What exactly is a Pét-Nat? Everything you need to know about pétillant natural wines, plus two bottles we love.

What is a Pét Nat?

A Pét Nat wine is, to simplify, a less elaborate version of a classic method sparkling wine or champagne, in fact pét nat is a wine that is bottled during fermentation, and grape sugars provide bubbles. As you may know, during alcoholic fermentation, yeasts transform sugar that is naturally found in grapes into alcohol and carbon dioxide. In still wines bottling takes place after the yeasts have finished fermentation, while in sparkling wines classic method still wines are bottled with sugar and yeasts and rereferenced in the bottle so as to trap the bubbles and obtain a carbonated product.
Pét-Nat wine is a hybrid between the two processes as it is bottled while still undergoing its first fermentation cycle.

The French call this process ancestral method and it was probably a productive model adopted for centuries to produce sparkling wine. Compared to other sparkling wines, pét nat is unpredictable as you have no control over bottled fermentation, you can only try to standardize the process, but each bottle will be slightly different from the others. As soon as you produce a Pet Nat wine it could be a bit sweet, resulting gradually in the driest weather. The perlage that at first can be coarse, always with aging tends to become finer and more delicate. Pet Nats, however, are not wines suitable for long agings so it is better to drink them within a few months of purchase. Pét-nat tends to be a fun and versatile table wine. They are not high-grade wines nor very full-bodied so they go well with light dishes and Asian cuisine.

They are also very refreshing and fun to drink thanks also to the cloudy bottom that at the opening makes the product opalescent, like a weissbier. On the label they can bear the name Pet Nat, Ancestral Method or with the bottom. They all have a crown cap,so they uncork like a beer.

Tenuta Di Tavignano, historic and award-winning company in the Marche region wanted to carry on a line of Monsters Wine organic wines that includes two Pet Nat and a macerated white wine otherwise defined orange wine (also awarded by the best guides) that we like very much. Why? Because they're good, because they're done well, because they're cheap, because they're fun.

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