Although located in Małopolska region, it is known as ‘Little Tuscany’. Its vine terraces command a view of the local hills, deceptively like a Tuscan landscape. You can’t resist the feeling that the Vineyard ‘On Manor Brook’ is a twin sister to the vineyards of Italy. The stream called Dworski Potok (Manor Brook), to which the Jagiellonian University’s vineyard owes its name, flows past the base of the vine-covered hills.
The Jagiellonian University presents the Vineyard ‘On Manor Brook’, a unique place situated in Małopolska’s Łazy next to the town of Bochnia, about 50 kilometres from Kraków.
The vineyard offers both red and white wines. The best grape variety which has perfectly adopted to the local conditions and is used to produce excellent wine is Seyval Blanc. Other varieties from which quality white wines are made - from dry to semi-sweet ones - are Bianca, Hibernal, and Solaris, whereas Regent and Rondo are of special interest to red wine lovers.
The University vineyard has been the first in Poland to produce a very rare kind of wine – the ice wine, characterised by thick texture, sweet taste and an aroma of honey. This challenging task could be undertaken thanks to the introduction of a special grape variety, popular in the colder regions of the United States and Canada – Vidal Blanc.
Those who crave the knowledge of grapevine cultivation and wine production can enrol in the oenology post-diploma study programme offered by the JU Medical College Faculty of Pharmacy. The programme includes such subjects as: the basics of grapevine cultivation, biology and chemistry of grapes, the chemistry of wine, winemaking technology, typology of wine and wine regions, sensory analysis and the basics od wine tasting as well as cultural and medical aspects of wine. Practical classes take place in the vineyard and give the students an opportunity to make their own wine.
The vineyard ‘On Manor Brook’ was established in 2005 in response to the educational needs of the Jagiellonian University. The vineyard provides perfect conditions for young researchers to carry out experiments and measurements necessary for their theses.
The area of the vineyard was first mentioned in the 13th century. In 1254, Duke Bolesław V the Chaste granted the lands currently belonging to the Jagiellonian University to the Benedictine nuns’ convent in Staniątki. Aside from a considerable amount of land, the nuns also owned several taverns and a mill. This information comes from the 15th-century writings of Jan Długosz.
After World War II, the farmland was nationalised as a result of an agricultural reform. In 1970, the Jagiellonian University was given the land now occupied by the vineyard as a recompense for the areas flooded by the Dobczyce Lake.
Currently, the vineyard covers a total area of 3.3 hectares. There is a restaurant and a hotel near the vineyard and an abundance of tourist attractions nearby. Bochnia, a town located 8 kilometres from the vineyard, boasts a medieval salt mine, the Stanisław Fischer’s Museum of art and history, an archaeological park, and a butterfly museum. Other sites worth visiting include Kmita and Lubomirski Castle in Nowy Wiśnicz (15 km away) - one of the finest examples of Polish early Baroque residential-military architecture.
Oenologists agree that to bear fruit of the richest flavour, the vine has to be at least four or five years old. However, the wine from the Jagiellonian University vineyard achieved its first success as early as three years after the first vines were planted. It was awarded for its outstanding quality among eight debuting European university wines in an international contest hosted by the University of Maribor in 2008.
So far, the University vineyard has earned nineteen medals, won at Polish and international wine contests. The most important of them are:
Gold medal for Hibernal (ice wine, vintage 2012)
– Galicja Vitis, 2014 (Poland)
Gold medal for Hibernal vintage 2008
– University wine contest in Maribor, 2010 (Slovenia)
Silver medal for cuvée – Maréchal Foch, Léon Millot (vintage 2014)
– Cuvée, 2015 (Czechia)
Silver medal awarded to Maréchal Foch (vintage 2012)
– Muvina, 2014 (Sloviakia)
Bronze medal for Jutrzenka (vintage 2015)
– 9th International University Wine Competition, 2016 (Slovenia)