BBCSipping a glass of local wine probably isn't what comes to mind when visiting Scandinavia, but this cool northern region is emerging as a new frontier for wine.
Hundreds of commercial vineyards are now spread throughout Denmark, Sweden and Germany And even Norway As the first generation of professional winemakers, they have transformed what was once a niche hobby into a small but thriving industry.
As far north as Bordeaux in France or Napa Valley in California, more than 10,000 vine trees grow on a hillside on Zealand, Denmark's largest island.
“People have discovered that it is actually possible to grow wine in Denmark, so newcomers come, year after year,” says Nina Fink, showing the BBC her three-hectare winery, Vigorhe Vingård.
Nina and her husband Niels started their operation 13 years ago, after retiring from business jobs in Copenhagen. They grow mostly green grapes, and produce pink white wines, as well as sparkling and rosé wines.
“We have longer summer days with more sunlight than in France or Italy, so the conditions are different,” she explains.
For most Scandinavian vineyards, Solaris is the grape of choice – an aromatic hybrid that adapts well to cooler climates, ripens easily, and is more resistant to disease, allowing vineyards to avoid pesticide sprays.
The grape was first produced in Germany in 1975, but was only certified in Scandinavia as of 2004, after which the wine industry took off.
People are positively surprised when they taste wines from Vejrhøj Vingård, says Nils Fink. “There's a little twinkle in their eyes, and then there's this half-smile,” he laughs. “People love it.”
Finks sells its bottles directly from the winery, but also supplies some of Copenhagen's best restaurants, including the three-Michelin-starred Geranium.
At first they were only making 4,000 bottles a year, but now they sell 20,000 bottles. “We're limited by the offer we can make,” says Mr. Fink.
Commercial vineyards in Denmark and Sweden have only been allowed under EU rules since 2000. The wine industry rebounded around 2010, and has seen a shift from amateur growers to more ambitious production.
Jan Becker, of the Danish Wine Association, explains that curiosity and the fact that “it is possible” have attracted wine entrepreneurs.
“I was one of those who started in 2000,” says Becker, standing in his vineyard 25 kilometers north of Copenhagen. “We were six farmers.”
There are now 150 commercial wineries in Denmark with a total area of 125 hectares of vines, as well as more than 1,000 hobby growers.
Meanwhile, in Sweden there are 47 commercial operators spanning 193 hectares, according to the Swedish Wine Association, the largest of which has 125,000 vines.
“I started with 500 vines,” said Jan Becker, “and today, new winegrowers start with 15,000 to 25,000 trees. They start on a larger scale. Is there a market for it? The answer is yes.”
But it is an industry that is still in its infancy, compared to the 800,000 hectares planted in France, and nearly a million hectares in Spain.
In southern New Zealand, Jesper Ray Jensen, who runs Vesterhave Vingaard, produces red wine from varieties such as Pinot Noir and Merlot, usually associated with France.
“It's very difficult because it's new to us,” he says. “We have to learn that. It's not like southern Europe, where they're passed down from generation to generation.”
The data shows that both Denmark and Sweden saw average temperatures rise approximately Two degrees Celsius Over the past 40-50 years, resulting in milder winters and The fruit growing season is longer. But there is still a risk of frost damage.
As a Nordic wine producer, Jesper Ray Jensen says climate change is working to his advantage. “We wine growers in Denmark are happy that the weather is a little better.”
But Niels Fink believes that climate warming is a double-edged sword. “Climate change is bringing with it all sorts of evils, such as more extreme weather events, prolonged droughts, and heavier rains. This is as much a threat here as anywhere else.”
Thora WineryHowever, Professor Torben Bo Toldham Andersen, a fruit science researcher from the University of Copenhagen, says that rather than a longer growing season, it was the emergence of new, hardier grape varieties that largely gave rise to Scandinavian wineries. “Climate change certainly makes it easier, but the main driver is new varieties.”
He leads a program called FastGrapes, which tests different types of vines, to find the strongest and most suitable for northern Europe.
They are selected based on how quickly the grapes ripen and their ability to resist pests, diseases and other environmental stresses. New seedlings can then be planted at a higher scale.
“There are many things that go into making the perfect wine,” says the researcher. “Part of this research happens in the lab… you can see the genes that make it strong.”
The first selected vines are now growing at 15 test sites, across Scandinavia, Lithuania, northern Germany and Belgium.
But even with the best possible grapes and warmer weather, Scandinavian wineries face many challenges, such as high labor costs and strict rules about using chemical treatments to treat any disease in the vineyards.
It can also be difficult for wineries to find workers, says Romain Ciccheri. Born and raised in France, he moved to Sweden shortly after completing his studies in winemaking and viticulture.
The now 27-year-old winemaker works at Thora Vineyard on the Bjäre Peninsula in the southwest of the country. “We need to train workers, or we have to bring them in from outside (the country),” he says.
But he adds that he is “starting from scratch” in Sweden, so he has the freedom to experiment. “It's not just copy and paste, which has been done for decades, or centuries, in the ancient world of viticulture.”
All the effort and expense is worth it, says Thora's owner, American expat Heather Oberg. “We can compete with other European wines,” she says.
However, locally produced Scandinavian wine currently makes up only a small portion of the consumer market, and bottles are expensive. Danish wine in Denmark costs up to 200 kroner ($27; £22) a bottle, more than twice the price of the cheapest French and Spanish imports. Only a small amount is exported.
“We will never compete with France, Italy and Spain because their prices are too low,” Baker says.
At his central wine shop in Copenhagen, Vino Vino, owner Nikolai Christiansen sells mostly French wines. However, he says he recently sold a case of Danish wine to a bar owner in France.
“If you can sell it to a Frenchman, you can probably sell it to everyone,” he jokes.
However, he still has to be satisfied with Danish wine. “Danish wine is still expensive,” he says. “It's coming. But I still think there's a way to go before the quality arrives.”
