14 Oct Please The Palate Wine of the Week: Field Recordings 2019 Dry Hop Pet Nat

I love to explore the world of wine. There are always regions to delve into and new grape varieties to explore. There are also interesting blends and unique winemaking techniques. This week’s Please The Palate Wine of the Week was a fun, unique and tasty find. It is the Field Recordings 2019 Dry Hop Pet Nat. Based in Paso Robles, Field Recordings was started by Andrew Jones as a way to showcase vineyards. Andrew is a vine nursery fieldman who has planned and planted vineyards for farmers all over California. He has found unique vineyards and works with the fruit from these vineyards to make small lot wines. Andrew plays around and tries lots of different things. He was one of the first people to put wine in a can. And he has played around with Pét-nat (“pétillant naturel”), a French term for “naturally sparkling” wines. He produces five different Pet-nats but the Dry Hop Pet Nat caught my attention. The 2019 Dry Hop Pet Nat is made from 100 percent Chardonnay sourced from Paso Robles. However, he ferments the Chardonnay with hops. The TTB will not let him put the vintage, grape variety or appellation on the bottle. So the wine is the Dry Hop Pet Nat and described as “sparkling white wine fermented with hops.”

Andrew make wine with a minimalist approach. He does native fermentation and does not add sulfur. The hops not only add to the aromatics of the wine but they also provide stability to the wine which only goes through a coarse filtration. The wine is then corked and capped.

The wine is absolutely delicious! It has pretty aromatics of grapefruit pith, lemon blossom, pear, peach, crisp apple and a subtle touch of hops. On the palate, the wine is dry with high acidity and a lovely crisp texture. After a long day of tasting wines while judging a wine competition, the Field Recordings 2019 Dry Hop Pet Nat, which retails for $25, hit the spot. It refreshed my palate while also satisfying me and that is why it is the Please The Palate wine of the week.