2020 Le Vins Pirouettes 'Pet Nat de David'

Grapes: Riesling

Vineyard/Cellar Stats: Organic Wine certification (ECOCERT since 2014); grapes are hand-harvested, destemmed and macerated on skins for two days, then fermented with indigenous yeast and zero sulfur in stainless. Made in the ancestral method, the juice is then bottled to undergo a second fermentation and finish as a naturally sparkling wine with zero additions of sugar, yeast, or S02; unfined and undisgorged, with zero added sulfur; 13.5% ABV

Winemaker: Christian Binner

Les Vins Pirouttes is a collective project from Alsace’s winemaker Christian Binner, who’s been making legendary zero-zero wines in his Ammerschwihr winery for more than 20 years.  Saddened by the sight of organic/biodynamic grapes being sold for pennies to coops, Christian decided to encourage these growers to make wine under their proper name instead, thus promoting the idea of soulful terroir wines made with zero nonsense both in the vineyard and the cellar.

Each Pirouettes cuvée is a partnership between Christian and an Alsatian grower (who provide the grapes and the winery, and gets his/her name on the label), while Christian teaches and helps them how to make world-class, low-intervention wines.  They call the project 'Pirouettes' because it symbolizes the fun they’re having, but also because “these wines are like beautiful artistic figures, the result of certain know-how and mastery. Pirouette is a gesture of freedom, emotion, and joy,” Christian explains.

And this pet'nat from Christian, and the grower David, is pure joy! Super exuberant and alive (literally, it erupts like a volcano upon opening), this is rich and zesty, with the freshness of Riesling mingling with a deeper skinsy undertone.   Soft bubbles carry the juicy peach, citrus and salty notes, and the zesty acid cleans up the long, lingering finish.  A fun fall fizz for all occasions.