Polish wine: a study
This Polish wine seminar was presented by Adam Michocki at the Cool Climate Wine Summit in Copenhagen, January 2025. Adam has an agency business importing wines from Central Europe into the UK, named Central Wines, with a strong focus on Polish wines. Adam is pictured above left, in action interviewing the talented winegrower Kamil Barczentweicz at the seminar.
Poland has a long history with wine. There are records showing that Cistercian monks produced wine in the 12th century, so wine here goes back a long way. But the fast-emerging new Polish winegrowing scene is quite a new thing, with a history of fewer than 25 years.
Poland has a long history with wine. There are records showing that Cistercian monks produced wine in the 12th century, so wine here goes back a long way. But the fast-emerging new Polish winegrowing scene is quite a new thing, with a history of fewer than 25 years.
The wineries are mostly all small and family run. The first wineries started in 2001, and now there are 500. It’s really skyrocketed in the last 5-10 years, says Adam. There are now more than 1000 hectares under vine.
There are no growers here, and there isn’t a market for grapes: everyone uses their own grapes. In the UK there are just over 200 wineries and 1000 vineyards, so it’s quite different, with many wineries reliant on buying in grapes. In Poland you have to grow your own grapes and make your own wine.
For all the countries that are totally in zone A, the coolest climate for wine, Poland is second largest in terms of plantings with just over 1000 hectares and 500-600 wineries. It’s growing by about 20% each year. There are 16 administrative regions, each of which make wine, but production is concentrated in south and west, the driest and warmest areas. More than 120 wineries make Pinot Noir, although it’s only planted on around 100 hectares. It is second to Riesling as the the most widely planted vinifera variety. But 80% of Poland’s vineyards are still planted to hybrids. The trend has been moving towards vinifera. Regent, Rondo and Pinot Noir are the most popular reds, but Rondo is being phased out.

Dom Janton Blanc de Blancs NV Poland
Janton has 6 hectares of vines, making them the biggest winegrowers in the Central Poland region (cold winters and hot summers, quite dry), and this counts as a medium-sized producer by Polish standards. Janton specialize in sparkling, and this is a traditional-method Seyval Blanc. They planted their first vines in 2013. This is aromatic and fresh with a touch of sweetness (12 g/l dosage) rounding things out. Fruity, rounded but bright with a nice texture and lovely fruit purity. Supple and expressive and very easy to drink. 88/100

Winnica Sztolcman Pet-Nat 2023 Poland
This is 100% Solaris. Stainless steel ferment, then bottled with sugar for the secondary fermentation, so not a true Pet-Nat in that regard. This is powerful and fruity with pithy, slightly lemony fruit, together with some pear and melon fruit, showing lots of fruit intensity and then a touch of sweetness on the finish. Pure and expressive, with real volume. 88/100

Winnica Turnau Chardonnay 2022 Poland
They have 41 hectares in the NW part of Poland, 100 km from the Baltic sea. They also have some Atlantic coast influence. They form organically and make 75% white and 25% red wines. Solaris is an important variety for them, but they also focus on vinifera varieties. Most of this is fermented and aged in oak, partly in Acacia. This is fruity and expressive and rounded, with melon, pineapple and citrus fruit, showing lovely depth of fruit, with a touch of mandarin and some sweet spices. Very sweetly fruited (8 g/l residual sugar here) and inviting. 90/100

Winnica Niewmczanska Blanc de Noirs Pinot Noir NV Poland
They have 5 hectares of vines, with 9 varieties, some resistant and some vinifera. Lovely fruit expression. Rounded and lively, with good purity, nice acidity and some appley, grapey richness. Very fruity and rounded with nice brightness on the finish. Lovely fruit expression, with a touch of sweetness on the finish (8 g/l residual sugar). 89/100

Winnica Silesian Roter Riesling 2022 Poland
Southwestern Poland, granitic soils, on a SW slope. They grow lots of resistant varieties but also some vinifera (Riesling and Roter Riesling) on 10.5 hectares, and they are in the process of organic conversion. Roter Riesling is a skin colour mutation of Weisser Riesling. Wild ferment and skin fermentation. Orange/copper colour. Lovely balance and weight here with lemon, pear, apple and even some peach, as well as some tannic structure adding an extra dimension. Aromatic and also with a lovely savoury dimension, showing some black tea notes. This is really good: I like the grippy tannins here. 92/100

Kamil Barczentweicz Dobre Modre Blaufränkisch 2022 Poland
Kamil is close to Lublin in the SE part of Poland, nearest to the biggest Polish river, Vistula, which runs between Krakow and Warsaw. They have limestone soils here and the river modulates the continental climate of the east. He started in 2017 and focuses almost exclusively on vinifera (3% of Souvignier Gris). 0.6 ha plot of Blaufränkisch, which is the largest in Poland. Gentle extraction and then wild ferment and ageing in 60% in barrel with French, Slavonian and Hungarian oak, the rest ageing in stainless steell. This is bright and focused with lovely focused black cherry and raspberry fruit, with a lovely freshness and a peppery edge. Such elegance, focus and purity here: this is a remarkable expression of Blaufränksich with real beauty to it. 95/100

Moderna Pinot Noir 2022 Silesia, Poland
Sandy clay soils in lower Silesia, with 3.1 hectares of vines. They grow both vinifera and resistant varieties, with a focus on vinifera, including Riesling and Pinot Noir. This Pinot is made from French clones. 10 days on skins, 14 months in used oak. Juicy, bright and pure with nice focused red cherry and raspberry fruit. It’s quite fresh and very focused with lovely direct fruit. Lovely purity to the fruit with some elegance, although it’s a tiny bit rigid and hollow on the mid-palate. But really impressive and pure, with high acid apparent. The fruit is fully ripe, though. 92/100