5 Pét-Nats You Should Be Drinking, From a New York-Based Sommelier

April 24, 2020 Admin 0 Comments

Wine guy Miguel de Leon wants you to love and drink these pétillant-naturels

Depending who you are, you either just recently became curious about pét-nat; it’s all you’ve been buying for the past two years; or you swear you were drinking pét-nats before anyone else had heard of them. But no matter when you came onto the trendy, fizzy wine, there’s no doubt it’s worth your time.

Pétillant-naturels are made in a specific way: Take wine that hasn’t finished fermenting yet and stick it in the bottle. As it completes fermentation in the bottle, carbon dioxide is released and along with it, bubbles. And as opposed to the sharp carbonation — and often refined, engineered flavor — of Champagne, pét-nats are more subtly carbonated. Plus, thanks to the uncontrolled nature of the fermentation, pét-nats are more all-over-the-place in terms of taste — which is a great thing. (Here’s a more thorough explainer on why pét-nats and Champagne are totally different.)

Pét-nats fall under the category of natural wine — the nebulous term that tends to refer to wine that sees minimal to no intervention during the winemaking process — so you’ll find that many (though not all!) have that hazy color and less-filtered flavor that’s oh so desirable.

Pinch Chinese’s wine director and general manager Miguel de Leon hosted a pét-nat-themed Eater Wine Club as part of the Eater @ Home virtual event series, and shared a few recommendations for pét-nats you should be seeking out right now:

• Osmote “FLX” 2019 Finger Lakes, New York ($22)
• Calcarius “Frecciabomb” 2018 Puglia, Italy ($25)
• Domaine Saint Cyr rosé pét-nat NV Beaujolais, France ($25)
• Chepika “Catawaba” 2016 Finger Lakes, New York
• Tour des Gendres pé-nat 2018 Guyenne, France ($23)

Looking for other of-the-moment sparkling wines? We’ve got you covered there, too.