Will drinkers be won over by Scandi wines?

Scandinavia is emerging as an unlikely new wine frontier, with hundreds of vineyards now dotted across Denmark and Sweden.

This rise of a small but flourishing industry has been brought about by new varieties that are suited to colder climes; alongside rising temperatures, BBC News reports.

Most Scandinavian vineyards grow Solaris, a hybrid variety that well suited to a colder climate – it also ripens easily and is more disease resistant, requiring fewer pesticides.

Under EU rules, commercial vineyards in Denmark and Sweden have only been permitted since 2000. 

Solaris was first bred in Germany in 1975 but it was not adopted in Scandinavia until 2004, after which winemaking started to take off.

Sweden now has 47 commercial operators across 193ha, with the largest vineyard having 125,000 vines, according to the Swedish Wine Association.

As well as the emergence of such varieties, rising temperatures have also benefitted growers.

Average temperatures in Denmark and Sweden have risen by nearly 2ºC in the past 40-50 years, giving a longer season for grape-growing, but frost risk is still is concern.

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A market for Scandi wine

Jean Becker, from the Danish Wine Association, told BBC News that he started with 500 vines in the year 2000, but new vineyards are now starting with 15,000-25,000 vines. He believes there is a market for Scandi wine.

Meanwhile, another vineyard in Denmark, Vejrhøj Vingård, began by making 4,000 bottles a year but now sells 20,000 a year. They sell bottles direct from the winery as well as to some of Copenhagen’s top restaurants.

The owners, Niels and Nina Fink, produce floral white wines and well as sparkling and rosé. 

Nina told BBC News that people are pleasantly surprised by the taste of the wines. She added: 

“We have longer summer days with more sunlight than you have in France or Italy so the conditions are different.”

Yet to be convinced

However, Scandianvian vineyards face many of the same challenges as those in the UK and elsewhere in the world – high labour costs, lack of available labour, and strict rules on ag-chems.

The cost of Danish wines is also significantly higher than that of Italian, French and Spanish wines. On average they cost from 200 kroner (£22), and very little is exported. 

Nicolai Christiansen, who owns wine shop Vino Fino in central Copenhagen, told BBC News he mostly sells French wine but recently sold a case of Danish wine to a bar owner in France – but he’s still yet to be convinced about Danish wine.

“The Danish wine is still too expensive. It’s coming up but I think there’s some way to go before the quality is there.”

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