History · the road through time
These wine cultures did not appear in the 21st century.
Move through the eras; the map changes with you. Each stop has one number worth remembering.
c. 1600 BC: Amber Road trade
c. 1600 BC
1600 BC
Baltic amber reaches the Mediterranean from at least the 16th century BC
Amber Road trade
Baltic amber reached the Mediterranean from at least the 16th century BC, carried south from the Vistula mouth along the Oder and the Morava, through the Moravian Gate to the Danube, and on to the Adriatic.
1st–2nd c. AD
1st–2nd c. AD
the Amber Road at its peak, from Aquileia through Carnuntum to the Baltic
Roman Carnuntum and Pannonia
The road peaked in the 1st and 2nd centuries AD. From Aquileia it ran through Emona (Ljubljana), Poetovio and Savaria to Carnuntum on the Danube, then up the Morava valley, through the Moravian Gate, across the Oder near Krapkowice, and by the Warta and Prosna to the Vistula mouth.
Carnuntum, a Roman amber hub, is today an Austrian wine region.
966
966
Christianisation; the written record of Polish vineyards begins in 1136
Christianisation and monasteries
Poland's Christianisation is dated to 966. With the Church came the monasteries, and with the monasteries came the vine.
The written record starts later. In 1136 the Bull of Gniezno recorded vineyards near Płock, the first documented Polish vineyards.
By 1250 the Cistercians were planting at Paradyż.
1136
1136
the Bull of Gniezno records vineyards near Płock
Bull of Gniezno
In 1136 the Bull of Gniezno recorded vineyards near Płock, the start of nine centuries of documented viticulture in Poland.
1250
4,000 ha
medieval peak of Polish vineyard, approximately
Cistercians and the medieval peak
Cistercians planted vines at Paradyż in 1250. At its medieval peak Polish vineyard reached near 4,000 hectares.
1513–14
1513–14
Little Ice Age frosts destroy the Lubuskie vines
Little Ice Age
In 1513 and 1514 the frosts of the Little Ice Age destroyed the Lubuskie vines.
1826 – 1860s
1,400 ha
vineyard around Grünberg at its 1860s peak, in roughly 2,000 plots
A Sekt house on the Oder, forty years before phylloxera.
In 1826 Grempler & Co. opened in Grünberg, among the first sparkling-wine houses in the German lands, and took medals at world exhibitions. The town's Winobranie harvest festival has run since 1852. Loam-sand soils are credited with sparing the district from the worst of phylloxera in the following decades.
1860s – 1900
3,800 ha
Moravia falls to 3,800 ha
Phylloxera
Between the 1860s and 1900 phylloxera reached the vineyards of Central Europe. In Moravia the vineyard fell to 3,800 hectares. Loam-sand soils are credited with sparing the Grünberg district from the worst of it.
1918, 1945
66 ha
left around Zielona Góra after 1945, from 150
Borders redrawn
In 1945 Grünberg became Zielona Góra, and its vineyards fell from 150 hectares to 66.
The era runs to 1989. The revival began before it ended: in 1982 Roman Myśliwiec planted vines at Jasło, and the 2008 wine law later let small registered producers sell their wine.
1982
1982
Roman Myśliwiec plants at Jasło; the revival begins
Revival
In 1982 Roman Myśliwiec planted vines at Jasło in Subcarpathia, and the revival began. Poland joined the EU in 2004.
2008
20 producers
on the register when it opened in 2009
The wine law
The 2008 wine law let small registered producers sell their wine. When the register opened in 2009 it held 20 producers.
Today
673 growers
and 304 bottling producers at Q1 2025; vineyard area passes 1,000 ha
Today
Poland had 951 hectares of vineyard in 2024 and passed 1,000 in 2025, with 673 growers and 304 actively bottling producers at Q1 2025. No PDO exists yet; a Lower Silesia application is in process.