All the cool kids are drinking it... are you?

Pétillant Naturel (aka Pét Nat) is a fun, delicious style of gently sparkling wine... and can usually be found for a great price, like the $13 Amuse Bouche I found in my local Trader Joe's! I giving you the intel on:

• What is Pét Nat?
• How is it made?
• Why you should be drinking it?
• What you should be drinking it WITH!

Check out more about this week's SIP SPOTLIGHT wine from Pierre & Antonin.

If you'd like to Support the Podcast, you can buy me a glass of wine and get a shoutout on a future episode.

Our tiny production wine/passion project, 2021 Sollevato Sangiovese , just received a Gold Medal and 92 point rating in the Orange County Wine Competition! Order online and Use code PODLISTENER for 10% off your order.

Please consider Rating, Reviewing and Following Us on Apple Podcasts!

• How? Click Here, scroll to the bottom, tap to rate with Stars and select "write a review" and let us know what you loved most about this episode! 
• If you haven't already, please FOLLOW the podcast! We have so many more exciting episodes coming out, and if you're not following you might MISS then! Click here to Follow! 

Want to learn more about wine? Get my Wine Tips Cheat Sheet HERE

Questions, suggestions and guest requests? nikki@sipwithnikki.com

So this is really cool.

And I was like, Oh, I guess I need a beer opener to open this.

So I haven't even opened it yet.

Cause I really wanted to taste it right when it was open, just to see the level of peppy fizziness that might be there.

So let's see how we do with this.

Ooh, nice fizz in there.

Mm, it smells like yeasty melon.

And welcome to this week's Sip with Nikki.

I'm your host, Nikki Lamberti.

If you are a first time listener, thanks for joining in.

So excited to have you here.

And if you are a regular listener like Kimmy in Michigan, I got to give you a shout out.

And thanks for being a loyal listener.

Not only does Kimmy listen to the podcast, but she recently placed an order for some of our 2021 Solovato Sangiovese that we'll be shipping to her.

And I hope you enjoy every last sip.

If you haven't tried our Sangiovese yet, or you already drank it and need some more.

We are approaching sellout of the 2021 at the time of this recording.

I'll put the link in the show notes for my website.

So lovato wines.

com and make sure you use the discount code pod listener at checkout for 10 percent off your order.

Again, that code is pod.

Pod listener, all one word, uppercase pod listener for 10 percent off your order and we can ship to the majority of states.

So recently I was perusing the wine section in my local Trader Joe's here in Northern California.

And yes, we have Trader Joe's in Northern California.

And yes, I do shop in the wine section there.

You know, from time to time I need to spend some time there and get a good feel for What is the rest of the country drinking?

Because I know that my perception and my accessibility to wines is skewed.

Living where I live in a very celebrated wine country here in Sonoma County.

And I usually buy my wines at the wineries themselves and through different wine clubs because I can.

But I know that that is not always the case for most of you as wine drinkers.

So I wanted to see what was going on in Trader Joe's.

What's on the shelves?

What's popular?

What are those beautiful end caps with all that gorgeous lettering?

Can we just talk about the Trader Joe's like signs and lettering, how beautiful they are?

And, as I was looking at what was available, there was a section that caught my eye on PETNAT, P E T N A T, which is fairly new to most people, an interesting category of wine.

And I haven't talked about it yet on the podcast.

So this week we're going to jump into what the heck is PETNAT?

How is it made?

How is it similar or different to other sparkling wine styles that you might be familiar with?

Why should you be drinking it?

And what should you be drinking it with?

So here we go with everything you need to know about PetNet.

So if you heard the very first episode of Sip With Nikki last winter, it was Dan Richer, who is a owner of Razza Pizza in Jersey City, and also the author of the New York Times bestselling Joy of Pizza, aka Our Pizza Bible.

We just had that book on the counter this morning as we were making pizza dough.

And by the way, if you didn't listen to that very first episode, make sure you put it in your queue, go back and listen to it.

It's fantastic.

And he will give you some awesome tips on how to elevate your at home pizza making, which is something that we love to do.

When I was talking to Chef Dan about his favorite wine and pizza pairings, he mentioned Pet Nut, and I've heard from a few people since that episode has had many, many listens that people are not familiar with that.

So I thought it'd be a great time to focus in on this category of sparkling wine that we affectionately referred to as PET NAT, P E T N A T.

In French, the actual pronunciation is Pétient Naturel.

