Anyone have some Pet Nat recs (pétillant naturel in case Neal asks what the shorthand stands for) that like? Hopefully one that’s not too high in residual sugar. There’s a million natural wine stores in LA now so I think it won’t be too tough to source something.
Give a little detail on why the rec as well if you can
Stolpman is good, as is scar of the sea chard, birichino malvasia bianca (I do some work for them), cruse valdigue. Those are pretty much CA standards of the young category off the top of my head. There are a lot out there, though.
“The method generally produces wines that are highly aromatic with low alcohol content, sometimes as low as 6%. The wines are sometimes somewhat obscure from remaining lees. They taste best 1–3 years after bottling and do not develop with further storage. In general, the wines are slightly sweet but brut (dry) varieties are also produced. The method’s main weakness is that the production process is difficult to control and therefore requires great skill by the winemaker. The produced volumes are very modest. High-quality wines produced with the ancestral method, often by small growers using organic farming principles, can be complex and very distinctive. They are mainly used as aperitifs or dessert wine with fruit dishes.”
Why would varietal character be contained in the skins of red grapes but not in the skins of white grapes? Though I’ll agree if the skin contact is extended to months then it can lead to a point where varietal characters that we’re used to are obscured by the skin phenolics that we are not used to.
Back on topic, most that I would recommend have been mentioned already, though all the Cruse ones are great, not just the Valdigue. Just popped a St. Laurent last week and loved it, again. Or get nuts and check out the new Bloomer Creek Skin Contact Gewurztraminer pet nat. If you want to go a step further and try out a native/hybrid pet nat, definitely check out Nathan and Pascaline’s Chepika project.