LAZY, Poland (AFP) — On the rolling hills skirting the southern Polish city of Krakow, pioneer Polish vintners are busy pressing grapes in the hope of proving that Poland, long a land of vodka, can produce wine too.
"We're growing some 20 varieties of grapes including Bianca, Aurore, and Seyval blanc," says Adam Kiszka.
The agricultural engineer turned wine producer supervises an experimental vineyard spearheaded by Krakow's prestigious Jagiellonian University in the picturesque village of Lazy.
"Just five years ago, wheat grew here. We plan to expand the vineyard to five hectares," says Kiszka.
In 2005, the European Union placed Poland in the 27-member bloc's zone A for wine producers which includes other countries with cold climates such as Germany, Britain, and Sweden.
"There are no restrictions. In theory, we could plant vineyards across all of Poland's territory, only the climate and the market limit us," says Robert Potocki, head of the wine department at Poland's agriculture ministry.
Poland's climate has apparently become milder in recent years, but temperatures can still plummet to levels that pose a danger to vines.
"The worst are spring frosts," Kiszka explains. He recalls temperatures dived to well below freezing in May 2005 and destroyed a good part of the grape buds.
"We've had to start from zero. We have to learn everything. We're experimenting," Kiszka says. To capture a maximum amount of sunshine, vines grow on lines 1.5 metres (five feet) above the ground.
"Few people know that Poland once was a wine country," says Marek Jarosz, vice-president of a vinters' association. There is even an indigenous Polish variety of grape - the Jutrzenka.
During the XII Century, the Arab geographer Edrisi wrote that the ramparts of the Wawel Royal Castle in Krakow were covered in vines. Austrian invaders ripped out all the vines when they built a citadel there in the 19th century.
Jarosz wants to replant a one-hectare (2.5 acre) vineyard on the south side of the castle. The project could translate into an estimated 5,000 bottles of wine a year and have above all a symbolic value.
"The return of wine to the heart of the Polish identity, to the last resting place of Polish kings, would signal the return of wine culture to Poland, of Poland's return to Western Europe and the end of the Soviet model based on vodka," Jarosz explains.
Estimates suggest, there are some 400 hectares (990 acres) of vineyards planted across Poland.
"It's a drop in the ocean. The total surface area of Polish vineyards is the equivalent of one large French vineyard. But within a decade, there should be around 5,000 hectares (12,350 acres)," he says.
"Polish wines will never be competition for French or Italian wines, that's obvious," says Maciej Kalita, a pioneer vintner in the southern village of Klucze.
In his garage, he makes wine from his own grapes and those of a dozen other grape growers who don't have the means or knowledge to make wine. Together, they form the Grupa Malopolskie Wino micro-winery.
"A bottle would easily sell for 70 zlotys (20 euros, 27 dollars). Demand from restaurants is very strong. Once the fashion for Polish wine passes, it will stabilise at 40 zlotys," predicts Kalita.
"But my goal is quality, not quantity," he says.
French viticulture expert, Professor Jean-Claude Cabanis, rated the white "Nad dworskim potokiem" wine produced at Lazy as very good quality, Kiszka says with a hint of pride.
Those eager to sample Polish wines must still wait a few month for the first bottles. The Polish government was late introducing legislation and only wines produced in 2008 and later can be marketed.
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