Poland, in Central Europe, is a new and perhaps surprising addition to the list of wine-producing nations. Although viniculture is very much in its infancy here, and has yet to make any mark on international markets, it is nonetheless under way.
Vodka is Poland's most famous alcoholic beverage, and has been part of the national heritage for more than 500 years. The most distinctive style, perhaps, is that flavored with hierochloe odorata (bison grass), which has a cinnamon-like odor thanks to the fragrant coumarin compound present in the grass. Coumarin is also responsible for the aromatic qualities of vanilla grass, sweet woodruff and cinnamon.
Northern Poland, where Gdansk meets the icy Baltic Sea, has a temperate maritime climate. In mid-winter, up to 45% of the Baltic is covered in ice, despite the salt content of its brackish waters. The ice is typically concentrated in the sea's northern edges, around northern Sweden, Finland and Estonia, and its presence signals how cold this part of the world can get. The climate gradually becomes more continental further inland, giving warmer summers and drier, cold winters. The two warmest areas of Poland are in the south-east, near the borders with Ukraine and Slovakia, and in the south-western region of Silesia, which neighbors the Czech Republic.
Despite Poland's cool climate, determined attempts to grow vines have proved moderately successful, thanks in part to the gradually warming conditions. Quite remarkably, grapes are being grown as far north as the lakes of Masuria (Mazury in Polish), which stretch almost to the border with Lithuania. The northernmost lake, Wegorzewski, is 140 miles (225km) north of the Polish capital, Warsaw, at the cool northerly latitude of 54 degrees, which it shares with the far north of England. In the southern hemisphere, the 54th parallel bisects Cape Horn at the southernmost tip of South America, just 500 miles removed from Antarctica. The only reason that grapes will grow at this latitude in Poland is the moderating influence of the lakes, which protect the vineyards from extremes of temperature in winter.
