Oregon wine: 2018 Quady North Pét-nat

2018 Quady North Pét-nat

Applegate Valley,
Rogue Valley,
Southern Oregon,
Oregon

11.2% alcohol

LIVE-certified winery

Cork and cage closure

No sulfites added, native yeast, whole cluster-pressed

Grapes: Vermentino and Muscat

Pét-nat, short for Petillant-Naturel, is made by bottling the wine before it has completed primary fermentation, thereby trapping those bubbles in the bottle. Since Pét-nat are bottled just weeks after harvesting fruit, they offer wine drinkers a rare insight into the terroir behind the wine. In this quick timeframe, the winemaker doesn’t have the opportunity to manipulate the juice as it gets funnels into the bottle.

Herb Quady, owner/winemaker of Quady North, did disgorge this Pét-nat in order to remove sediment from the bottles. However, you’ll still see some cloudiness in this wine. If you position the bottle upright for a few minutes before opening, sediment will collect at the bottom of the bottle, rather than in your glass. (FYI- the sediment is safe to consume.)

Another suggestion– open any bottle of Pét-nat in the sink, just in case you encounter a particularly volatile one. Having a wine glass close by that you can quickly pour into, in case it foams up and out of the bottle, is a great way to save wine that would otherwise go down the drain.

Color:

Copper penny

Bouquet and palate:

This Pét-nat was cloudy with some sediment and many, many bubbles. It had notes of sliced almonds, caramel popcorn, ripe gooseberries, and Bartlett pears. I also detected unique flavors of honeycomb, beeswax, and popsicle stick. It was a fun wine that brought back a lot of childhood memories; including visits to the local summer fair, eating popsicles on hot days, and picking pears from orchard trees. And, with such a cool label, who wouldn’t want to try it?

SRP $29

www.quadynorth.com