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Another Pét-Nat Joins the Ranks! Arcadia Sauvignon Gris Pét-Nat

 

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Last year, we thrilled at Paşaeli’s release of four pét-nats. This year, one more joins Paşaeli’s – the Arcadia Sauvingon Gris Pét-Nat. I’ve seen it in several shops now, but the first place (with so far the best price to boot) was at Casa Botti in Göztepe. 

Sauvignon Gris

Sauvignon Gris is a pink-berried mutation of Sauvignon Blanc. It is not, if you wondered, a common grape in Turkey. Of Sauvignon Blanc we have a seemingly never ending supply. But only the Thrace-based winery Arcadia grows Sauvignon Gris.

Arcadia produces several wines with this grape including a blend with Sauvignon Blanc and a blend with Pinot Gris.

Arcadia Sauvignon Gris Pét-Nat Brut, 2021

Opening it was a bit of a trick. If you get one, be careful! It practically exploded when I popped off the crown cap and foamed over a fair amount.

In the glass the wine appears a hazy, pale gold, looks like freshly mashed pears. It smelled a lot like freshly mashed pears too! Lots of golden tree fruit and fresh bread in the nose with a sprinkle of green herb.

The palate was oh so creamy. Despite that initial explosion, the bubbles really were quite tame and gave the wine a hint of effervescence and a deliciously creamy mouthfeel. Very nice acidity and clean flavors of rich, pear custard brioche, quince, and just a wee splash of warm citrus kept me going back for another sip.

And another and another and then suddenly the bottle was empty!

I noticed that the wine had much more of a col fondo style than the Paşaeli pét-nats. Arcadia does claim to do only limited filtration and I’ll bet this one was filtered not at all (ergo the haziness) and was, I thought, all the more enjoyable for it. 

Price-wise…yeah. Pét-nats are usually (in my experience) a lower-priced wine. They’re supposed to be the more approachable option for bubbles – approachable in regards to both consumption AND one’s wallet. But, burası Türkiye (this is Turkey) meaning they are NOT a whole lot less expensive than traditional method bubbles are. At Casa Botti I paid 325 TL for this, at Mensis Mahzen (Osmanbey) 400, and at Grape Wine Boutique (Nişantaşı) about the same as Mensis. 

Arcadia made less than 1000 bottles of this. I’m going to see how many I can manage to buy before they run out!