2019 Delta Piquette Pet'Nat

Region: Anderson Valley < California

Grapes: Pinot + Chardonnay skins

Winemaker: Matt + Alexis Iaconis

We're big fans of Matt + Alexis work at Brick & Mortar, a tiny project they started in 2011 in Napa.  We're featuring a bunch of the Brick & Mortar wines this month, as well as a super fun new wine from their side project, Delta, which they started as a way to make wines that embody and also financially support environmental change.  Delta is only 100% carbon neutral, but a portion of the sales of the wines supports Cool Effect (an SF-based org working on climate change) and Malibu-based Surfrider Foundation, working to ensure healthy oceans and clean beaches.   The wine-for-good angle is reason enough to buy this bottle, but it's so tasty, we'd buy it anyway!   It's a piquette pet'nat, which is a low-alcohol sparkling hybrid made from the second pressings of grape pomace that get an infusion of Chardonnay juice/skins to kick off a second fermentation in the bottle, pet'nat style. Derived from the French word for “prick” or “prickle,” which describes the drink’s slight fizz, piquette dates back to ancient Greek and Roman times.  Given that it was a cheap-to-produce drink made from the scraps of winemaking, it was given to slaves and field workers.  Fast forward to today, when piquette is often the preferred drink of vineyard workers at the lunch table, as its low alcohol encourages post-lunch productivity rather than that booze-fueled stupor.

We're loving piquette not only for its low ABV, refreshing qualities but also because it's super eco-friendly - after all, this is literally wine made from the scraps.  Nothing wasted!  This one is made from the grape skins leftover from the pressing of the Brick & Mortar canned wines, from a single, organically-farmed vineyard.   Matt and Alexis also donate $1 from every bottle sold to the Surfrider Foundation and Cool Effect, making it even more earth-friendly.   And it's so light and refreshing, tasting like a dreamy kombucha of grapefruit and sour watermelon with rosemary, and clocking in at a mere 7% alcohol -- not much more than your kombucha and a lot more fun.  Delta delta delta!