2021 Carboniste Pinot Grigio "PET NAT" Brut Nature, California, USA
ABOUT THIS WINE
This year Carboniste sourced the Pinot Grigio from an area of California they hadn't yet explored; San Benito county.
The vineyard holds misty clouds blown off the Pacific. An extended chilly atmosphere combined with warm summer afternoons allows longer development of flavor in the grapes and we love the expression of fruit in this finished bottle.
This wine is a continuation of our experiement in pre-traditional sparkling winemaking. Not modern or “traditional”, Pét Nat (pétillant naturel) wines are often called “ancestral”. Perhaps a happy accident, wine that is bottled before the completion of fermentation will continue to ferment in bottle, trapping the gas that makes the wine sparkle. This was the root of the traditional method used in Champagne. Science and industry has since led to advances that standardized the process, allowing for more consistent traditional and modern products.
This wine undergoes minimal influence from the winemaker. The grapes are pressed, and the juice is allowed to ferment until a sufficient level of sugar remains. It is then bottled and allowed to rest for 7 months.
ABOUT THIS PRODUCER
CARBONISTE is a dedicated producer of modern Californian sparkling wines from husband and wife duo, Dan and Jacqueline Person. Dan spent three years at Schramsberg, staged at D.R.C in 2009, and spent the past few years with Dan Petroski at Larkmead; Jacqueline a longtime and invested consultant for Naked Wines. Together, they embarked on their passion for sparkling wine and produced three flagship items: Sparkling Albariño, Extra Brut Pinot Noir Rosé, and a Pét-Nat Pinot Grigio.
In place of an homage to Champagne, CARBONISTE is a proud statement about the beauty of California’s fruit. They found that using the traditional French techniques to make sparkling wine in California didn’t quite work with their fruit. Instead, they tried to think about the best way to express the fresh, fruity flavors of, for example, Sacramento Delta Albariño, in sparkling form. What this means is that they are not a pét-nat, méthode traditionnelle, or méthode ancestrale house – each wine they produce is handled a bit differently depending on the fruit.
Details:
| Grape(s) | Pinot Grigio |
| Farming | Organic |