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POTATO
Chopin Potato Vodka reshaped western perceptions of vodka with its introduction to the U.S. market in 1997.
Tasting Profile: Chopin Potato has an alluring nose with subtle notes of vanilla and green apple. It is creamy and well-rounded with a reassuring earthiness and a long, clean finish.
How to Enjoy it: Chopin Potato is an excellent base for cocktails; served neat or on the rocks, it is unsurpassed. Try it in a CEO – a Chopin martini with extra olives.
Awards: Chopin Potato’s singular taste has caught the notice of connoisseurs and critics alike. It is consistently rated at the top of its class, earning Double Gold in the San Francisco World Spirits Competition and Gold Medals from the Chicago Beverage Testing Institute’s International Review of Spirits Award.
Production: Produced only from mid-September into early December, Chopin Potato is crafted from potatoes grown naturally – without chemicals or pesticides – by select local farmers in the fertile Podlasie countryside. These are harvested late in the season to ensure an exceptionally high starch content (22% vs. the average 12%), for a richer, more flavorful vodka.
There are no secrets and no additives in the creation of Chopin Potato. Each bottle contains only potatoes, yeast and purified artesian well water. These three ingredients – simple but superior in quality – are transformed into premium vodka through a method that has changed little over the centuries, including the use of a traditional copper column still.
Approximately 55 tons (or 50 metric tons) of potatoes are processed each day at the historic Chopin distillery. As many as 40 potatoes (seven pounds/three kilograms) are required to make one 750ml bottle of vodka. Cleaned and left unpeeled, the potatoes are pressure-cooked to create a “mash,” which is fermented for three days. The fermented mash is distilled four times, creating a spirit that is almost 100% alcohol. This spirit is then transported to Chopin’s bottling plant in nearby Siedlce, where it is blended with artesian well water and filtered five times before its final destination – the iconic, frosted bottle that bears the profile of the brand’s inspiration, Polish composer Frederic Chopin, and the signature of master distiller Waldemar Durakiewicz.
THE DISTILLERY
The historic Chopin distillery is tucked within the fertile farmland of the Podlasie region, in the eastern Polish town of Krzesk. Here, the world’s first and finest luxury vodka is crafted by a small team on 17 acres dotted with ponds, rows of roses and herbs, a 19th-century windmill, and a thoroughly modern helipad. Owner Tad Dorda has converted a restored 1766 country house – once used to store rye – into a charming hospitality house for visitors, who can watch the distilling process from a series of catwalks constructed on the exterior of the distillery.
What these visitors will witness is a simple process that has changed little over the centuries, since Poland first adopted vodka as its national spirit.
Chopin is one of only a few vodka producers to distill its own spirits, relying on the highest-quality potato, rye or wheat, naturally grown by select local farmers, and a traditional, copper column still. Chopin Vodka is distilled four times with purified artesian well water. Unlike other vodkas, Chopin contains no additives. Its superiority lies in the quality of its ingredients and the care with which these ingredients are shepherded from farm to bottle.
Late-harvest potatoes, valued for their high starch content, are used exclusively to craft the brand’s potato vodka throughout the fall season. The distillery converts to rye vodka production for the remainder of the year. The process is completely sustainable, using the whole potato – peel and all, with the leftover “mash” returned to the farm as feed and fertilizer.
The same pride of process is evident at Chopin’s bottling plant, operating since 1896 in the nearby town of Siedlce. The previously state-owned plant was acquired by the Dorda family in 2003. Here, 8,000 bottles of Chopin Vodka are produced daily under the watchful eye of master distiller Waldemar Durakiewicz, who pioneered the luxury vodka category in 1993 and whose signature is on every bottle.
OUR STORY
Chopin Vodka is a small-batch, family-owned producer of single-ingredient, premium Polish vodkas.
Chopin is one of only a few vodka producers to distill its own spirits; most vodka is acquired from a trading market - with no information regarding its heritage and ingredients - and subsequently bottled. This is not the case with Chopin Vodka. There are no secrets and no additives in the production of Chopin Vodka. Each bottle contains only three ingredients – the highest-quality, naturally grown potato, rye or wheat, yeast and purified artesian well water. Moreover, the process by which Chopin Vodka crafts its vodkas is 100% sustainable; discarded potato mash is returned to the fields as fertilizer.
Chopin sources its ingredients from select local farmers in the Podlasie region of Poland, who grow their crops naturally, ensuring that only the highest-quality rye and wheat or late-harvest potato makes it into each bottle, along with purified water from Chopin’s own artesian well.
The Chopin distillery relies on a traditional copper still and a simple, centuries-old process. Chopin distills its vodka four times to produce an authentic spirit of superior quality and taste.
The vodka produced by Chopin has a singular taste that is achieved through the superior quality of its ingredients and the care through which these ingredients are shepherded from farm to bottle. It is a vodka that stands alone among premium vodkas, yet it is within reach of all who appreciate its distinctive qualities.
OUR NAMESAKE
It is no accident that Durakiewicz chose Poland’s favorite son, Frederic Chopin, as the namesake for this vodka. Like the legendary composer, Chopin Vodka is a master of its art, creating a spirit of singular taste that has changed the way the world thinks about, and drinks, vodka. The care, passion and artistry that goes into producing each bottle of Chopin Vodka is perfectly distilled in this quote by the composer himself: “Simplicity is the final achievement. After one has played a vast quantity of notes and more notes, it is simplicity that emerges as the crowning reward of art.”
At Chopin Vodka, we hold our namesake’s ingenuity as a standard by which to achieve our own success. Our aspirations to excellence are not propelled by other makers of vodka, but by the mastery of craft of Frederic Chopin himself. It is for this reason that Chopin Vodka is without peer, inhabiting a realm of accomplishment not with other vodkas, but with visionaries and innovation that have helped to shape standards of excellence throughout the world.
The compositions of Frederic Chopin were considered among the most innovative of the 19th century, blanketed by depth, nuance and technical mastery. To honor this, it is with depth and nuance that we hand craft a vodka that merits such a name.
Chopin Potato-Gold Medal 2011 San Francisco Spirits Competition
Chopin Potato-Best of Class, Best of Category and Gold Medal at the 2011 Los Angeles International Wine & Spirits Competitio
The Original Luxury Craft Vodka Since 1993 - Chopin Vodka.The Original Luxury Craft Vodka Since 1993 - Chopin Vodka
HAND PICKED, HAND SELECTED
HAND CRAFTED, CHOPIN POTATO.
Each bottle of Chopin Potato is hand crafted using nearly 40 of our naturally grown prized potatoes.
L.A. WINE & SPIRITS COMPETITION
CHOPIN TAKES IT
Los Angeles chose Chopin Potato as its gold medal winner, Best in Class and Best in Category in the Los Angeles International Wine & Spirits Competition.
SAN FRANCISCO SPIRITS COMPETITION
GOLD MEDAL
Chopin Potato took home the gold medal in the vodka category from the prestigious 2011 San Francisco World Spirits Competition.
DRINK IT STRAIGHT
Most people celebrate vodka that is smooth. At Chopin, we celebrate smooth Vodka with great flavor. Like fine wine, Chopin Vodka is crafted for complex and varied flavors - flavors that beg to be tasted straight.
