What is a Pét-Nat?
If you’ve ever seen a brightly coloured bottle with a fun label and a crown cap on the shelves of your favourite wine shop, chances are it might have been a pét-nat. Short for pétillant naturel, these naturally sparkling wines are by no means a new way of making fizz, but have taken the wine world by storm over the last few years.
Pét-nats have a reputation as being the ‘fun’ sibling of traditional sparkling wines. They make the perfect party tipple, but also can pair brilliantly with foods that are particularly fatty or spicy, due to their high acidity, lower alcohol, and bright, fruity aromas.
While there are a number of differences in how pét-nats look and taste compared to other sparkling wines, the key difference is how the wine is made.
How are Pét-Nats made?
Most fizz (with the exception of Prosecco) is produced using a style of winemaking known as méthode traditionnelle, or ‘traditional method’. With traditional method sparkling wines, the wine undergoes two fermentation, one in the barrel and one in the bottle. During the second fermentation in the bottle, the carbon dioxide that usually escapes as a gas is contained in the bottle, creating its signature bubbles. This secondary fermentation also results in additional dead yeast cells, or lees, which when left in contact with the wine during the ageing process gives traditional fizz its distinctive toasty, bread-y aromas.
The wine is then riddled to collect the sediment from the lees in the bottle neck, before being disgorged to remove the sediment. Some fizz also has additional wine and sugar added to replace any liquid lost during the disgorgement process, known as dosage.
Compared to this method of making sparkling wine, pét-nats are much more hands-off. While the initial fermentation of the wine is still underway, the juice is bottled, and completes its fermentation in the bottle. This results in the carbon dioxide that usually escapes as a gas during the first fermentation being contained in the bottle, creating a naturally sparkling wine. This method is also sometimes referred to as méthode ancestrale.
Pét-nats typically do not undergo any additional interventions, meaning that they are not filtered or fined, do not undergo any dosage, and sediment from the lees is often left in the bottle.
What do Pét-Nats taste like?
Often, this style of winemaking can result in a slightly softer fizz, a touch more residual sugar, lower alcohol, a slightly cloudier appearance, and a whole range of bright aromas in the glass.
One of the joys of pét-nats is that they can offer a real snapshot of the time and place that they were made – like all natural wines, this more hands-off approach to winemaking lets the fruit speak for itself, and comes with an element of unpredictability for both the winemaker and the drinker!
Pét-nats are also usually on the more affordable end of the spectrum compared to other traditional sparkling wines, too, just in case you needed another reason to pick up a bottle.
What are some examples of Pét-Nats?
A great entry-level pét-nat is the Bulle Nature Blanc 2021 from Les Grande Vignes – this Chenin-driven blend of varieties from the Loire valley sits on the more clean and classic end of the pét-nat spectrum, but offers a great example of how pét-nats can differ from other more traditional sparkling wines.
If you’re after something a bit more off the beaten path, give Markus Altenburger’s Prickelnd Rosé NV a go. This sparkling rosé is super quaffable, full of bright summer fruits, and is immensely good fun – this is a wine that goes just as well with brunch as it does a big night out.
If you want something really wild and unlike any other sparkling wine, try Folias de Baco’s Uivo Curtido pét-nat 2022. It looks like Sunny D from the 90s and tastes like fizzy peach rings – this is the kind of wine that makes you question how it was possibly made from grapes. Exactly what we want from a pét-nat!
