Moondarra Pet Nat Rosé is a wine success that was the direct result of a catastrophic vintage.
Neil Prentice made his first version of the wine after what he describes as the clusterf... vintage of 2020, when Moondarra in Gippsland's Mount Baw Baw region was hit by both bushfires and Covid.
"We made no wine from our own vineyards that year," Prentice said. "I wanted and needed to fill the financial void that missing an entire vintage created, as well as create one new major product.
"I had mucked about with rosé and nouveau style wines for many years and had produced a couple of traditional method wines I quite liked.
"Concurrently I had been thinking about yeast in white wine and sparkling - leading to a fascination with Pet Nat."
The initial release using largely purchased fruit from the Yarra Valley was an instant hit and the new Moondarra NV Pet Nat Rosé is a delightful drink with tart pink grapefruit flavours to to the fore, along with some clouds and a hefty dollop of funky texture.
It is a blend of 2021 chardonnay, 2021 blanc de noir bubbles and a smidgen of 2019 Moondarra Samba Side pinot noir.
"I like to think of all our wines as #PostNatural," Prentice says. "Whilst influenced by the wines of Gravner and Radikon they don't mindlessly ape them.
"I've long thought great wine should embody the personality of the winemaker. To me this rosé is elegance, balance and finesse. Sadly, I can't claim to any of these within my personal oeuvre."
The Moondarra Pet Nat Rosé has an RRP of $30 and is one of the funnest Pet Nats I have come across. It ticks all the hipster boxes; unfined, unfiltered, vegan-friendly etc, but has some classic style as well. See www.moondarra.com.au
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