Fuchs und Hase ‘Pet Nat Vol 2’

The Wine:

Pet Nat is short for Petillant Naturel, an ancient method of making naturally sparkling wine. These are wines that are bottled before fermentation is complete and without the addition of sugars or yeasts. The bubbles tend to be smaller and finer, and with the freedom of the maker to choose any grape varieties they want, there is a huge variety to discover.

Fuchs und Hase produce complex sparkling wines, with crunchy fruit, slightly yeasty, with just enough skin contact for velvet tannins to glide across your palate. Minerality comes through from the well grapes, with prickly bubbles, lifted acidity and a touch of haze. After tasting through the line up at vieVinum last year,  could only describe them as “happiness in a bottle”.

This wine is made from a blend of 70% Grüner Veltliner and 30% Gelber Muskateller, with 3% skins of Gelber Muskateller. There is no added sulphur and no filtration. Fruity aromas like pear, peach, and orange, alongside a refreshing acidity and lively bubbles. It also has a touch of white pepper. You can expect citrus notes on the palate, which add freshness to the wine, as well as apple and pear flavours. The wine has a crisp acidity that balances the fruitiness. Delicious!

Each cuvee is a different volume, this is a scale, the higher the number the more skin contact the wine has undergone. The wines are fresh and savory, each expressing the variety in the bottle and the crisp, Kamptal fruit. All grapes are pressed together. After pressing, skins of Gelber Muskateller are added for 7 days to gain more fruit and complexity.

“This is tightly knit, with exotic spice and fruit that matches mouthwatering acidity and expressive details of coconut chips, pastry and a mellow kombucha. Notes of graphite emerge on the harmonious finish.” — Aleks Zecevic

The Maker:

This little Pet-Nat project was started by best friends Stefanie and Alwin Jurtschitsch and Martin and Anna Arndorfer in 2014, for the sole purpose of producing delicious bubbly wines! Nothing but Pet-Nat, will be found at this micro winery where the four come together to celebrate the joy wine brings us all. Only 1,500 cases spread across 5-7 cuvées are produced annually, so supplies are limited.

Pet-nat is a perfect wine for them to make together because they are philosophically aligned and it’s important to work naturally. They are currently working with about three hectares total, each family contributing fruit from one and a half hectares, which are all certified organic and in the Kamptal. They chose to work with vineyard sites that are high elevation, near the forest, sites that have natural acidity and lower alcohol. In Austria, there is a saying, “where the fox and hare say goodnight” and it refers to a remote place surrounded by forest, which is how they came up with the winery name, the Fox and Hare, or Fuchs und Hase.

They make five to seven different cuvees each year, using different varieties. Every wine is a co-fermentation with different grapes and different levels of skin contact. Each cuvee is numbered by “Volume” and the higher the “Volume“ the more skin fermentation was used. The goal is to have velvet tannins which bring structure, stability and diverse flavors. All wines are fermentated with native yeasts, without any additions, and bottled unfiltered – a pure and handcrafted expression of Austrian petillant naturel. When fermentation is finished they bring the bottles out the cellar for a day and use cold winter temperatures in January / February to make tartaric stabilization. In the cold, the wine crystals drop out and afterwards we store the bottles for a short time bottom up before we do a manual disgorgement. Afterwards the wine is topped off with the same wine and sealed with a traditional crown cap.

Food Pairing:

Perfect for pairing with salads, seafood, and sunny days.

Additional Information:

Vegan Friendly

Organic