Pétillant Naturel, or Pét-Nat for short! Despite its recent popularity, its origins go back much further than Champagne. Pét-Nat is not a style of wine, but a winemaking method. Pét-Nat is produced using the ancestral method, a method of making effervescent wines in which the wine is bottled before it has fully completed its first fermentation, finalizes the fermentation of the natural sugars in the bottle and thereby releases the natural ‘gas’ that is so characteristic of it.
This production method is quite distinct from the ‘méthode champenoise’, which is the way Champagne is produced, in which the base wine is fully fermented and then undergoes a secondary fermentation in the bottle with the addition of yeast and sugar (also known as ‘liqueur de tirage’). Another difference with Champagne lies in the fact that Pét-Nat is not ‘degorged’, but may or may not be filtered after fermentation is complete, and there is often some turbidity in appearance. The dosage used in Champagne is also not permitted.
Depending on the producer's decisions, it can result in rich, complex wines or wines with a fruity, youthful and refreshing appeal, always with a soft, delicate bubble, in well-disposed specimens.
The base wine can be red, white or rosé, and the final wine is always slightly carbonated, which makes it difficult to classify each wine as to whether we are dealing with a slightly sparkling red, white or rosé wine, or whether we are in fact dealing with a lighter, less complex sparkling wine than those produced by the classic champagne method.
It's a wine with unique characteristics, very gastronomic but at the same time easy to drink due to its low alcohol content. Take a look at some of our Pét-Nats options, from producers from the north to the south of the country, most of whom work their wines in an increasingly natural way, as the market demands and as we wine enthusiasts appreciate.
