2020 Tenuta di Tavignano Marche Bianco ‘Il Pestifero’ Pet’Nat

Region: Marche < Italy
Grapes: 70% Verdicchio 15% Malvasia 15% Sangiovese
Vineyard/Cellar Stats: Certified organic farming; marly-calcareous rocky soil; made in the méthode ancestrale; undisgorged, no added SO2; 11.5% ABV
Winemaker: Ondine de la Feld

LADY IN CHARGE: 45-year old Ondine took over her family’s organic but very classic (read: staid) estate and decided to add a layer of fun, experimental wines to shake things up in the family portfolio.

NEW VINTAGE ALERT! We love this lady-made Pet’Nat so much that we’re bringing it back to Rock Juice for the 3rd time – in October, of course, because of the absurdly cute and seasonally appropriate packaging, with a neon pink jack-o-’lantern face its only adornment. This lightly sparkling and cloudy Verdicchio, done in the ancestral method (one fermentation in the bottle, crown capped to trap the natural CO2, nothing added or taken away) is super delicious, clean and easy to drink. It comes from an old-school estate in the Marche, on a hill overlooking the Adriatic sea, in the heart of the famous Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi DOC Classico appellation. Il Pestifero, which translates loosely as “bratty little boy” or “problem child”, is a new-ish wine for them, the result of Ondine’s sparkling experient. It worked, we love it, as will practically anybody to whom you serve it. Crowd-pleasing, not weird or cidery, low-octane bubbles in a perfectly seasonal (and adorable) package. No brainer.