An International Honor from the Largest Polish Wine Magazine
San Francisco, October 31, 2017 – Czas Wina awarded the ‘2017 Person of the Year’ award to Napa Valley icon, Warren Winiarski. Winiarski was honored at the gala event on October 21st at Sierakow Manor in Krakow, Poland.
Warren Winiarski and Michael Bardel Promoting CA Wines in Poland
Czas Wina has chosen an international wine luminary as its ‘Person of the Year’ since 2010. Past recipients include Jancis Robinson, António Rios de Amorim, Victor Schoenfeld, Hugh Johnson, Michel Rolland, Patricia Atkinson, Jair Agopian and Agusti Torelló Mata. This distinction recognizes the efforts of enologists, wine writers, winery owners and key industry leaders who are committed to promoting the culture of wine internationally. Winiarski was honored for his legacy in Napa Valley and changing the image of California wines worldwide.
The award is of personal significance to Winiarski whose parents emigrated from Poland in the 1890’s. Winiarski was born and raised in the Polish neighborhood of Chicago. During his visit to Poland to receive the award this week, Winiarski conducted a lecture on the California wine and grape industry at Jagiellonian University and a tasting of representative California wines with Editor-in-Chief Michał Bardel, Czas Wina magazine. Poland has a rapidly developing wine culture and sales of still wine have increased almost 60% in the past ten years. Poland has 150 registered commercial vineyards with about 495 acres of planted vines.
Czas Wina debuted in 2001 and is the premiere Polish wine magazine. The magazine is part of the Dom Wina Group, which includes Dom Wina, one of the major Polish wine importers and distributors. Thousands of readers and subscribers turn to Czas Wina for wine news, education, international cuisines and international wine and grape growing travel recommendations.
About Warren Winiarski
Warren Winiarski is a Napa Valley resident, grape grower, and philanthropist. His well noted Arcadia Vineyards in the Coombsville AVA of Napa Valley grows Chardonnay, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. He planted his first Cabernet Sauvignon vineyard in 1970 in what is now the AVA “Stags Leap District.” Founder and former proprietor of Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars, Mr. Winiarski is a Napa Valley winemaking icon with a deep legacy commencing when his 1973 Cabernet Sauvignon won the Judgment of Paris in 1976, helping put Napa Valley on the global wine map. A longtime advocate of Napa Valley land preservation, Mr. Winiarski has backed legislation over the past 50 years to protect agricultural and open space for future generations. He is a longstanding, avid supporter of the Smithsonian National Museum of American History’s American wine programs and has established funds to continually support the UC Davis Library’s collections of prominent wine writers’ manuscripts and papers. Mr. Winiarski lives with his wife Barbara overlooking the Napa Valley.
