Slinde Vineyards, Sognefjord, Norway.

Slinde Vineyards, Sognefjord, Norway.
Photo provided

Wine from Scandinavia: Good things lie far in the north

Wine from Denmark, Sweden and even Norway? This is not wine paradise, also because of climate change, but there are more and more of them.

Aquavit, vodka and light beer; there is nothing else to drink in Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland. This cliché was never correct and is therefore simply wrong: not only thanks to increasingly informed consumption of imported wines but also thanks to a young winemaking culture in the North that often makes a positive out of the special conditions. The Danes, for example, currently consume two-thirds imported red wine, including ten percent rosé, and the market for sparkling wine is also growing. And even if natural wines are anything but big players on the world market with around two per cent of production, people in Copenhagen love these wines: The city ranks third in the world behind Paris and Tokyo in the consumption of this category.

Since 2000, Denmark, where no monopoly authority regulates the sale of alcoholic beverages, has itself been an official European winegrowing country with the four main regions of Bornholm, Funen, Jutland and Zealand. Thanks to global warming, the area and production are constantly increasing – the production of sparkling wine is the main focus. The Dons sub-region in Jutland is now the first protected designation of origin (PDO) in Denmark for this – it is the most northerly in the EU and covers a potential 500 hectares. The new varieties Souvignier Gris, Solaris and Johanniter as well as the red varieties Rondo and Regent for rosé are particularly well suited to the Danish climate. Apart from the Sparkling from Dons, the northwest of Zealand seems to be best suited for viticulture. In the Danish Vine Association, 96 winegrowers with 98 hectares of vineyards were already registered as commercial producers there in 2017. In addition, there are more than 1000 registered hobby winegrowers. The wines are niche products in the price range of 15 to 30 euros ex-farm and are almost all exclusively available in the region.

Dyrehøj Vingaard near Kalundborg is today the largest vineyard in Denmark with 30,000 vines. Here, in the sunniest corner, New Zealand winemaker Zach Brierly ensures good quality like the “Solaris Reserve”. Niels and Nina Fink from the Vejrhøj winery in Fårevejle have been attracting attention since 2011 with wines like the “Solaris Sterling”. They are proud of the sparkling wines from Skærsøgaard, Almind in Dons PDO – the Cuvée Brut 2015 made from the Solaris and Orion varieties, was awarded 90 Parker points. The other winemaker who has made it to the Wine Advocate ratings is Jacob Stokkebye, who now produces around 10,000 bottles of white and sparkling wine in Funen, in addition to caviar. He worked as a sommelier in outstanding French restaurants and at the Danish royal family's winery in Cahors before deciding in 2009 that he wanted to become Denmark's best winemaker. The Solaris called “Liva”, aged in used barriques from Domaine de Chevalier in Bordeaux, stands out.

And red wine? Susanne and Søren Hartvig Jensen from Kelleris Vingård in Kvistgård, for example, even planted Cabernet Sauvignon alongside Rondo. “I'm not just a little crazy, I'm completely crazy because I specialise in red wine,” says Søren, “but since consumers love wines with longer barrel ageing, I took on this challenge with pleasure.”

“Enormous potential”

Sweden is a strong market for wine, about 25 litres per capita are consumed annually – about as much as in Germany; about half of the wines are imported from the New World, especially from South Africa. Of the three Nordic countries, home-grown wine is growing fastest in Sweden, with Swedish winegrowers currently cultivating about 150 hectares.

However, if one believes Emma Serner, herself a vintner and president of the Swedish Trade Organisation for Oenology and Viticulture, about 10,000 hectares, especially in the south of the country, could have good conditions for growing grapes. Lotta Nordmark from the Swedish University of Agriculture also sees “enormous potential for winegrowers in Sweden to produce good, sustainably produced wines here thanks to the improved climate and the new fungus-resistant PIWI grape varieties”. The Swedish monopoly - Systembolaget - already offers around 240 classic grape wines from Sweden, which show promise.

