Monarch: Rare German PIWI Red Grape, Tasted in Poland | Zielona Góra · Winnica Trojan

Monarch is a rare red PIWI grape crossed in Germany. I taste the Monarch from Winnica Trojan near Zielona Góra in western Poland. A few producers in Poland now make it as a single-variety wine: deep purple, dark berries, fresh acidity and soft tannins. 🎥 Johanniter, the PIWI grape Poland took to its heart:    • Johanniter: The PIWI Grape Poland Took to ...   🎥 Hibernal, a German PIWI at home in Slovakia:    • Hibernal: A German PIWI Grape at Home in S...   🍷 In the glass Winnica Trojan, Monarch · Zielona Góra, Lubusz, Poland · 12 % alc. · dry 🧬 The grape Monarch = Solaris × Dornfelder. Crossed in 1988 by Norbert Becker at the State Viticulture Institute (WBI) in Freiburg, Germany. Dornfelder brings deep colour and soft tannins; Solaris, itself a PIWI with Vitis amurensis in its ancestry, brings disease and frost resistance. Early ripening and resistant to both mildews. Wine Grapes calls it "a dark, powerful, recent German hybrid giving fruity and full-bodied wines". 📍 Where it grows About 17 ha in Germany (German Wine Institute, 2023) and about 2 ha in Switzerland (Federal Office for Agriculture, Das Weinjahr 2025); authorised in Italy in 2011 (Wine Grapes, 2012). In Poland a few quality producers make it as a single variety. 📖 Source: Wine Grapes by Jancis Robinson, Julia Harding and José Vouillamoz ⏱ Chapters 0:00 Introduction 0:26 Monarch, a PIWI grape 1:51 Solaris × Dornfelder 2:24 PIWI genes and frost 4:40 Where it grows 5:52 Winnica Trojan 6:25 Tasting: Monarch 8:40 Verdict The Wine Grapes Project: tasting all 1,368 grape varieties, one bottle at a time. 🌐 https://uncorkmywine.com #PolishWine #polskiewino