You’ve probably heard the term, but what exactly is a pet nat wine? It keeps coming up around me, so I thought I would try to break down simply what pet nat wine is, and a little about my experience in the cellar with it. 

Pet Nat is short for the French words Pétillant Naturel which translates to “naturally sparkling”. It is an ancient method of low-intervention sparkling wine which has gained extreme popularity in the wine world over the last few years. 

Pet nats are sparkling. However, these wines lean into a more unpredictable wine-making style. 

How is a pet nat made? 

The bubbles are created by bottling the wine before it finishes fermentation. This allows the carbon dioxide produced naturally in fermentation to carbonate the wine. Of course, this results in a completely unfiltered and un-fined wine, leaving it usually a bit cloudy in the bottle. So, any wine that is fermenting could essentially become a pet nat. If a wine ferments to completion in 10 days (let’s say) a pet nat would be bottled from that fermenting wine on say day 7, 8 or 9. The bottling day would depend on how much sugar is still left to ferment, and of course winemaking styles. 

The resulting bubbles will most likely vary due to it being bottled while “alive”. Unlike traditional method sparkling wines, Trento DOC, Franciacorta, or Champagne, where the wine finishes fermentation to become still wine and then is re-fermented in the bottle with yeast and sugar to produce a more persistent and consistent bubble. A pet nat wine will continue to transform in the bottle. They usually have a crown cap instead of a cork and are drank fairly young.

Pet nats have become very popular in the last few years. Natural and “raw” wine enthusiasts have taken to the look and idea of a pet nat. This has encouraged a lot of winemakers to start experimenting again with these ancient pet nat methods (including myself). I find its unpredictability a bit challenging, but also very cool to see each bottle as a sort of picture of that particular wines journey, both through grape and winemaking choices. 

This last vintage I bottled a pet nat of every single wine made, red, white, and rosé. A couple were perfectly clear with a lovely bubble close to traditional method sparkling wines. Others, I found them a bit volatile due to how “unfiltered” they were and I found them too “dirty” because they had not gone through a racking. After another couple of months, I will try them all again to see how they are progressing and make some decisions for larger productions next year. 

What to expect in a pet nat wine? 

Pet nats are often a bit lighter in alcohol, and remain on the fruitier side. They are a cool choice for a lunch wine, afternoon wine, or aperitivo. They vary in colour and clarity, based on the grape and skin contact time. They are approachable and fun, unpredictable yet versatile.

Some might say that a pet nat offers a raw authentic expression of the grape and terrior. I say have fun with pet nat wines, they can be a great alternative to your usual sparkler.