Kimera Espumoso Ancestrale, blanco (“Pétillant naturel”, or Pét-Nat!)
100% Garnacha Blanca

A continuation of the collaboration between Luis Moya Tortosa and his friend Gonzalo Celayeta under the Kimera label. The vineyards are located near San Martín de Unx (Baja Montaña de Navarra; east-central Navarra) and cultivated according to strict organic farming standards. With the inexperience of disgorging management, new labels more difficult to print than expected, bottles poorly adapted to the filling line, this project was quite an adventure giving many headaches to Luis and Gonzalo. On the other hand, beyond having worked very hard and having learned a lot, the results are exceptional and reflect the enthusiasm of the partners in this adventure. This is a cuvée produced according to the ancestral method for production of sparkling wines, also known as pétillant naturel (pét-nat). This method involves bottling wine that is only partially fermented. Fermentation continues in the bottle and the CO2 produced is trapped. After a few months in the bottle, the gas is absorbed into the wine in the form of bubbles and the pét-nat is ready! Kimera pet-nat blanco is made from 100% garnacha blanca from clay-limestone soils in 600m altitude. Approximately 80% of the harvest was fermented in stainless steel tanks until the must was around 24g of sugar per liter, then bottled to continue the fermentation. The other 20% completed a natural fermentation in oak barrels for a year. The wine was aged on lees in the bottle for 10 months, then disgorged and topped up with the wine fermented in barrels. No sulfur was added. Approximately 700 bottles were made for this first vintage (2018).

Reviews

2021 Vintage

• 91 pts — Luis Gutiérrez, The Wine Advocate (Apr. 2023)

2020 Vintage

• The sparkling white 2020 Kimera Espumoso Ancestral was produced by the ancestral method of finishing the fermentation in bottle. The wine has abundant frothy bubbles that are small and give it a nice silky texture. The nose is fruit-driven, floral and young, with freshness and a distinct bitter twist in the finish. It’s ripe at 14.5% alcohol and has high acidity that makes it balanced. It’s dry, with less than five grams of residual sugar. Twenty percent of the base wine matured in barrel to add complexity and volume to the palate. It was disgorged after nine months in bottle with the lees. 3,000 bottles produced.
  90 pts — Luis Gutiérrez, The Wine Advocate (Nov. 2021)

2018 Vintage

• There are two sparkling wines, a rose and a white, of which I only tasted the white NV Kimera Espumoso Ancestral, part of the Kimera joint venture with his friend and winemaker Gonzalo Celayeta. Produced with grapes from the surroundings of the village of San Martín de Unx, 80% of the young Garnacha Blanca was unoaked and the other 20% aged in barrique for one year in an effort to add complexity and volume on the palate. They fermented it in stainless steel and put it in bottle when around 24 grams of sugar had not yet fermented, so it continued fermenting in bottle. It has a varietal nose with notes of waxy apples, hay and straw, with some yeasty notes. After 10 months in bottle, it was disgorged and refilled with the same wine, and the bottles have six to seven grams of residual sugar. It’s quite balanced, and the sugar feels integrated and counterbalanced by the acidity. It’s fresh and very pleasant to drink. They produced around 1,400 bottles, and the bottles are sold by both Luis Moya and Gonzalo Celayeta. Despite being grapes from Navarra, this is sold without appellation of origin. There’s no vintage date, but there is also no indication of disgorgement, blend or anything on the label, which will make it difficult to differentiate the different bottlings if they continue like this.
  90 pts — Luis Gutiérrez, The Wine Advocate #248 (Apr. 2020)