Welcome to the blog of Wojciech Bońkowski, Poland’s leading wine writer.

Born in 1976, I’ve been writing about wine in Polish and English since 1999. My early notes (signed as Nerval) appeared on forums such as Wine Pages and WLDG.

I then wrote (with fellow critic Marek Bieńczyk) three editions of a best-selling wine guide “Wina Europy” (2003, 2005, 2008); by the third edition we reviewed 15,000 wines from 31 countries, from France and Italy to Algeria and Switzerland (and Poland!).

From 2002 until December 2010 I also worked as deputy editor for WINO Magazine, Poland’s leading wine periodical. In 2012 I launched a new online wine magazine in Polish, Winicjatywa.

I specialise in the wines of Italy and so-called Central and Eastern Europe: Austria, Germany, Hungary and Greece. I travel regularly to wine regions and tastings all over the world.

Since 1997 I’ve also been developing a passion for tea. I’m now including tea notes and musings in alternation with wine.

In my other life I work as a musicologist, having earned a PhD for my dissertation on 19th-century editions of the works of Chopin. I live in Warsaw, Poland.