a Pét-nat wine, which is a pretty safe assumption all things considered.  It is an abbreviation for “pétillant naturel”—a French term that roughly translates to “naturally sparkling.” Maybe you already knew that. In certain circles, pét-nat has been hip for a few years now – all the cool kids are drinking it. But even if you’ve sampled a few bottles of the stuff, you’d be forgiven for not knowing exactly what qualifies as pét-nat, or how these sparkling wines differ from other types of bubbly. But despite all the recent buzz about Pet Nats, they are not exactly new to the scene…

  You see, Pét-nat is really a wilder version of a sparkling wine like Champagne. The difference is that pét-nat is a wine that is bottled during initial fermentation, and the remaing (unfermented) sugars from the grapes provide the bubbles.  Expressed as a math equation: Yeast + Sugar = Alchohol and C02 Bubbles. As opposed to Champagne, where sugar is added for bubbles.

  

  To review, during alcohol fermentation, yeasts eat sugar. The byproducts of this process are alcohol and carbon dioxide. In non-sparkling wines—your Chardonnays, Pinot Noirs, etc.—most or all fermentation occurs before bottling, so there is no trapped C02, and therefore no bubbles.

  Traditional Champagne (and other sparkling wines like Crémant and Cava) are made by combining one or more still dry wines—basically, finished wines that have already completed fermentation—with a small amount of yeast and sugary liqueur. This combination is bottled and aged, and the yeast eats the sugar in the liqueur. This second, in-bottle fermentation produces the trapped carbon dioxide that gives these sparkling wines their bubbles. (Prosecco, and other less-expensive sparkling wines often undergo secondary fermentation in large tanks, rather than in bottles. In some cases, C02 is simply pumped into a finished wine before bottling.)

  Pét-Nat is like a simpler version of this more complicated Champagne process. Rather than blending different dry wines and putting them through a second round of fermentation and aging, pét-nat is bottled while still undergoing its first round of fermentation. The French call this process “methode ancestral,” and it’s likely been around far longer than other, more complex methods of producing sparkling wine.

  That’s not the only difference between pét-nat and traditional bubbly. While classic sparkling wines are typically made from a narrow range of grapes, winemakers today are making pét-nat with all kinds of unusual and interesting grape combinations. Producers from a lot of different winemaking regions are experimenting with interesting new sparkling projects. We like!

  Compared to Champagne and other sparkling wines, pét-nat is a bit more unpredictable. Every bottle can be a little different.  When a pét-nat is first released, it may still be a tad sweet—the result of some residual sugar that hasn’t yet undergone fermentation. And it tends to get drier over time. (This particular one from Traders Joe’s is fully dry.)  While a pét-nat’s bubbles often become softer and smaller as it ages, the wines aren’t meant for long cellaring. It is generally suggested that people drink them within three months of buying,

  Pét-nat tends to be  fun, versatile food wines. They pair well with salty appetizers and lighter dishes.  Most pét-nats tend to be fairly low in alcohol—this one is just 12.5% ABV— and so they’re usually refreshing and great for afternoon or evening drinking. Many are also unfined and unfiltered, and may include some leftover yeast cells, which can lead to a slightly cloudy or hazy appearance. (All this is fine to drink.) This Pet Nat from TJs has a fair amount of “drop” at the bottom of the bottle. Typicity some would say…

  Identifying Pet Nats can be a little tricky. While some producers helpfully put “pét-nat” or “pétillant naturel” right on the label, others don’t. They may also use terms like “bottle fermented,” “methode ancestral,” or, if Italian, “col fondo,” which is basically pét-nat Prosecco. “If you see sediment and a crown cap”— like the closure shown below —”it’s probably pét-nat.

   

Tasting notes:

Notes of ripe, fleshy apples and pear, with hints of biscuit and white almond and honeysuckle flower. After a few minutes, some honey wax notes, and orange skin notes will start to express themselves. On the palate this wine has refined foamy bubbles that give a nice chewy texture of lime tart flavor at first, then evolves into a dense and complex palate with a lingering finish of citrus. This naturally sparkling wine has no added sugar, yeast, or sulphites.

Need More Wine Picks from Trader Joe’s – or Costco?

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Happy hunting.

Cheers!