It’s a sunny afternoon and a crowd of twentysomethings has gathered for a reunion. They are at Tillingham, an English winery in Kent, drinking Britain’s answer to prosecco, a sparkling wine called pet nat.
They are not the only ones. Walk into any hipster restaurant these days and there will be pet nat on the wine list. This week, Marks & Spencer became the first supermarket to stock it, with the launch of its own label version, final confirmation of pet nat’s place in 2024’s top drink trends.
So what’s so special about it – apart from the catchy name? Pet nat is short for petillant naturel, an old way of making sparkling wine where the fizz is produced by bottling it while it is still fermenting; as opposed to champagne, which is based on a still wine that undergoes a second fermentation. Pet nat tends to be lower in alcohol and less fizzy than champagne, and is typically sealed with a crown cap, like a beer bottle top, rather than a cork.
M&S already has a range of off-grid wines in its Found range but its pet nat is a supermarket first. Isn’t it a drink you associate more with hipster Shoreditch wine bars than this British institution? The retailer’s senior technologist, Sue Daniels, explains: “We already stock fermented food and drinks like kombucha, kimchi and other fermented foods. We try to push the boundaries a bit with wine too.”
In fact, M&S’s version is a slightly tentative iteration that purists would probably not categorise as pet nat. Made from a base wine with added yeast and sugar, it’s faintly hazy rather than cloudy. “Honestly I was a bit terrified about doing it,” admits Daniels. “We can’t risk having them explode on the shelf.”
Will Davenport, an organic winemaker from Sussex, who has been making his pet nat since 2014, takes a somewhat stricter view of what it should be. His wine is bottled within days of the grapes being picked. “It’s not easy,” he says. “You’ve got to have perfect grapes – if they’re not quite ripe or too ripe you can’t adjust it in the winery.
“The addition of yeast or sugar is not in line with the ‘naturel’ part of pet nat,” he continues. “Also if the wine is made from non-organic grapes I wouldn’t consider it to be a true pet nat. Maybe I am a bit hardcore about this, but I think many consumers would agree … If we had to list ingredients on the label it would read ‘100% fresh grapes’.”
English grapes, especially organic grapes, are considerably more expensive than those grown in sunnier parts of the world. Roughly £3,000 a tonne compared with at most €500 (£427) somewhere such as Sicily, says Tierney Beames, the wine manager at Tillingham, whose 2023 pet nat PN23 will be released in June. It helps to explain why pet nats cost as much as they do. On the other hand, the premium price they fetch makes them a boon to winemakers. Being released months rather than years after the harvest helps cash flow.
The appealingly funky labels and the crown caps have helped make pet nat a hit with younger drinkers. Beames says: “The whole process of opening a bottle of pet nat is less formal, more fun.”
Six pet nats to try
Offbeat Wines: Loose Juice (piquette) 5%, £15.30
An ultra-low alcohol pet nat-style wine called piquette, made from the skins and stems of pinot noir and pinot meunier grapes. Like refreshing unsweetened cherry juice.
Davenport Vineyard: Pet Nat 2022 10% £20.50
Gentle English orchard (apple and pear) flavours but not cidery. More like an elegant slightly cloudy sparkling wine.
M&S: Rosé Pet Nat Brut 11.5% £15
Not a classic pet nat but a delicately fruity dry pink fizz. A first step into natural wine if you’re a newbie.
Ancre Hill Estate, Wales: Pink Pét Nat (methode ancestrale) 2023 9.5% £19.95
Deliciously tart pale pink pet nat with which you’ll feel in familiar territory if you’re into kombucha. Just 9% too.
Trevibban Mill, Cornwall: Pet Nat 2023, 11.5%, £25.45
Cool looking bottle but with a champagne cork rather than a crown cap. A red pet nat with wild cherry and red berry flavours.
The 2022 is available from Ellis Wharton Wines priced £23.
Lost in a Field: Frolic 2022 9.5% £29.99
A field blend of English grape varieties from seven different vineyards this gorgeous peachy pink fizz sums up everything that is charming about pet nat.
