With names like Piggy Pop, Cosmonat and Flower Girl and bright psychedelic funky labels, ‘Pet Nats’ might sound and look like frivolous fizzy drinks.  They are in fact very interesting deliciously fruity sparkling wines which are currently hugely popular around the world.

The name Pet Nat means Petillant Naturel – hence the name given to these spritzy sparklers which are usually found topped with crown caps (aka beer caps) – which are much more effective than corks as closures for sparkling wines.

Pet Nats might be the hippest and trendiest drinks in the bar right now, but they are actually one of the oldest fizz predating Champagne.  They are the same as Methode Ancestrale or Methode Rural.  This age-old process usually involves a wine from one harvest bottled before the alcoholic fermentation has finished.  By bottling it early, the final alcohol level, residual sugar and fizz pressure depends on the activity of the sugar and yeast left in the bottle – a process which according to winemakers can be quite risky.

“It is like a bottle of our vineyard having done nothing to do”, says Sussex-based Pet Nat winemaker Will Davenport.  “But it is all about timing and temperature control – bottle too early you get lower alcohol and more sugar whereas bottling late you get high alcohol and a very dry taste so you need to get the balance right”.

Pet Nats date back 500 years and have been continuously made in French regions like Limoux, Gaillac and Savoie – but the craze caught on recently with small artisan natural winemakers in Loire, Beaujolais, Languedoc and Rhone.  Now you can buy Pet Nats from anywhere – from Wales to Austria, South Africa to California with an exciting diversity of styles.

With no Pet-Nat rules on style, region or grape – there are big variations between wines.  They can be anything from very dry to sweet – they can be white, rose, red or orange – and made anywhere.  Some are even made with other fruits apart from grapes, such as pears or apples (try Little Ponoma’s Perry Pet Nat £14.95 St Andrews Wine).

What most Pet Nats have in common is that they are about as natural as any fizz can get – with no additives, no dosage, zero sulphur – so they are genuinely authentic – much more so than industrially-produced Proseccos.

Appearance-wise Pet Nats tend to be softer and frothier in fizz than Champagne with a floaty soft mousse which fades quickly.  Tastewise they have a purer fruitier flavour than Champagne – with delicious freshness, made to be drunk immediately within a year or two of the bottling with alcohol levels from 7.5% to 13%.

Some can be slightly cloudy (not a fault) with deep yellow hue – but don’t let that put you off.  If the Pet Nat is clear it means the winemaker has disgorged the fizz and taken it off its dead yeast sediment (lees), and may have replaced the crown cap with a cork.

Often lovingly made by artisan winemakers – some like Tim Wildman MW, who made the best wine in our tasting, are obsessed with the style and want to show the world that Pet Nat is a serious wine, not just fizzy pop.  Most are made in small quantities, so prices are not cheap – but they really deliver some of the world’s most naturally delicious fizz.

PET NATS AROUND THE WORLD

Languedoc, France: ZESTOS PET NAT 2021 Les Equilibristes

£26 The Sampler; L’Art du Vin, Dunfermline

Quirky cuvee of Grolleau Gris and Pineau d’Aunis; rich rounded zesty spicy fizz from two maverick natural winemakers whose name Les Equilibristes refers to tightrope walkers as they aim to make wines with balance.

 

South Australia: PIGGY POP 2022 Tim Wildman ***STAR BUY***

£26.80 The Sourcing Table

Delicious frothy melange of cherries, liquorice and raspberries with palate bursting with fresh berry flavour – vibrant natural acidity and a little grip to finish which works well with charcuterie.  Made by Pet Nat fanatic Tim Wildman MW, this funky blend of Nero d’Avola, Mataro, Zibibbo, Lagrein and Arneis sourced from McLaren Vale, Adelaide Hills and Riverland scored highest in our tasting.

 

Stellenbosch, South Africa: FLOWER GIRL 2021 Botanica Wines

£19 Woodwinters

Pale light savoury Cape Cabernet Franc.  Initially with floral and strawberry aromas, plenty of frothy fun on the palate, fleeting minerally notes and tart damson fruits to finish.

Mosel, Germany: COSMONAT NV Jan Philipp Bleek

£21 Sevslo Wine, Glasgow

100% Pinot Noir Pet Nat with a funky label which looks more like a craft beer label.  Vividly crisp creamy texture made using biodynamic and organic methods on the Mosel valley’s slatey soils by a natural wine advocate.

 

Loire, France: PETITE BULLES 2021 Domaine Delettre

£19 Sevslo Wine, Glasgow

Funky 100% Cabernet Franc Pet Nat which tastes of strawberries and raspberries with a firm grippy length; lovingly crafted by biodynamic Loire winemaker Stephane Delettre based in St Nicolas de Bourgueil.

Wales, UK: PET NAT PINK NV Ancre Hill ***STAR BUY***

£19.50 L’Art du Vin; Les Caves; Grape Britannia; Juiced Wines; Chilled & Tannin

Richard Morris uses the ‘intermission method’ blending older Pinot Noir with fresh Chardonnay – bottled when 90% fermented: deliciously soft smooth mousse, fresh vibrancy, herby with good depth.  Morris is also one of the UK’s leading biodynamic winemakers.

By Rose Murray Brown MW   Published in The Scotsman 20 May 2023  

Join Rose’s Escorted Wine Tour to South America 29 Jan-10 Feb 2024 www.rosemurraybrown.com