Les Caves de Pyrene is delighted to announce an en primeur offer for the 2023 vintage of Lost in a Field “Frolic” pét-nat – not just a first for pét-nat, but a first for English wine.
Frolic is made from a blend of no fewer than 14 co-fermented grape varieties sourced from five heritage English vineyards.
Described by one French sommelier as “un vrai pet nat”,the wine is the result of a single fermentation, its pearly bubbles naturally generated after the wine is bottled with latent residual sugar.
Tim Wildman MW first started making pét nat wines in Australia and is now looking to shake up English winemaking
Due to the rapidly increasing popularity of English pét-natand having garnered a hard-core following in the trade known as “les vestes roses”, it was almost inevitable that this wine would follow in the footsteps of famous French estates in Burgundy and Bordeaux which offer buyers the opportunity to taste wines in barrel and secure wines before they are bottled - the classic French en primeur model admired and respected around the word.
Now leading English wine importer, Les Caves de Pyrene, and the always innovative and influential wandering winemaker, Tim Wildman MW, who has had great success making pét-nat wines in Australia - most famously with his breakthrough Astro Bunny brand - want to get in on the scene by shaking up the sedate English winemaking scene at the same time.
As with the annual Bordeaux primeur campaigns, a select group of sommeliers and press were recently invited to taste wine from tank following harvest, in a closely guarded secret location, to assess the quality of the young wine.
Respected fine wine author, Porter Barker, said of the tank sample he tasted: “I would currently score this in the mid-90s, but when the fermentation completes, I think we’re talking at least a 98.”
Sommeliers and leading figures from the press were invited to a secret location to taste the pét nat wines in tank
Danish sommelier, Bjorn Aprilsnar, was blown away by the opportunity to taste English pét-nat wine straight from the tank: “I feel now that pét nat is on the verge of reaching another level. An English level.”
Tim Wildman MW, founder of Lost in a Field, was delighted by the response. In his typically understated way he explained: “As someone who had dedicated their life to the art of pétillant naturelproduction, this en primeur offer, a true world first, is the fulfilment of a lifelong dream.”
The buzz around the maiden 2021 vintage of Lost in a Field “Frolic” pét-nat began with a feature article in the Weekend FT magazine and Wildman’s guest appearance on Love Your Weekend with Alan Titchmarsh. The subsequent vintage won a competitive tasting of English and Welsh pét-nats held in East London, subsequently dubbed “The Judgement of Peckham.”
He humbly added: “When Les Caves de Pyrene suggested an en primeur release for the 2023 vintage I wept, not unlike Alexander the Great, for I felt there were no more worlds to conquer.”
Tim Wildman MW proudly holds up his breakthrough English pét nat - Lost in a Field Frolic Pét Nat
Wildman then said: “The tank tasting in December proved to a great success amongst the méthode ancestrale cognoscenti and we can’t wait to share the world’s first pét-nat en primeur offer this Easter.”
News of an English en primeur pét-nat campaign has hardly rustled a feather amongst the Bordelais. “English wine? Pét-nat. Pah,” is how one of leading Bordeaux Chateau owners put it.
For those willing to give the en primeur offer a go it is being released today, Easter Monday, on a first come best dressed basis, with the wine being delivered to customers on April 1 2024.
