Pét-Nat

Pét-Nat is a contraction of the French term pétillant-naturel (natural sparkling). Pét-Nat wines are sparklers made in the “ancestral” method whereby the wine is bottled before primary fermentation is finished, without the addition of secondary yeasts or sugars (as would be done when making a sparkler by the Champagne method). The result is a cloudy, rustic bubbly that can smell pretty funky (sometimes appealingly so; sometimes not). Pét-Nat sparklers can be white, rosé or red and are usually stoppered with a crown cap (just like beer). Because of the way they are made, the sparklers have highly unpredictable flavors. Hard to say if that’s good or bad.