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Stock Polska – Prestige products with history

Polmos Lublin (known today as Stock Polska) was founded by the industrialist Emil Plage in Lublin in 1906 and was able to survive both world wars and the communist state leadership. The company was nationalised in 1948 and re-privatised in 2001. It traded on the Warsaw Stock Exchange until 2005 and was sold in 2006. The new owners, Oaktree Capital Management, purchased the spirits division from Eckes Stock in 2007 and thereby laid the foundations for the current Stock Spirits Group. The company has its headquarters in Luxembourg, its service centre in Great Britain and its production sites in the Czech Republic, Italy and Poland.

Stock dates back to the year 1884 when Lionello Stock founded a beverages business in Trieste. He purchased a distillery in 1920 in what is currently part of the Czech Republic with the aim of tapping into new markets. This was followed by distilleries, bottling plants and warehouses in Italy, Austria, Poland, Hungary and Yugoslavia. In the 1920s, Stock was one of the biggest companies of its kind in Europe.

After an absence of 70 years, Stock returned to Poland and began to manufacture at the historic site of Lublin, 150 kilometres south-east of Warsaw. Intensive investment led to the creation of the most modern distillery in Poland and a leadership position on the vodka market. Poland’s most popular flavoured vodka is produced here: Zoladkowa Gorzka.

Lots of Stock products are produced by traditional recipes. These classical brands appeal to connoisseurs all over the world. In return, work is constantly being done on innovations that correspond to modern tastes and new drinking cultures. Quality standards are constantly upheld in both areas, of course.

The quality of the products was recognised at the World Spirits Award with a gold medal for the Orkisz Spelt Vodka.

Domäne Wachau: All about the grape

Austria’s most precious collection of old brandies lies in the impressive cellars of Domäne Wachau in Dürnstein. Approximately 250 winegrowing families belong to this internationally renowned wine-growers’ association. They cultivate their vineyards throughout the Wachau with an artisanal ap-proach as well as an abundance of experience and passion.

A wide range of quality wines is the foundation of production, while there is also a focus on high-proof specialities. Domäne Wachau can look back on a very long tradition of wine distillery. Over 300 years ago, Provost Hieronymus Übelbacher, builder of the Dürnstein Kellerschlössl wine cellar, wrote about the Wachau ‘Prandewein’ (brandy). Distillation has taken place in the modern style since the 1960s, with terrace wines from the Wachau and particular emphasis on the regional character.

With a regional focus and characterised by the Grüner Veltliner grape variety and the unique Wachau terroir, Veltliner brandies are double distilled in copper vats and then stored for many years in the baroque cellar at the foot of the Ried Kellerberg vineyard. The XA22 Grüner Veltliner wine brandy matures for about 22 years in small, wooden barrels to become a spicy Veltliner brandy with a strong structure and authentic character.

At the World Spirits Award, the XA22 Grüner Veltliner wine brandy won gold.