If you want to get an overview of Swedish wine in situ, visit the Swedish Wine Center (swedishwinecenter.se) in Malmö, where you can taste the best wines by the glass. The white wines are clearly dominated by the PIWI variety Solaris, plus some Muscaris, Souvignier Gris, but even Donauriesling as in the “Cuvée Lyckeri” from the Kullaberg winery, which is compared by Austrian oenologists with the calibre of Robert Steidl.

More sun than in Bordeaux

The less frequently produced Swedish red wines come from the Arild, Skeppard and Snårestad wineries – they are made from the Pinot Noir, Rondo, Siramé and Cabernet Cortis varieties. Rosé, sparkling wine (sparkling wine is called “Mousserande” here) and orange wines are also offered. Wine tastings are, of course, also offered by the wineries. The regions of Scania and Södermanland, have now proved suitable for winegrowing. South of Malmö, Lena Jörgensen and Murre Sofrakis run the Vingården i Klagshamn winery; the first Solaris vines were planted in 2001.

Further east, near Skåne, are the 6.5 hectares of Hällåkra Vingård, where a wide variety of wines are produced, working with Solaris, Rondo, Regent, Leon Millot, Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris, and Auxerrois Blanc. The first red wine from Rondo was bottled here in 2008. Another winery is Nordic Sea in Simrishamn Winery with its ultra-modern winery, wine bar and restaurant. Here the Oenoforos Group, founded by Takis Soldatos, produces some of the best-selling wines in the country. The Blaxsta winery is not only considered one of the first wineries in Sweden, but its 3.5 hectares in the Södermanland region southwest of Stockholm are also considered the northernmost vineyards in the world. It is hard to believe that 25 per cent more hours of sunshine are recorded here than in Bordeaux, for example. Accordingly, Chardonnay, Vidal Blanc, Merlot and Cabernet Franc are cultivated here. In the heart of the Östgöta plain near Väderstad, Niclas and Anna Albinsson from Särtshöga Vingård cultivate their 8,000 vines of Solaris, full of confidence that they will be able to produce the world's best sparkling wine from this variety in the future. Currently, there are already 4000 bottles of Blanc de Blancs and Brut Nature produced annually, and production is growing. The wineries often run restaurants and accommodation facilities themselves, also because of the sales restrictions due to the Systembolaget monopoly.

Chianti, Rioja and mead

Norway is very conservative when it comes to choosing its wines. Here, consumers show little interest in the New World, preferring 75 per cent red wine and tending towards Chianti, Rioja or Bordeaux. The climate in Norway is too harsh for classical viticulture. In addition, the sale of alcoholic beverages, with the exception of light beer, is regulated by the state monopoly. A winegrower would not be allowed to sell his wine on the farm; it is only sold to interested parties through the “Vinmonopolet” pubs. Like the Vikings, Norwegians still drink mead (“Mjød”), which is made from honey and aromatic herbs. Berry wine is also produced from the black crowberry, which is called “Krekling” here.

And against all odds, there are already half a dozen commercial wineries in Norway. A winegrowers' association has also already been founded and has a bevy of amateur winemakers as additional members. Lerkekåsa Vineyard is probably the most northerly winery in the province of Telemark, the region where the skiing technique of the same name was developed. Probably the most prominent winemaker-consultant in Norway is the German winemaking star Klaus-Peter Keller from Rheinhessen, who is having his first successes in Kirstiansand with his former trainee Anne Enggrav, of course with Riesling.

Grapes from Finland

Finland, finally, is definitely part of the “vodka belt”. Even though consumption of high-proof spirits has declined significantly in recent years, vodka still has a market share of a quarter of all alcoholic beverages. Finns appreciate strong, fruity wines, also a certain sweetness; here, the juicy, red chiles are very much in demand. Finland does not yet have its own wine production. However, around 100 kilos of grapes grow on a rocky island called Olkiuoto, where warm wastewater pipes from nuclear power plants keep the ground ice-free for a test facility.

Peter Moser
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