The Rise of Nordic Wine

When you think of the world’s finest wine-producing regions, you probably imagine the sloping vineyards of France, Italy, Spain or Northern California. Certainly nothing remotely Nordic captures the mind’s eye. But perhaps it’s time to broaden your imagination. Juice from this part of the world is no joke. It’s becoming increasingly accepted amongst aficionados—even the stuff drawn from unconventional fruits. So get ready to quaff some blueberry wine in your near future.

“As of now, blueberry wines are not getting the respect they deserve,” Tina Johansson, head sommelier at Ekstedt, a Michelin star brasserie in Stockholm, tells Observer. “But I believe that’s mostly because they are still quite unknown, even by people living in the Nordics. In contrast to [grape] wine that has built its reputation for centuries, fruit wine and blueberry wine as a quality product is still quite new.”

In fact, these wines only really emerged upon the gastronomic scene as recently as a decade ago. And even throughout that time, Johansson has observed a seismic shift in production techniques, resulting in dryer offerings that retain a “tart complexity.”

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For compelling examples, she points to Rålund, a blueberry wine from Idunn, a winery in Northern Sweden. But she’s also eager to heap praise on actual grape wines from her native country—especially those produced with solaris grapes. It’s a relatively new variety of grape, which ripens early on the vine each season, making it well-suited to colder climate vineyards. 

“Särtshöga Vineyard is making a great sparkling solaris, and Thora Vineyard makes a good still variation along with a pinot noir,” she recommends to skeptics. “Both [producers] are based in Sweden.”

Although the Swedes have been naturally fermenting “sun wine” out of blueberries since at least the 16th century, it was often a non-commercial enterprise. And one that had largely disappeared by the end of the 20th century. An experimental band of pioneers then helped revive the liquid, applying the time-tested techniques of traditional winemakers further south in Europe.

New Nordic Beverage (who makes the aforementioned Rålund expression) has helped lead the way. Its home in Northern Sweden is renowned for tart and small fruit, which provides a high ratio of peel to juice during the squeeze. That means a high degree of tannins in the resulting wine, with ample structure to match. “In a blind tasting, most people think they are drinking a pinot noir, when they are, in fact, drinking 100 percent blueberry wine,” Stockholm-based journalist and gourmand Caroline Thörnholm tells Observer. “So it’s taken on the nickname ‘forest pinot noir.’”

Thörnholm has been chronicling the cultural delights of her homeland for over a decade. During that time, she’s seen countless accolades accumulate for chefs from that part of the world. But vintners, she lamented, were never included in the celebration. “Over the last 20 years, New Nordic cuisine has completely changed gastronomy on a global scale,” she explains. “It was time to take the same journey with our fruit and berry wines.”

Nordic wine is far more dynamic than the stereotypes; it’s typically regarded as sweet, unrefined and berry-based, if anyone even bothers regarding it at all. 

In fact, there are endless examples derived from all manner of fruit—including grapes—that can provide richness, complexity and character. Exactly the sort of tonalities which make it poised to pair alongside high-minded food preparations. In other words, the exact sorts of dishes that had evolved here in the modern era. 

So in 2021, when Thörnholm launched Stars du Nord—a festival aimed at building out the Nordic culinary community—the local liquid had to play a starring role. 

“Two Swedish chefs, Anton Bjuhr and Jacob Holmström from two-star Michelin restaurant Gastrologik, agreed to join Stars du Nord under one condition,” she recounts from the first year of the confab. “Instead of pushing French wine traditions, we would highlight our own heritage—beyond the plate.” 

The inaugural event in Stockholm served as proof of concept. Guests took delight in the opportunity to explore beyond their comfort zone, and they were rewarded with expressive examples of boreal terroir.

In the summer of 2023, Stars du Nord moved to a pastoral urban oasis along the canals of Freetown Christiania—a notorious commune within greater Copenhagen. Attendees weren’t just expecting Nordic wine, they were demanding it. The event delivered with, among other pours, actual red grape wine from Skærsøgaard Vin, the first licensed estate winery in Denmark. A 2014 vintage of the juice had a spry, Gamay-like tonality to it. 

According to Thörnholm, Sweden and Denmark are the two Nordic countries paving the way for this upmarket evolution. Cold Hand Winery in Aarhus, Denmark, where winemaker Jens Skovgaard has been fashioning unexpectedly dry examples of juice from Danish apples, is a noteworthy example. And he’s finding success in international markets—particularly for his sparkling wines, produced in accordance with the traditional Champagne Method. 

You can currently find his bottle-fermented Pommus on U.S. shelves for around $27. It holds orchard fruit in the nose, but the palate is a balance between bitterness and tempered acidity. This is not a sweet wine. Though if you don’t mind an award-winning expression of such, get a hold of Malus Danica, a cryo-concentrated apple ice wine that will eminently enhance any dessert cheese board.

Skovgaard’s Danish neighbors at Andersen Winery are also advancing the reputation of dry sparkling wine from this part of the world. Bersaerk Aeble Sec is a crisp, slightly oxidative offering, expressed from late harvest apples. The winemakers behind it have been working with Thörnholm to craft a sort of “Nordic Sparkling Manifesto,” analogous to the famed culinary-focused document developed by the co-founders of Noma 20 years ago. It would serve to unify an identity for the liquid in a way that can be sensibly exported across the globe. 

Dan Dunn sees it already finding a receptive audience in the United States. The wine writer, and author of American Wino, believes that the sheer audacity of modern Nordic producers naturally resonates with domestic drinkers yearning for something that bucks tradition. 

“Today’s blueberry wine is the liquid equivalent of a rebel with a cause,” he asserts. “These Nordic offerings look at tradition and politely, but firmly, suggest it takes a hike.”

For Dunn, it’s all about the unapologetic intensity of those solaris-based offerings from producers such as Arilds, which grows its grapes on clay soil atop Southern Sweden’s Kullaberg peninsula. Newer releases from Lottenlund benefit from upwards of a year in French oak barrels. 

“These whites are not your grandmother’s tepid chardonnays,” he opines. “Nordic white wines come at you with all the subtlety of a Viking’s axe, bursting with complex floral and herbaceous notes that’ll have your nose thinking it’s spring, even as your toes lose feeling. These are hearty grapes bred to withstand the cold and darkness. It’s as if they’ve been lifting weights and doing push-ups just to survive.” 

On a markedly more serious note, Thörnholm has noticed an alarming trend—one which will nevertheless promote higher-end cultivation across the region: French chateaus have begun buying land in Denmark to safeguard production against a warming climate. 

“With the expansion of grape and fruit vineyards in the Nordic region, Scandinavia could very well become the new Napa Valley,” she adds.

It’s a bold prediction that most would prefer to dismiss as fantasy. But whatever the future brings, the reality is that there are plenty of worthwhile Nordic wines to explore on shelves right now.