Thank you to Google Translate for pronouncing that.

It looks like petulant natural.

But we're going to call it pet nut because that's what all the cool kids are calling it.

So what exactly is pet nut?

Well, it is a sparkling wine that's made from a very ancient traditional method that is actually the original method of making sparkling wine older than the more traditional champagne method that many of us are familiar with.

With this method that dates back to somewhere in the 1500s in the Loire Valley in France.

They basically start the primary fermentation, which is creating alcohol, and that's how all wine starts, but then stop that process partially through and then move the wine, usually from a tank that it's fermenting in, into a bottle.

And then the fermentation finishes in the bottle.

And as you may know from some previous episode, fermentation creates CO2 bubbles.

It's a natural byproduct of the fermentation process.

So, if you are letting that process happen in the bottle, that's how you get sparkling wine.

Now, the difference between that, That method ancestral that makes petnat and the method champenois, the traditional champagne method is the traditional champagne method.

The wine goes through two separate fermentations.

It finishes a first initial fermentation outside of the bottle.

Then the wine is moved in the bottle and then you basically add a solution that has sugar in it.

Close it and then the secondary fermentation is happening in the bottle, which is creating the bubbles.

So that's the biggest difference between the two.

For a pet nut, it's only one fermentation and it just gets stopped halfway through.

How does it get stopped?

Temperature.

So yeast are very sensitive to temperature.

So if the temperature cools below a favorable rate during fermentation, essentially the yeast die and it will arrest or stop the fermentation.

And it's believed that this process came to be just by a result of natural temperature changes in ambient temperature.

So back in the 1500s, when they were making wine, there was no temperature control and regulation and things like that.

So if you were fermenting wine and the temperature got cold, moving into the fall and the winter.

then naturally your fermentation would stop.

And then as things would warm up in the spring, it would restart.

So that is believed to be how this process was discovered.

And now of course we can duplicate it with technology and, you know, lowering temperature and raising temperature.

So Pet Nat is a category of wine.

So you could go into a well stocked wine shop, and they may actually have a section of Pet Knots.

And some would believe that Pet Knot is a category within the larger natural wine category.

Now, I'm going to do a Episode on natural wine because it's a question that comes up a lot and believe it or not.

I am still formulating my opinion and Trying to gather some good information on the natural wine topic.

I will tell you that I recently had a natural wine here from California, and it was weird and undrinkable.

Now, I'm not going to generalize that to the whole category, but there's just a lot of misinformation and there's actually not a real and true definition of natural wine.

But you may hear people talk about interchangeably with petnat as we're talking about today.

And that's because usually to make petnat, you don't add yeast or inoculate, which is a very common thing that most winemakers will do.

That's what I do when I make my wine.

I've selected a strain of yeast that's been identified for petnat.

for specific characteristics and good for certain type of grapes.

And in order to make pet net, you would do a natural fermentation, meaning you wouldn't add any yeast.

You would just let the natural yeast that exists, sort of.

in the environment take hold of the wine and, and start fermentation.

Not unlike if you started a sourdough starter during COVID like Michael and I did.

We've got Gladys, she's now four years old.

You know, the way that you start that is you literally set on the counter your flour, water, and eventually just the native yeast that exists in your home and your kitchen and the air.

takes on and starts that fermentation.

So same type of thing is with native fermentation and that's how most pet nuts are made.

And then it's often sealed with like a beer cap or a crown cap rather than the traditional cork with the wire cage over it.

So it's kind of streamlined and trendy looking, but the purpose of course is that cap is keeping the pressure within the bottle.

And typically, they're going to have lower alcohols, maybe 11, 12 percent.

They may be cloudy because not only have they not been filtered, but there's just, you know, there's a lot of sediment in there and, and that is believed to contribute to the sort of fine, creamy texture that people love about pet nut.

And the, quote, electric freshness.

I can't take credit for that, but that is what one producer talks about as the texture of their wine that makes it really great with food.

And we've talked in previous episodes about food and wine pairing and how things with great um, acidity, natural high acidity.

They give that tartness and freshness on the palate, which can be a really great complement to rich foods and fatty foods.

So I can totally understand why Dan likes pet nuts with pizza.

Also because they're generally like a little bit lighter and, you know, even though they're sparkling, it's usually a softer, uh, Fizz, a softer sparkle than a traditional champagne.

So it's just gentle and has a really appealing texture to it.

So now it's time for our Sip Spotlight.

Sip Spotlight!

