I’m beginning a series on Pet Nats! This is an interesting style of wine that’s becoming more popular. Also known as Methode Ancestrale, Pet Nat stands for Pétillant Naturel, and refers to sparkling wines that are bottled while there is still some sugar, and they complete fermentation in the bottle, making them naturally sparkling. This is a good place to start: it’s from New Zealand producer Kindeli, which is the name of Alex Craighead’s project (he also has a label called Don). I found it on the list at the excellent Neo Bistro, near Bond Street station in London

Alex tells me that this is 100% Riesling from gravel soils on the flats in Hope, Nelson. There’s an overnight soak, the grapes are pressed, the must settles and then ferment begins. Then as ferment is near the finish, the wine is bottled with 10 g/l residual sugar and it is bottled the same day. The wine isn’t disgorged, so it’s naturally cloudy. No sulfur dioxide is added, so this is fully natural.

Kindeli La Lecheuza Pet-Nat 2016 Nelson, New Zealand
11% alcohol. Lively and fresh, this cloudy Pet Nat has lovely flavours of tangy citrus and pear fruit, with some fresh green apple character. It’s juicy, crisp, crunchy and detailed with a bit of spicy grip under the fruit. It didn’t take long to finish this one. 90/100

Find this wine with wine-searcher.com