Pongracz

Western Cape · South Africa

The wine carries the name of Desiderius Pongrácz, a Hungarian count who chose the land over the family estate. He graduated from the Hungarian Academy for Agriculture in 1944, joined the cavalry, and was taken prisoner shortly after the surrender. He spent close to a decade in the labour camps of Siberia — first as a lumberjack, then in the copper mines. He later credited exactly those years with the appetite for life he became known for. In 1958 he reached Stellenbosch. From 1973 he was Chief Viticultural Adviser at Distillers Corporation, and over the next twenty years he changed the shape of South African wine: he pressed for the import of new plant material and for the careful selection of the best vines, a practice then considered controversial in the country. The arrival of Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir owes much to him. His Practical Viticulture, published in 1978, is still read by students today.