South African Sparkling Wine Bags Grand Gold Award at Concours Mondial de Bruxelles 2023
Key Highlights :
The Concours Mondial de Bruxelles is the global benchmark for wine competitions, singling out wines of excellence from across the world. South Africa’s popular sparkling wine recently bagged a grand gold award at the Concours Mondial de Bruxelles 2023 in Belgium for its Pongrácz Brut (The Vintage Desiderius Pongrácz 2015). This marks the first time a South African sparkling wine has been awarded a Grand Gold at the prestigious competition.
The Concours Mondial de Bruxelles is an international wine competition that occurs every two years in Brussels, Belgium. It is one of the most respected and influential wine competitions in the world, with nearly 9,000 wines from 50 countries competing in 2023. The competition is judged by an international panel of experts and awards medals to wines that meet the highest standards of quality.
This year, Pongrácz Brut was one of only eleven Grand Golds awarded at the competition. Other Grand Golds went to Spain, Italy, Portugal, and seven to France. According to Pongrácz winemaker MP Botes, the award is a testament to the company's commitment to producing world-class quality products.
The award-winning sparkling wine is made from a blend of Chardonnay (80%) and Pinot Noir (20%) grapes, hand-picked from two selected vineyard blocks in the Western Cape. The grapes are bottle-fermented and matured on lees for at least 15 months. The resulting wine is gracious, elegant, and timeless, with beautiful, elegant bubbles and brioche-like aromas on the nose, followed by a rich and complex combination of nuanced fruit, almonds, and yeasty notes.
Pongrácz is named after the nobleman and Hungarian refugee, Desiderius Pongrácz, who had a profound impact on viticulture in the Western Cape. Considered a genius for finding the unexpected in the traditional and fresh, unconventional theories, Pongrácz was witty and brilliant and his inspiration extended across the wine industry, classical music, anthropology and Dachshunds.
The award-winning Pongrácz Brut is a great choice for any occasion. It can be enjoyed anywhere, at brunch, on a rooftop, or at a picnic with charcuterie and cheeses, or on its own.
The Concours Mondial de Bruxelles is a great way to recognize and reward wines of excellence from around the world. The award-winning Pongrácz Brut is a testament to South Africa’s commitment to producing quality products that stand out from the crowd.
