2016 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

Ok so I chose this particular Pet’Nat for October because of the absurdly cute and seasonally appropriate packaging, with a neon pink jack-o-’lantern face its only adornment (it’s in my blood – my family goes all out on the decoration front for every Hallmark holiday). But the 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. I would buy it and drink it even if it weren’t so perfect for Halloween! 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 45-year old Ondine taking over her family’s classic (read: staid) estate and wanting to do something more fun and experimental. 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 great package. No brainer.