And so in Trader Joe's, I picked up this Petnat, beautiful, golden, cloudy wine with a crown cap on top.

And it's called a Mousse Bouche.

And the producer is Pierre E.

Antonin.

And I spent some time on their website, which I will share in the show notes below.

today.

Two young French guys who actually met in New York, and their story is very cool about their passions for wine.

And they make different wines, not just this one, but I love what is written on the back of this Petnat 2023.

It says, this wine produced using the ancestral method.

is the result of a natural fermentation of our finest grapes.

It contains no added yeast, sugars, or sulfites.

We do not intervene, but simply support the winemaking process to allow nature to do its work.

It's been a while since I've tasted a pet nut and I've probably only tasted, I don't know, Three or four in my life.

So this is really cool.

And I was like, oh, I guess I need a beer opener to open this.

So I haven't even opened it yet because I really wanted to taste it right when it was open just to see the the level of peppy fizziness that might be there.

So let's see how we do with this.

Nice fizz in there.

Mmm, smells like yeasty melon.

But in a good way.

I know that sounds like a weird description, but that's the first thing that came to mind.

First I get the yeasty, bready, like, brioche y, like you're in a bakery.

And then some nice, like, honeydew, melon tones underneath it.

There was a nice mousse, we say, or foam, you know, on the top from the fizz, but it settled pretty quickly from the CO2.

Let me see how it tastes.

Hmm,

that's pleasantly pleasing.

Nothing offensive about it at all.

Nice, fun fizz, fun bubbles.

Yeah, that's very nice, very drinkable.

I could see how that could be a very fun pairing with Rich food or spicy food, Chinese food, pizza.

It's really nice.

It's different.

It is light.

Light in weight, light in how it dances on the palate.

Probably off dry, so not completely dry.

Very mild hint of sweetness, but in a positive way.

Yeah.

And according to my favorite wine app, Vivino, it says that this is a blend of both Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grapes, which is pretty typical in traditional champagne.

Those are actually the two grapes that are most widely used, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.

Pinot Noir being a red grape, but again, if you get it off the skins pretty quickly, you can still make a wine that's, quote, white in color like this one, even though some of the grapes in there are Pinot Noir.

Again, I hesitated because some of the quote natural wines that I've tasted are just really funky because one of the things that they don't use is an additional, is additional sulfur.

And the reason we use sulfur in wine is because it's antimicrobial.

It will protect the wine from any weird spoilage bacterias that can get in and give your wine funky stinky flaws.

And this does not have that at all.

This is really nice.

I am excited about my Trader Joe's find and I would definitely give this, uh, thumbs up for sure, especially at the price point, which was about 13.

So again, I'll put the link in the show notes.

You can check it out, but pleasantly surprised.

I think you need to taste more of these pet nuts and, uh, report out to you because it's really, really good.

Gaining in popularity and you know, it's interesting because I live and work and make wine in a pretty traditional Wine market right where we make premium wines, you know big rich reds things sealed with corks aged for two years

I mean, that's what Napa and Sonoma are typically known for but I know that this is a category that is gaining in popularity especially with the younger wine drinkers.

So I owed it to me and to you to try it.

And I have to say, yum, like it.

I would definitely buy it again.

So clearly I was pleasantly surprised with that lovely 13 bottle from Trader Joe's.

Congrats to the winemakers.

And again, I'm going to put the link in the show notes so you can learn a little bit more from their website and go find it at your local Trader Joe's.

I have to say that after I finished recording this, you know, I had that bottle open and Michael had just made a beautiful butternut squash ravioli in a brown butter sauce.

And the rest of that bottle went down very easily as a great pairing.

with that rich kind of fall like meal.

So really, really enjoyed it.

And Michael was even like, wow, that was really good.

And he couldn't believe that it was a 13 bottle of wine.

If you haven't grabbed your Solovato San Gervasi, my delicious evening drink.

It's medium bodied red wine that's also great with pizza and pasta and all your favorites.

Visit SolovatoWines.

com and don't forget to use that discount code, PODLISTENER.

Questions, requests, feedback, ideas for guests or future topics, send me an email, nikki at sipwithnikki.

com.

Looking forward to catching up with you next week, but until then, sip well.

Do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do

do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do Um, uh, Um, Uh, um, uh, um, uh, um, uh, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um,

um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um Wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah

wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah

wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah

wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah Ba ba da da ba da da da da Ba ba da da ba da da da da