Pet-nat is totally booming! If you want to keep up with the hype as a wine bar, restaurant or winemaker, you have to serve or produce a pet-nat. Totally fun of course, but what exactly is a pet-nat?

Pet-nat stands for pétillant naturel. Which means as much as naturally sparkling. So it is a natural wine to which neither sugar nor yeast has been added. Bubbles in the glass are caused by the fermentation of natural sugars from the grape into alcohol. The wine is bottled just before the fermentation is complete, so there is carbon dioxide inside the bottle.

To make a pet-nat the method is called the Méthode ancestrale. The method of our ancestors. Before the second fermentation in the bottle was invented with which, among other wines, Champagne is made, sparkling wine was made in this way.

Pet-nat can be made of white and red grapes and often has a pleasantly low alcohol percentage of around 11 percent. Furthermore, pet-nat is turbid because it is unfiltered, fruity because it is youthful and wonderfully refreshing.

This new hip wine is often found in France, in the Loire region for example, but also Italy has started the production of pet-nat.

For this article I tasted two pet-nats. Each with a surprising creamy pink color.

Lise et Bertrand Jousset ‘Rose a groin’ – Loire

Made from biodynamic old vines of Grolleau and Gamay. Naturally fermented in used oak barrels. The result is a creamy glass full of berries and strawberries, round and juicy with earthy tones, uplifting acidity for ultimate quenching of thirst.

Ayunta Metodo ancestral Nerello Mascalese – Etna

From the north slopes of Mount Etna at an altitude of 700 metres. Old bush vines of Nerello Mascalese. The grapes are harvested early and fermented on stainless steel. Bottled before the fermentation stops. An incredibly beautiful color. Juicy wine with salty Etna tones, floral and fruity. The perfect aperitif for any occasion.