Desiderius

This prestige cuvée is the ultimate pairing with bitter dark chocolate, duck liver parfait and orange scented delights.

The Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grapes were handpicked from two selected vineyard blocks in the Robertson, Stellenbosch and Elgin regions. The vines, growing on south facing slopes produce wines of exceptional quality.

The wine was matured for a minimum of 69 months on the lees before the sediment was removed by the traditional methods of “remuage” and “degorgement”.

The Chardonnay (80%) and Pinot noir (20%) grapes were harvested between 18 - 20º Balling in January 2015 producing a yield of 9-10 Tons/ha. After the grapes were whole bunch pressed, the juice was left to settle overnight at 12°C. The clear juice was racked the next morning and inoculated with Prisse de Mousse yeast. Once the base wine was cold fermented at 13 – 16 °C and underwent malolactic fermentation, it was racked to clean stainless-steel tanks and matured on the fine lees for four months. The wine was then bottled for slow secondary fermentation at 15 °C, essential for a quality Méthode Cap Classique.

After leading the Cap Classique wave for over a decade with its Brut, Pongrácz raised the bar even higher with the launch of the Grande Cuvée, Desiderius, in 2002, and a Brut Rosé in 2009. The latest addition to the range is the Noble Nectar in a Demi-Sec showcasing the innovation of production. Our goal is to create wines of exemplary quality and character by utilising traditional winemaking techniques that complement the unique qualities derived from our vineyards, in a style that best reflects each Cap Classique. The wines are complex and showcase a flawless balance between terroir-driven grapes and excellence in winemaking. Our philosophy is to combine the best possible characteristics from multiple terroirs, and to blend them in suitable combinations in order to achieve the consistency in quality our consumers expect from our non-vintage blends. But our multiple terroir strategy also allows us to pick the best small lots of grapes from a range of top microclimates and blend them for our super premium vintage offerings as well. Every vintage tells the story of the hand-selected pockets that, in combination, produced a most superior final blend. Besides the attention to detail that goes into the selection of components for the base wine, the second fermentation in bottle and the time spent on lees, is a further part of the art that we never compromise on. Special vintage Cap Classique needs time, and our philosophy is never to rush this crucial last stage. Because of this philosophy we have the very proud history of Desiderius as our most awarded Cap Classique in the range. The international recognition that we have achieved in the past is affirmation of what we passionately believe to be a product of highest quality and international standards.