LAZY (Poland) - ON THE rolling hills skirting the southern Polish city of Krakow, pioneer 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 Mr 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.

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 Mr 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,' Mr Kiszka explains. He recalls temperatures dived to well below freezing in May 2005 and destroyed a good proportion of the grape buds.

'We've had to start from zero. We have to learn everything. We're experimenting,' Mr Kiszka says.

To capture a maximum amount of sunshine, vines grow on lines 1.5 metres above the ground.

'Few people know that Poland once was a wine country,' says Mr Marek Jarosz, vice-president of a vinters' association. There is even an indigenous Polish variety of grape - the Jutrzenka.

During the 12th 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.

Mr Jarosz wants to replant a one-hectare 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,' said Mr Jarosz.

Estimates suggest there are some 400 hectares 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,' he says.

'Polish wines will never be competition for French or Italian wines, that's obvious,' says Mr 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 (S$40). Demand from restaurants is very strong. Once the fashion for Polish wine passes, it will stabilise at 40 zlotys,' said Mr Kalita.

'But my goal is quality, not quantity,' he adds. -- AFP

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