Thousands of wine lovers raise their goblets in celebration of this years Grape Harvest festival in Zielona Gora. Tradition calls for Bacchus, the god of wine, to greet crowds of tourists with open arms during festivities filled with wine and fun. This festival lets happy go lucky participants taste an assortment of the very best regional wines Zielona Gora has to offer.
Bogdan Żaryn reports
The retail hub located in the heart of Zielona Gora Western Poland is filled with song, dance and cheer. From the first Sunday of September till the middle of the month thousands of residents and tourists have a common interest. To taste as much wine as one can during “Winobranie” the Grape Harvest festival.
Jaroslaw Wnorowski from the Zielona Gora tourist office says that 120,000 people have already shown up to take part in a festival honoring a wine making tradition that’s over 700 years old: ‘That region has a specific climate . It’s one of the warmest parts in Poland and we have many sunny days in September and August when grapes gain the sugar. Also we have a very specific type of grape it’s called “Churpka”. It was invested and planted here. But what is very specific is that the grapes are usually small in the middle of August suddenly they grow and the are quite good for wine producing. Grapes from Zielona Gora are not so big and not as sweet like the grapes in Spain.’
So just how does Polish white grape wines compare to other types on the market. Konrad Dzialak from Janton a Polish producer of fruit wine explains the subtle differences: ‘New World country wines are light in taste and most suitable for all drinkers.Polish wines have a little bit higher acidity but still pocess a good bouquet and good color.’
At the end of the 18th century there were 48 vine gardener masters in Zielona Gora and roughly 2200 vineyards. Currently there are 15 private vine yards in the region. Poland may have a long history of wine making which dates back to the 14th century but, regional grape wine growers can not sell their products to eager consumers: ‘A few years ago their have been some plantations renewed where some grape wines are being produced but, due to the excise tax and Polish legislation producers are not allowed to sell those grape wines because if they would like to do that they have to have at their plantation a banned warehouse and in addition a laboratory where they can analyse wine.’
Even though the traditional shot glass full of vodka still ranks high amongst Poles, a growing number of drinkers are acquiring a taste for something completely different: ‘Vodka is Nr. 1 in Poland and beer and wine is number 3.Polish people like sweet wines. Right now we are producing around 130 million liters of fruit wines a year which in majority are being drank in Poland. Polish citzens are travelling more and more abroad and they are more familiar with different wines. What I see is that Poland is looking at the tradition and it is true that we are trying to register many traditional Polish products and sell them., Maybe also following that “Winobranie” where Polish grape wines and Polish fruit wines are showing the traditions for those wines in Poland .’
People in the know expect that law makers may ease current regulations allowing regional wine producers to finally be able to sell their products in Poland and not only next year., Till then however lovers pf regional wines will have to make due with tradition the grape harvest or ‘Winobranie” festival in Zielona Gora.