Ansonia isn’t exactly your local hipster natural wine store; (too much Burgundy, not enough Brett). But we do enjoy a bit of “natty wine” from time to time, and celebrate the largely positive influence it’s had on the world of wine. And so we’re excited today to introduce our first Pét-Nat, our most hipster wine to date.
Pét-Nat, short for péttiant-naturel (naturally sparkling), predates Champagne by a few hundred years. In Champagne, sugar and yeast are added to finished still wine, and a second fermentation under seal produces bubbles. Pét-Nat is simpler — the wine is bottled before the first fermentation ends, and ends up lightly sparkling.
Our source for this new Pét-Nat is, unsurprisingly, the Loire Valley, the Silicon Valley of France’s natural wine movement. The source is Nicolas Paget, an excitable young winemaker making tiny quantities of outstanding organic wines. Paget’s dry, refreshing Chenin blanc “Melodie” has quickly become a staple in many readers’ cellars. Today’s Pét-Nat is a similar wine, just with an extra bit of sparkle.
This is a perfect summer sipper: dry, uncomplicated, and refreshing. Look for notes of pears and stones in the nose, with apple skin and chalk in the mouth. The doughiness of Crémant and Champagne is absent — (the wine spends no time on lees) — but Chenin blanc lends a smooth, mouthfilling quality that’s cut masterfully by the fine bubbles.
We won’t be abandoning our Bourgognephilic list any time soon, but at $5/glass this was too fun to pass up. Just for a moment, put down the Perrières and give Pét-Nat a try.
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Paget Pét-Nat Aborigène
bottle price: $25
FREE EAST COAST SHIPPING ON ANY 12 BOTTLES