Winemaking in Poland is a tough business, but enterprising growers are finding ways to produce quality vintages
In Poland, a country more famous for its vodka than its vineyards, wine production is a small-scale industry that is still in its infancy. However, despite numerous obstacles, the country’s winemakers are starting to find ways to promote their produce and show that it is possible to produce a quality tipple from Polish-grown grapes.
The Adoria vineyard in Zachowice makes wine from the same type of grapes used in some California wineries
Courtesy of Mike Whitney
Kraków’s Enoexpo Wine Trade Fair, the latest edition of which took place in late November this year, featured a large number of Polish vintners, many of whom are now producing bottles considered to be of a quality standard. This is a considerable achievement considering the wine industry in Poland only really took off in 2008, after Polish producers were finally allowed to apply for a permit to sell their own wine.
However, the industry is still in its infancy, wine critic Wojciech Bońkowski, who was in attendance at the Kraków fair, told WBJ.
“There are only four or five professional wineries around the country that produce wine of an international quality,” he said. “The rest are amateur operations.” Mr Bońkowski, who presented several Polish wines to a number of foreign winemakers at the fair, added that they were “all very impressed by the quality.”
The lay of the land
There are around 450 wineries scattered throughout Poland, a large number of which are located in the Podkarpackie voivodship, in the country’s south. Nevertheless, wine production facilities can be found as far north as the Baltic coast. The majority of these are small-scale operations, with vineyards sized around a quarter of a hectare.
Hybrid varietes of grapes are the most successful at surviving harsh Polish winters
Courtesy of www.obraz.net/h@arry
“There is a potential profit of around zł.6,000 per year from a quarter of a hectare of land,” said Marek Nowiński, the head of the Podkarpackie Winemakers Association, adding that this figure is higher than the potential income from other traditional crops such as beets and cabbage.
In spite of the large number of wine makers, who produce a total of around 500 hectoliters per year, only a handful have a license to sell their produce. Mr Bońkowski estimates there are fewer than 10 who have obtained a license.
Grapes of wealth?
The majority of Polish winemakers are not farmers, but small-scale entrepreneurs hoping to tap into a growing market, which Mr Nowiński said is expanding by around 5 percent annually. Growth is strongly associated with Poles’ changing drinking habits, as they consume fewer hard spirits like vodka, and more wine.
The International Wine and Spirit Research group predicts that annual consumption of wine in Poland will rise to 107.6 million liters by 2016. This would be a 25 percent increase on 2010. But at present the average Pole still only drinks 2.7 liters of wine annually, compared to around 40 liters in France and Italy.
“Polish wine is still a kind of a novelty, so [when] consumers take their first step, I am afraid that the majority can be disappointed,” said Grzegorz Jach, marketing director at Centrum Wina, a wine distribution company.
“[Polish] producers need to quickly learn and implement efficient practices, enlarge the scale of production and work hard on improving quality. In my opinion this is the way to build a [stronger] image of Polish wine among public opinion, as Austrians achieved over the last 20 years,” he added.
According to a recent report by market research firm Euromonitor International, “grape wine sales will benefit from the expected sophistication and diversification of the model of alcoholic drinks consumption. Poles are traveling more widely, discovering new tastes and new cuisines, and want to replicate these experiences at home, thanks to enjoying wine drinking. The shift towards grape wine will also be strongly dependent on the purchasing power of Polish consumers.”
Poles’ spending power will be key if Polish winemakers are to be successful, because in comparison to many imported wines, Polish bottles are often on the pricey side. The better examples can sell for as much as zł.50-90 – the same price as a decent Bordeaux.
“My wines sell for anything between zł.48 to zł.70,” said Polish winemaker Marcin Płochocki, whose wines are sold at several shops and top hotels around the country. “I would prefer the price to be as low as possible so that as many people as possible are able to taste my wine.”
Battling with the best
One reason why it may seem surprising that Poland produces any wine at all is the harshness of its winters. This makes traditional grape varieties (such as Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinot Blanc, which grow in warmer climates such as France, California and Chile) notoriously hard to grow. But local producers have adapted well, using hybrid varieties developed in Germany that can be grown in more temperate climates.
One Polish firm that has achieved success using hybrid grapes is Winnica Płochockich. The company almost exclusively grows hybrid vines and currently owns active vineyards sized at a combined 2.5 hectares. Its 2010 Blanka vintage, a wine blending Seyval Blanc (54 percent) with other hybrid grapes, won the gold medal at this year’s Enoexpo in Kraków.
Owner Marcin Płochocki expressed his satisfaction at winning the prestigious award, pointing out that 2010 was not even a particularly good year for Polish wines. “The short, wet autumn did not help the vintage,” he said.
However, not all Polish wines are made from hybrid grapes. Mike Whitney, a Californian who runs Adoria Vineyards in Zachowice, makes wine in the same style as those he grew up with, using grapes commonly grown across the Atlantic. His wines include Chardonnay (aged in American oak barrels) and Pinot Noir, while his 2010 vintage also includes a steel-vat-fermented Chardonnay and a Reisling.
Mr Whitney reiterated the view that Polish winemaking is still in its early stages. “This is a new wine region. Wine was produced here in the past, but the people who made the wine were either driven out after World War II or died off 300 years ago, so none of the knowledge remained,” he said. “Everyone is learning, from how to make wine to what grows well where.”
Despite the difficulty in growing warm-weather grapes in Poland, the results are well worth the effort, according to Mr Whitney. “Our 2010 Pinot Noir has black cherries and red fruits notes, our 2011 Riesling has peach, pineapple lemon and lime notes.”
Wine critic Mr Bońkowski said that hybrid wines tend to have “spicy, vegetal and herbaceous” notes. He added that the Pinot Noir produced in Poland is also “very promising.”
Andrzej Strzelczyk, the sommelier at Warsaw’s Mamaison Hotel Le Regina, said that Polish wines are “acceptable,” adding that they could be compared to Slovakian or German wines in terms of their high level of acidity and complexity.
A difficult profession
Obtaining the permits to make wine and sell it legally is a long and difficult process, with the government offering little or no assistance. Mr Whitney of Adoria Vineyards said that “the government in Warsaw does not help, but the local government in Wrocław [with which his winery is associated] helped by not getting in the way.”
And the reason for the lack of state assistance, according to Renata Kania, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Agriculture, is “Because Poland is a small wine producer” and as a result “it does not provide access to funds from national support programs.”
This means that many of Poland’s professional winemakers have to supplement their income from other sources. This goes some way to explaining why many wineries have opened their doors to both local and foreign tourists.
But most Polish wine producers share the same dream – to be able to support themselves through wine sales alone. Marcin Płochocki, who also runs seminars and a hotel to supplement his income, said “I often tell my wife that we could be the first Polish winemakers to do this full time.”
Roberto Galea
From Warsaw Business Journal