Lightning Does Strike Twice– Perfect Summer Bubbly!
We first featured this last October and quickly sold out— good news is it’s back in stock!
If you’re are looking for a refreshing, food-friendly fizz we suggest you look no further than this fragrant Portuguese petillant naturel (or pet-nat for short). Pet-nats, of course have become increasingly popular, especially among younger imbibers looking for a more natural, artisanally crafted bubbly. For the uninitiated, pet-nats are a lightly sparkling wine made by bottling a still-fermenting base wine, resulting in trapped carbon dioxide that produces a gentle sparkle. The fermentation is finished in the bottle over time and the fine lees stay in contact with the wine creating a richer texture and a slightly hazy appearance.
This is just the ticket for casual patio entertaining as well as mid-week meals as it pairs well with lighter poultry creations, tapas and fish dishes. Because of their small, hand-crafted production scale, the price for quality petillant naturels usually runs well north of twenty dollars a bottle– at well under 15 bucks this is a stellar deal! Bang-for-the-buck, baby!
One of the fun aspects of pet-nats is that they are usually made from non-traditional Champagne grapes. So it is with this Tapada Nova bottling from Quinta das Arcas. Their winemaking team of Fernando Machado and Henrique Lopez chose to make a 50/50 blend from the 2021 harvest from two indigenous Portuguese white grapes – Azal and Arinto. Both of these varietals are late ripeners and are noted for their zippy acidity and citrus-tinged green apple flavor profile. Their creation is a well- mannered bubbly without the funky overtones that plague too many pet-nats. Instead, one is treated to pristine lemon curd, pippin apple and peach fragrances and flavors supported by a delicate mousse and embellished with savory biscuit inflections from the bottle fermentation. The finish is clean and just tart enough to invite another sip.
