Domaine Frank Besson, Pétillant Naturel 'Rose'Nat' 2021 (rosé/pet nat)

Pétillant Naturel 'Rose'Nat' 2021

Gamay

Beaujolais , France

“Iconoclastic vigneron Franck Besson believes in creating the right atmosphere in the cellar. The first thing you notice as you walk in the door are the rows of traditional pupitre that Franck uses to hand riddle much of his sparkling wine production. But then you see the many quotes about wine and drinking written on pieces of paper hanging from every available surface. These are broken up by photos of Franck’s favorite French comedians, movie stars, and local characters. Passing into the atmospherically lit barrel room where Franck ages his reds and his sparkling wines rest sur latte, you notice a detail absent from any other cave; dozens of Japanese lanterns hanging from the ceiling. Franck says the cellar must be a calm, “zen” atmosphere for the health of the wine, and he practices Tai-Chi in his spare time.

Franck is one of the most unique winemakers in the Beaujolais. After he began working 4 ha of high elevation gamay vines near Jullié, which he inherited from his father-in-law, he recognized the quality of the terroir despite the fact that it was outside of the Cru designation. Franck’s stroke of brilliances was the idea of making methode Champenoise blanc de noir from this amazing gamay fruit. There isn’t another wine maker we know of in the world doing that! All of his vines are farmed organically and the fruit is entirely hand-harvested. In the cellar, the sparkling wines spend anywhere from 6 months to 3 years on lees before disgorgement.

100% Gamay from Chenas lieu-dit En Remont. 50 year old organically farmed vines planted in granite-rich soil at 300m elevation. Manual harvest. Vinified in whole-cluster, carbonic fermentation in cement vats, under native yeasts without so2, maceration for 10 days at ambient temperature. 50% aged in egg tank, 50% in neutral oak barrels (2-3 wines from chardonnay lees) for 12 month. Zero dosage. Unfiltered, unfined. Natural sediments may occur. “ -Bonhomie Wine