2022 Vandal 'Pet Bat' Pet-Nat

Aromas of stone fruit, melon, and yeasty biscuit integrate with savory notes of lemon zest and a subtle hint of cider apple. The palate is light-bodied and creamy, featuring a core of white peach and pear. It displays a vivid, prickly acidity and a soft effervescence that leads to a zesty, off-dry finish marked by a clean mineral edge and a refreshing saline snap.

The winemaking team, consisting of three anonymous Marlborough winemakers, utilizes a co-fermented blend of Chardonnay and Muscat. The fruit is hand-harvested from 30-year-old vines and whole-bunch pressed directly into seasoned French barriques. Fermentation occurs spontaneously with wild yeasts at ambient temperatures. Following the Méthode Ancestrale, the wine is bottled with roughly 10 grams per liter of residual sugar to capture the natural carbonation. The final product is neither fined nor filtered, leaving a fine layer of harmless yeast sediment in the bottle to enhance the texture.

The fruit is grown at the Hawkesbury Road Vineyard in the Southern Valleys sub-region of Marlborough, New Zealand. The site is defined by its free-draining old riverbed soils and a cool maritime climate. These conditions allow the Muscat to develop heady aromatics while the Chardonnay maintains the high natural acidity required for the Pet-Nat style. This project serves as an experimental outlet for the winemakers to explore low-intervention techniques outside of their traditional roles, resulting in a wine that prioritizes raw energy and drinkability.