For the Love of Wine...

Years ago I stumbled upon an opportunity to be a Traveling Vineyard Representative. At the time, I was trying to understand why I liked the wine that I did, and I needed a way to further my education and interest. The Traveling Vineyard was a company whose business idea was in home wine tastings with unique wines that were exclusive to the brand. The consultant would walk the guests through the tasting in a descriptive and educational way, and sell the wines that were tasted at the party. Being a traveling vineyard consultant was the start of my wine journey, and my love of wine. Over the years I have worked in many different capacities at many different wine shops and distributors, and I learned that I am passionate about the journey of the grapes from the vineyard to the bottle. Each grape varietal comes from a different vineyard , and will therefore have a different story and a different outcome. I’ve come to realize that the stories behind the wines are where my love of wine really lies, and I am passionate about sharing those stories. ” For the Love of Wine,” is a series on my blog where I will do that. Last week I happened to stop at the Squam Lake Marketplace in Holderness, NH; one of my favorite markets in the Lakes Region for gifts, sandwiches and their unique selections of wine. I always find a few interesting bottles to bring home. This time I brought home a bottle of Pet Nat.

What is Pet Nat?

Before 2020 it was not a common occurrence to see this type of wine on a shelf in the United States. I believe the creative consciousness of winemakers, and their focus on being natural and biodynamic in the vineyard and in the winery, has allowed wines like this to become a new trend. Pet Nat stands for pétillant-naturel, a French term that describes the “ancestral method” of making soft, sparkling wines in contrast to the Champagne Method or “Méthod Champenoise.” The Champagne method starts with wine, then yeast and sugar are added and the mix is bottled. The yeast starts a secondary fermentation process which produces alcohol and CO2. When you pop a bottle of sparkling wine that is made in this way, the CO2 in the bottle emerges as bubbles or effervescence. The “ancestral method” of making sparkling wine skips the secondary fermentation by bottling the wine before the first fermentation is complete. This results in a softer, smaller bubble and the yeast cells and remaining grape bits can be seen as sediment in the bottom of the bottle. Many Pet Nat wines have a metal cap like a beer or soda bottle, which you can see from the photo of the Pomalo that inspired this post. When you uncap it, the sediment can fizz up, so I don’t recommend shaking it. When I poured this wine the bubbles emerged in pearls or lines typical of a sparkling wine, but then faded into a fizzy foam at the top somewhat like the “head” on a beer.

Pet Nat is lower in alcohol than many other sparkling wines which makes it a perfect picnic or brunch wine. This Pet Nat from Croatia’s Dalmatia Coast is made from organically grown, dry-farmed Debit grapes that are indigenous to Dalmatia and thrive between the ocean and the mountains. The name “Pomalo” means to take it easy or slow down which is rooted in the coastal, island lifestyle and represents the state of mind of the Dalmations. The wine is bright, and fresh with citrus tones and a touch of sourness like a beer sour, but the sediment in the bottom is like an extra burst of mouth filling flavor which gets more noticeable the closer you get to the bottom of the bottle. The smell or nose of the wine is reminiscent of a sour beer with an underlying yeasty smell like being in a bakery. In the articles that I read it was referred to as a cross between a wine, a beer, and juice. I agree with that tasting analogy! Some people even refer to Pet Nat as Radler wine, which is a term that originated in Germany to describe a lower alcohol beer beverage that is a mix of 2 parts beer and one part lemonade, grapefruit juice or lemon-lime soda.

Cheers to a unique style of wine that I’m happy to have crossed paths with. Pet Nat may just be next summer’s boat wine!