For the person who's always on trend & loves a little bubble.
From: Bugey, France
Varietal: Gamay
Tasting Notes: An all too easy to love Pet-Nat from Bugey-Cerdon (although it's too dry to officially qualify for Bugey Cerdon status). It's a naturally lightly sparkler with hints of raspberry and alpine fruits with just a hint of spice on the dry finish. Fresh and fun, it goes down too easily (but we’re ok with that).
Pairing: We love this sparkler with ripe, soft cheeses, but you can play around with pairings because it works with so many foods. It’ll go well with everything from fried rice and sweet and sour chicken to fresh salads with spinach, strawberry, and walnuts, to your favorite weekend brunch fare. We’re sharing a savory galette below for inspiration, but this delightful Pet Nat rose is so versatile that you won’t have any trouble matching it with your favorite foods.
Butternut Squash and Goat Cheese Galette
By Yossy Arefi
About. Bugey, an Alpine hamlet in eastern France, might possibly be the wine world’s best kept secret. Halfway between Lyon and Geneva, Switzerland, Bugey is so small that it even eludes most French oenophiles' radars. Often lumped in with neighboring Savoie because of its size—which itself is relatively obscure and often grouped with the larger Jura region—Bugey produces an eclectic array of elegant, aromatic, and high-acid, low- alcohol wines that tend to travel no farther than local dinner tables. But, there’s good news for treasure hunters. Since earning its AOC status in 2009, these off-beat and affordable wines are slowly making their way to the U.S.
Amid a patchwork of forests and farms, Bugey's vineyards thrive in the crisp mountain air and clay-limestone soils of the Jura foothills. Steep roads wind through Bugey's 63 provinces and 500 hectares of vines. The region is largely rural, though it is home to a network of rivers and railways that have brought winemaking know-how from its neighbors. Truly at a crossroads, Bugey is bordered by Beaujolais to the west, Savoie to the east, Jura and Burgundy to the north, and Rhône to the south. It borrows grapes and influence from each, but makes wines that are all its own, including its most famous, Bugey-Cerdon, which wine writer Jon Bonné has referred to as "the happiest wine on earth."
Wine from Cerdon, one of Bugey's three crus—in addition to Belley and Montagnieu—is always sparkling, pink, and a touch sweet. Made from a blend of Beaujolais’ Gamay grape and Jura’s Poulsard grape, it’s a fizzy ambrosia redolent of wild berries. According to French law, this sparkler must be made by the méthode ancestrale, an old process for producing bubbly wine that predates that of the Champenoise. With low alcohol (around 8 percent), a hint of sweetness, and fresh minerality, this festive drink goes down incredibly (dangerously?) easy.
