David Williams on wineWineThis ancient method of making sparkling wine produces a perfect summer aperitif
When you look at bottles of pét nat at first you might mistake them for craft beer. It’s not just the use of metal crown caps rather than corks. The pop art-inspired illustrations, punky fonts, and playful, punning name on their riotously colourful labels have the same DIY, fanzine aesthetic you find on so many bottles of double dry-hopped IPA.
That at least some of their customers might mistake what is in fact a form of sparkling wine for beer might be the point for some makers of pét nat. They want to signal their difference from other wines, that they’re offering something fun, irreverent, unpredictable. The medium of the bottle is to some extent the message, which annoys some of the more conservative-minded types in the wine trade who dismiss pét nat as nothing more than “hipster bubbles”.
It’s much more than that. Pét nat is an abbreviation of pétillant naturel, a method of making sparkling wine that is generally thought to be the oldest, having originated in Limoux, in France’s Languedoc, as far back as the 16th century, some years before champagne got its fizz. It’s a simpler, less labour-intensive way of going about getting bubbles, simpler than the champagne method, where a base wine which has finished its fermentation is placed in a bottle with a mix of yeast and sugar to create a second, fizz-giving fermentation. Or the charmat method used for prosecco, in which the second fermentation happens in a tank. For pét nat, there’s just one fermentation but the base wine is bottled while still fermenting, with the CO2 produced as the yeast consumes the remaining sugar in the bottle.
This creates less of the savoury or bakery shop aromas you get in traditional champagne-method wines and a more immediate fruitiness as well as a sweet-sour funkiness and gentler fizz than you might find in foaming mass-market prosecco. Many of the best of the early examples of the pét nat revival in the 2000s were French but it’s a style that has been adopted with panache, and adapted to all kinds of different grape varieties and colours, all over the world, often in the slipstream of the natural wine movement.
It’s a perfect spring and summer aperitif and a great food wine, pairing nicely with curry, Thai and Vietnamese herb and spice, fish and chips, hamburgers, fried chicken. All of which you might otherwise consider drinking with craft beer.
Six of the best pét nats
Château le Roc, Roc Ambulle
Fronton, France 2021
From £14.50, josephbarneswines.com; latitudewine.co.uk; peckhamcellars.co.uk
A cult classic from the vineyards of Fronton along the Tarn river, this is just the sort of thing you can imagine drinking with a plate of saucisson in a bustling Toulouse wine bar. Easy-going, light-in-alcohol (9.5% abv), with tangy, cherry exuberance, it will bring cheer wherever you may be.
Ancre Hill Pét Nat Red
Monmouthshire, Wales NV
From £19, chilledandtannin.com; cheerswinemerchants.co.uk; lescaves.co.uk
A belated first Welsh wine in these pages from this half-Welsh correspondent. No patriotic bias is required for this wonderful explosion of cherry juice and compote with a delectable twist of herb in a lightly frizzante-style that is rather Italian.
Hunter’s Offshoot Pét Nat
Marlborough, New Zealand 2022
£17.95, jeroboams.co.uk
Australian Jane Hunter was one of the key figures in the emergence of New Zealand wine from the 1980s onwards and her family business is still at the Marlborough forefront. Their take on pét nat beautifully harnesses the local sauvignon blanc’s natural gooseberry-ish bounce.
Entre Vinyes Oniric Pét Nat
Penedès, Spain 2021
From £19.50, theatreofwine.com; forestwines.com
Penedès in Catalonia is the home of cava, and Entre Vinyes makes some very good examples of the traditional-method fizz. Their pét nats are even more fun with this blend of cava grape xarel-lo and aromatic muscat offering so much wholesome cloudy pear and apple juice.
Intellego Hey Mila! Pét Nat
South Africa 2022
From £22, thewinescouts.co.uk; hopburnsblack.co.uk; shop.wearethirsty.co.uk
One of South Africa’s leading natural wine producers, Jurgen Gouws, has proved a dab hand at the bubbles of pét nat, with this pink bottling made from the Mediterranean red variety mourvèdre featuring joyful berry infused with subtle lavender and rosemary.
Wildman Astro Bunny Pét Nat
South Australia, Australia 2021/2022
From £26, thesourcingtable.com; oldbridgewine.co.uk
Over the past decade, Master of Wine Tim Wildman has become a master of pét nat, making a multicoloured range of glorious wines from Italian grape varieties in South Australia. All of Wildman’s pét nats are worth seeking out but start with the zing of Astro Bunny.
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