Sea Foam 2020 Fiano Pet Nat
Riverland , South Australia
Have you ever had a Pet Nat? Pet Nat is short for Pétillant Naturel and it is the oldest method of making a sparkling wine. It involves bottling the wine while it is still fermenting. In simplest terms grapes are full of sugar and they have a natural coating of vineyard yeast on their skins. The yeasts eat the sugars which is the fermentation and produce alcohol and carbon dioxide as by-products. If you bottle the wine before the fermentation process is finished you’ll end up with bubbles in the bottle from the residual ferment and this is how Pet Nat is created. It’s sometimes cloudier than your usual sparkling wine due to sediment from the fermentation not being required to be removed by disgorging.
Pet Nat is different from Champagne in that Champagne is made with fully fermented still wine that goes to bottle with added yeast and sugar to create the fizz.
Unico Zelo is a favourite winery of mine in the Adelaide Hills. Wine-making couple Brendan and Laura Carter make wines that are very site expressive and their ethos pays homage to our First Nations people whose custodianship maintained the land for thousands of years. Their wine projects are focussed always on sustainability and include supporting local farmers through their Harvest Wine Growers’ Co-op. This is their first foray into Pet Nat territory.
So what about this wine you ask? Sea Foam is made from Riverland Fiano and it sings of summer and beach vibes! Gorgeous stone fruits, a hint of passionfruit and fresh sea spray, with beautiful fizz. It is the perfect summer juice.
Crumbs and Corks 