Introducing Turkish Pét-Nat!
Turkey is no stranger to sparkling wine production. Ankara-based Vinkara wines made the first traditional method sparkling wine (with Kalecik Karası) years ago. Suvla followed with its traditional method wines, also from native grapes. Then Arcadia made one, then Kavaklidere with Chardonnay (the only not made with a native grape). Turkish sparkling wine is also made via the tank method. And we have a plethora of inexpensive bubbles made by adding carbonation.
What we did not have, was the recently fashionable pét-nat. And I say ‘was’ because we now do have. And not just one! No no. Four.
But what IS Pét-Nat?
Affectionately called, pét-nat, this style of sparkling wine is more properly known by its full and difficult to pronounce correctly French name: pétillant natural. Simply meaning ‘naturally sparkling’ this style has gained popularity over the last few years largely due to the ‘natural wine’ phenomenon. And while I want to punch in the face every single person who emails me asking where they can find “natural wine” in Turkey…that these four wines came out of all this is a bit of a balm to my soul.
Of course none of that answers what it is. Whereas the Champagne method is often referred to (at least outside of Champagne) as the “traditional method”, pét-nat is made via the ancestral method, indicating it is likely the oldest sparkling wine method. Unlike both traditional and tank sparkling wines, the ancestral method has only one fermentation. Not two. Just the one. Before the first fermentation finishes, the wine is bottled and closed with a crown cap. It then finishes fermenting in the closed bottle, resulting in the capturing of CO2.
This method leads to a few differences in the wines:
- The final product is less predictable. It may ferment fully dry, it might be off-dry. Who knows! Perhaps that’s half the fun?
- Usually wines are semi-sparkling leading to a softer fizz.
- Wines often have a lower final alcohol by volume (ABV) than do those made via the traditional or tank methods.
- In order to preserve the more ‘rustic’ style, they’re often unfiltered and may have some sediment and/or look cloudy.
- They’re not meant to be cellared. These are easy-drinking, fun, and delicious, but not ageable.
Pét-Nat and Paşaeli
Pét-nat’s shouldn’t be overly expensive. Generally speaking anyway. In Turkey these wines, all made by Paşaeli (of course! who else would do this?) will run you somewhere between 200-215TL/bottle. And why did Paşaeli get into making pét-nat? Paşaeli’s winemaker Işık Gülçubuk kindly took the time to answer a few questions for me.
“I like the idea behind pet-nat, that it is low intervention, wild and fun. You need to get really good grapes, process them well and finally let nature do the magic and develop the final product. There is always a bit of uncertainty, you would never really know how each bottle is going to turn out, slight differences between bottles are more than welcomed. From production point of view, it is quite labor-intensive, we open each bottle one by one, take the lees out and rebottle them (traditional disgorgement à la volée). But in the end, you get these funky and cool bottles, that are just a good fit for any occasion.
I thought that the very first pet-nats in the market should be produced from our local grapes. It takes time to understand these varieties, but definitely worth the effort.”
Paşaeli Naif Çalkarası Blush Brut, 2020
Naif is Turkish for “innocent”, “naïve” etc. But these wines are anything BUT innocent! However, as Işık explained to me, it also means “natural.”
“Naif means natural, genuine, innocent, which I very much relate to the wine itself. A natural sparkling wine, that needs to be drunk effortless and with joy. The Latin origin of the word is ’nativus’, and comes from French to our language.
The label is designed by talented artist and illustrator Kayansel, it is a tribute to an old bush vine (the Çalkarası grapes are trained this way). There are hints of the process on the bottle; the grapes are transferred into the bubbles, Naif is placed into a half berry which is at the heart of the label. The Naif bird is there to celebrate the harvest and the eyes for good luck…”
ABV: 13%
Appearance: very pale salmon
Nose: Loads of red fruits like currants and pomegranate come first followed by aromas of caramel and bananas foster. Yeah. Weird but yeah.
Palate: Dry with a soft and playful mousse. Flavors of pomegranate vinegar, amber honey, and sesame peanuts. Far far to easy to drink.
Paşaeli Naif Çalkarası Brut, 2020
Whereas the Naif Blush was made via direct press (i.e. no skin contact) resulting in that pretty, pale color, the Brut stayed on the skins for 19 hours. In the scheme of life, 19 hours may not seem like a lot of time, but it made a huge difference between these two wines. Beyond even the very obvious color difference.
ABV: 13%
Appearance: intense watermelon-pink
Nose: The wine smelled as intensely pink as looked! Wild raspberries, dried Bing cherries, and pomegranate syrup all saved from being too sweet by a light pomegranate leaf greenness.
Palate: Dry with a vivacious but soft mousse. It tasted like my childhood! Not that I was drinking pét-nat as kid. Even if there had been any around, I probably wasn’t cool enough to have been drinking it. The taste of the sweet and tart raspberry hard candies, the kind that look like raspberries. Lively acidity melded with summer-ripe raspberry, raspberry hard candy, and pomegranate molasses.
I absolutely loved this one. The only reason I was able to stop drinking it was because the bottle finished!
Paşaeli Pét-Nat Yapıncak, 2020
I asked Işık if this wine had any skin contact. This is a legit white grape but it looks like tarnished gold (although the picture shows a copper-pink color). But no! Yapıncak is a more tannic white grape and this is the color they got after a direct press.
ABV: 12%
Appearance: foamy, tarnished gold
Nose: Hoppy with cooked apple peels, bay leaf bitters, and freshly shaved fennel.
Palate: Quite a full mousse for a semi-sparkling wine. Dry with a rich honey flavor that battles it out with herbal/medicinal fennel seeds. The honey wins, leaving behind the fennel to make an alliance with golden apples and citrus.
Paşaeli Pét-Nat Sıdalan, 2020
Sıdalan wines come only from Paşaeli. The winery debuted this grape several years ago with a white wine. Then a skin contact wine arrived on the scene. Now, we have bubbles!
ABV: 11%
Appearance: tarnished hay
Nose: Crunchy red apples, pear cider, daisies, and marjoram framed with citrus.
Palate: Tart, bright, and vivacious. The addition on the palate of lightly toasted hazelnut took the flavor profile to something akin to an apple-pear crumble buoyed by a generous fizz and citrus acidity.
If you haven’t tried any of these yet, run out and find them now! Limited quantities so they’re running out…but I’ve been promised that the 2021 bottles are currently sleeping in Paşaeli’s cellar getting ready for us!