Today marks a momentous occasion: My first blog post about a sparkling wine! Incidentally, my first ever blog post was on a wine from Slovenia, and so is this bottle of bubbles. I’ve mentioned my affinity for Central European wines before, and so far, every bottle I try only reaffirms it—Kobal’s Bajta pet-nat being no exception.

Formally “Bajta Rumeni Muškat Pét Nat,” this sparkling wine with a rather attractive label was actually my second choice. I was more interested in its sister, Bajta Modra Frankinja (Blaufrankisch) Rosé Pét Nat, but I decided to step out of my comfort zone with a sparkling white wine—100% Yellow Muscat, to be exact—and, also, we had more in stock. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this wine, and only wished the weather had been warmer so I could get the full effect.

As we all know, there was a blizzard in New York City on Saturday, and that meant approximately 30 minutes of unadulterated snowfall before the streets and sidewalks turned into sandy, salty, melty brown slush. So, Sunday was a day spent indoors, avoiding the possibility of accidentally stepping ankle deep into a puddle of dirty water. It was the perfect day to drink, especially something that made me think of warmer days, although I will admit it was a bit depressing knowing it was all an illusion.

Normally, Sundays would mean going to Michael’s to watch Euphoria, but the thought of traversing to Bed-Stuy from the East Village made me shudder, so I decided to stay in with my new roommate, Brenna, with whom I shared the bottle. She was doing dry January, but one week of living with me and that went right out the window, thank God!

In the glass, it looked a lot like carbonated lemonade. It was cloudy and foamy at the top, fizzier than it was sparkling. The nose was kombucha-y, with notes of citrus and pineapple. It was slightly tropical but mostly sour and lemony with some yeasty notes, too.

It was fruiter on the nose than the palate. It had SUPER high acidity, and I made the mistake of taking a huge gulp on my first sip which literally made me make that face you make when you eat a Warhead. My second sip was a little more reserved, and I was able to decipher some more flavors. It was less sour and fruitier on the front of the palate (probably because that’s where sweetness is detected on the tongue) but the finish was very dry, almost bitter. It was like a bubby hard unsweetened lemonade. But the fizziness as well as the sourness mellowed out the longer the wine sat in the glass.

Bojan Kobal of Kobal Wines, located in the Podravje wine region of northeast Slovenia.

This wine was fun, flirty, zippy, and celebratory and would be great for a summertime NYC rooftop party. The producer, Kobal, is a small boutique winery situated in northeast Slovenia near the Austrian border in the Podravje wine region. They specialize in making white wines using sustainable and environmentally friendly farming methods.

This is a great wine for hanging out with friends, enjoying each other’s company, and pretending it’s not disgustingly cold and dirty outside. Enjoy with a chill and some savory snacks. Cheers!