Let the pét-nat flow! The latest addition to the stable of fizzy fun from Al & Sam is a single-vineyard offering from Richard Carson’s Eurangie Park Vineyard, just down the hill from the Konpira Maru lair in Whitlands. The origins of this wine are disputed, Sam believes it was his idea…Al knows for a fact it wasn’t, but what a truly inspired blend it is! Dolcetto is a fruit-forward pleasure machine and with racy Chardonnay component and exotic Gewürztraminer touch the boys are definitely onto something special. Al & Sam call this their ‘party pét-nat’, and it is hard to disagree with that assertion, even if it is a bit of a lame moniker.
The fruit was harvested in the wee early hours of the first of March and soaked for 10 hours entirely whole-cluster. The fruit was then pressed fast and furious but only hitting the go-button a few times, 25% more pressure was used in 2021 as opposed to the smoke tainted 2020 vintage, resulting in more color and flavor. The fermentation in tank was also fast and furious so nailing the picking date was imperative. It was bottled with 16 grams per liter of residual sugar for a more bubbly offering than the 0ther 2021s. The bottles were inverted, chilled, eventually hand disgorged, topped, re-topped, re-capped, cleaned, dried, labeled and boxed up for your drinking pleasure. No additions were done nor anything taken away aside from a bit of wine lost during the disgorgement.