First of all, what is Pét-Nat? It’s short for pétillant-naturel. And it is a fizzy delight. (Sometimes it can be a bit cloudy and funky, too.) You make Pét-Nat by bottling a wine while it’s still fermenting. So some happy bubbles become trapped. That means, upon the time of enjoyment, YOU WIN. (Please note that Pét-Nats can sometimes be a bit…temperamental. Open carefully.)
Getting to Know Pét-Nat from…Long Island?!?
The bulk of Pét-Nat is French so it’s cool to come across a bottle made in Long Island. WHOA! (<–Keanu-esque) [Note that more and more producers on both coasts are rolling out Pét-Nats. But they are very far from ubiquitous so keep your eyes peeled.]
I received this bottle as part of a wine club run by my friend Jenny (follow her on Instagram, yo). She’s the kind of person who tracks down this wine:
2014 Southold Farm + Cellar Weather to Fly
A minuscule 48 cases made!
It has a really cool label!
Gah, and even a swing top!
I DIE.
This wine was so fresh and easy to love love love. I drank it out of an old jelly jar, which seemed the most appropriate vessel.
Weather to Fly is is a single-vineyard Chardonnay and is a touch cloudy due to all that unfiltered-ness and yeast stuff going on in the bottle.
I wish I had all 48 cases so I could hoard them and miserly dole bottles out periodically over summer and fall.
Wait, that sounds like a jerk move. Let’s start over.
I wish I had more than one bottle so that I could share them with a wide swath of folks. How’s that? Getting closer….
What I’m trying to say is that I’d like to buy the world a….
Wait, that’s not what I’m trying to say. I think I still have (SPOILER ALERT!) the final episode of Mad Men rolling around in my head. Except rather than visions of Coke (and looking like Don Draper), my brain is fizzed up on swing-top Long Island Pét-Nat dreams.
Get more fizz:
Podcast: Pét-Nat: Naturally Sparkling Wines to Quench Thirst
For an overview of the history of Pét-Nat, head to PUNCH.
