How Pongracz Cap Classique is made

The 6 steps of making Cap Classique

After picking, whole bunches of grapes are off-loaded into the velo-pneumatic press, where they are gently pressed. Only the best quality free running juice, called cuvée, is used.
The cuvée is settled and fermented in tanks, then blended, stored, stabilized and bottled.
Liquer de tirage and yeast are then added to the base wine, and the bottles are sealed tightly with crown caps. The base wine then undergoes a second fermentation in the bottle under cool temperature-controlled conditions.
During the clarification stage, the bottles go through remuage (the riddling process, which involves gradual turning and inversion of the bottle, bringing the sediment comprising spent yeast cells known as the lees, into the neck of the bottle).
To remove the sediment, the neck of the bottle is frozen so that the sediment forms a “plug” which is expelled through the pressure in the bottle when the crown caps are removed, leaving the wine clear.
The dosage (topping up the bottle with sweetish wine) is added to balance the taste, the bottle is corked and labelled, and is ready for your enjoyment.

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