For most, Polish wines are unchartered territory. The winemaking history of Poland dates back to the early Middle Ages, but a changing climate and devastating wars, followed by communist rule, brought the tradition to a decline. However, in the 1980s, dedicated enthusiasts started growing modern vines, and in 2009, the government approved the sale of homemade wine, helping local winegrowers formalise their activity.

The majority of land under vine is planted to hardy hybrids such as Solaris, Seyval Blanc and Johanniter, just to name a few, but Vitis vinifera varieties are rapidly growing in popularity too. This impressive diversity of grapes is a result of winemakers’ relative free rein. Poland does not have officially delimited appellations, and it is yet to implement a definitive regional or varietal classification. Vintners can essentially use any grape variety registered at least in one of the European countries.