My article on Virginia’s Pét-nats for Wine and Country Life published the other week. Sampling wine as part of **research** is fun, but even better was interviewing some of my favorite winemakers, especially Maya Hood White of Early Mountain Vineyards, and Sarah and Nate Walsh of Walsh Family Wine.
I have to agree with Nate; Maya is ‘Queen of Pét-nats”. Not sure if she was the first in Virginia to make one, but if not she comes close.
Pét-nats aren’t just delicious; “they are a labor of love”. To quote Maya, “We would release in January and it’s like a snapshot of the vineyard. There’s something unique about it in that you are getting a totally unadulterated version of the wine. It’s kind of the first taste of the vintage.”
But if Maya is Queen of the Pét-nats, then Walsh Family is “The House That Pét-nat Built”. OK that’s not entirely true; they were rocking still wine before they made their first sparkling.
But given you can buy six (!!!) different Pét-nats (from Walsh, plus bottles from their associates of Boden Young, Guide Wine, and Quartzwood Farm) that ***should*** be their name. My shot of all of Nate’s bottles laying in the vines was too good for me not to use.
Click on the link at the bottom to read the full article.
Wine Trails and Wanderlust 