Gordia – Natural bubbles white, 2020

Oh, the rediscovered Pet-nat. A drink that is hype and attracts lovers from a broad audience, yet at the same time tricky to understand. But most of all, tough to produce into a desired and pleasant bubbly drink. And Gordia‘s Natural bubbles sure are something Andrej crafted to perfection.

Pet-nat is a term coined from Pétillant Naturel, so something that naturally sparkles and as the name implies, the sparkles are born in a natural, ancestral way. Yes, it is something you might have heard being referred to as Methode Ancestrale. The yet fermenting must, in our case Malvasia and Chardonnay, is trapped into bottles and sealed with crown-cap. The yeast consumes all of the remaining sugars releasing carbon dioxide and alcohol, among other elements. This results in a wine with enough pressure to please drinkers, and as it is often un-disgorged with a good portion of fine lees that add to the organoleptic properties.

The tricky part is capturing first the right cuvée that will create a great result. The second trick is the right timing of bottling, the must, must reach the right level of remaining sugars, as if there’s too much it might end up spraying all over your walls or guests … And the third, absolute health and cleanliness, as there’s no control where fermentation might lead.

Something that usually doesn’t happen with Andrej’s Natural bubbles, where you need to be careful to leave cooling down without shaking for at least four hours. Then you hold the bottle at an angle of 45 ° and simply open it with the standard bottle opener quickly and possibly close to a wine glass to prevent possible spillage. Of course, lees will dissolve themselves in the wine, making it cloudy, but you’ll be able to enjoy this speciality fully.

The wine is foggy, strawy yellow colour with many and very persistent bubbles.

Its bouquet is buttery, with hints of boiled apple, lemon, and yellow rose, leading off to sensations of dough and herbs.

The taste is dry, refreshing with a perlage that elegantly surrounds our palate, cleaning it nicely. At the same time, it displays structure and is elegantly persistent with a fruity, tropical character in the end.

A wine that is special but will please lovers of sparklers that have a fruity character. A bottle will cost you approximately 16 Eur, and you can order it at Dobro vino, Be Wines, and Studio Wino.