By Rose Murray Brown MW  Published in The Scotsman 9th May 2026

 

Polish winemaker Kamil Barczentewicz, a key figure in the new growth of Poland’s modern wine industry, focuses entirely on classic grapes, rather than hybrids.

 

At such a northerly latitude, many of Poland’s 730 winnica (wineries) rely on hardy hybrids like white Solaris or Johanniter and red Regent or Rondo.  But Barczentewicz’s range is almost entirely vitis vinifera: Chardonnay, Pinot Blanc, Riesling, Gewurztraminer and for reds Pinot Noir and even Blaufrankisch – with beautiful colourful labels designed by his wife Ania.

 

“Our climate is very extreme for vines, so when we discussed planting vitis vinifera grapes back in 2013 many people said it was too risky, but we went ahead”, he explained.  “Although Poland has a long history of winemaking, in C20 our latitude (51 degrees N) was considered too cold for traditional viticulture – but our climate is changing with less severe winters and warmer summers than I remember in my childhood”.

Barczentewicz’s family winery is based in Dobre village in Lubelskie, two hours drive south of Warsaw close to the Vistula river near the southeastern Polish border with Ukraine.  Incredibly, he says this area is now becoming too warm to grow Riesling, which tends to grow best in cooler northwest Poland near the German border.  He plans to focus on Burgundian whites and red grapes Chardonnay and Pinot Noir which grow better in his vineyard’s limestone soils – as well as the Blaufrankisch grape.

 

Their first plot, initially just one hectare planted as a hobby, has grown substantially to 12 hectares, all certified organic, with plans to expand another 3 this year.  “It’s very difficult to buy large parcels of land; to amass this size we made 80 separate purchases with the smallest just 30 square metres”, he says.  Winnica Barczentewicz is a large scale winery in Polish terms – as most have less than a hectare.

His parents were not involved in wine, working in business and architecture, but his father’s great love of wine sparked his interest.  “My father loved Italian and Austrian wines and introduced me to fine wines; it was always my father’s dream to make wine”, he says

 

To gain experience young Kamil headed to Austria, which he considers closest climatically to southeast Poland, working for winemaker Heinrich Hartl in Thermenregion south of Vienna where he fell in love with the Blaufrankisch grape.  Six months in Chile working at Vino Morande introduced him to large scale winemaking, use of concrete eggs, oak, whole bunch ferments and more – and then a year’s viticulture and oenology study in Bordeaux gave him classical training.

 

Returning to Poland, he applied this knowledge to make cool climate wild ferment expressions of mainly Burgundian grapes.  His Chardonnay, his most successful white, he ferments in concrete eggs to enhance character; particularly successful in 2024, his warmest vintage.  He uses Riesling and Gewurztraminer to make both fresh dry whites and sweet ice wine.

 

Pinot Noir, he believes, is the grape of the future in Poland as it has lots of potential for both sparkling and still wines.  He currently makes two still Pinots; Major from Burgundian clones (he studied clones in Dijon) and Minor from German and Austrian clones.  With Poland’s history of sparkling wines, he believes Pinot Noir will become important in the future; he has planted specific sparkling clones and will release his first traditional method fizz in 2030.

 

Barczentewicz wines are remarkable considering their origin – they are fresh, dry, taut, linear examples of the classic grapes.  Interestingly, the wine I thought most successful in his range was Dobre Modre, made from Blaufrankisch; obviously a hardy grape which survives the cold winters here, but to get the best ripeness he plants it in one of his sunniest plots.

 

“We cannot get lots of tannin and ripeness with our Blaufrankisch as they can in Austria, but we can make lighter coloured, lower alcohol, gently fruity styles”, he says.  “I wanted to plant Blaufrankisch, as part of Poland was under the Austrian Hapsburg empire for two centuries – and I believe Poland’s tiny modern wine industry should associate with the leading wine countries in eastern Europe, Austria and Hungary”.

 

KAMIL BARCZENTEWICZ WINES

 

WHITE

 

CHARDONNAY BRETON 2024

£20

Good citric fruits, sleek elegant and fresh, vibrant acidity, creamy texture with a saline finish – high alcohol for Poland at 14%.

 

 

REDS

 

DOBRE MAJOR PINOT NOIR 2023

£25

Fresh cherry fruits, hints of spice, smooth soft tannins, shows potential – made from Burgundian Pinot Noir clones and a little Fruhburgunder.

 

 

DOBRE MODRE BLAUFRANKISCH 2022  ***STAR BUY***

£18

Remarkably good considering its origin; elegant red fruit, good ripeness, light alcohol (11%), pure bright oak aged example showing real peppery character.

 

 

Available from natural wine specialist Spry Wines, 1 Haddington Place, Edinburgh EH7 www.sprywines.co.uk & The Wine Society www.thewinesociety.com