So Climate Change isn’t all bad, right?
More than 1,000 miles away from traditional wine districts in Provence or Tuscany, business is booming in the Swedish region. As vineyards have recently won the right to sell directly to consumers, Kullabergs Chief Executive Officer Victor Dahl says sales are up about 15% to 20% from last summer. The Swedish industry is growing despite the challenges besetting winemakers all over the world—declining rates of consumption, increasing costs of production and, of course, the changing climate. Indeed, as climate change affects conventional areas, Sweden is the latest outpost to offer what’s called “cool climate wines,” joining the ranks of Oregon, Germany and New Zealand.
“It’s easy to look down on wine from Sweden, so the producers have a big job to do, showing that you can actually make interesting and complex wines with a different flavor profile,” says Lindberg, a winemaker. “Maybe you have to open your eyes and broaden the horizons. Everything doesn’t have to taste like a Bourgogne or a Bordeaux.”
The Nordic region has long had a reputation for its gastronomy, with renowned restaurants in Denmark and Sweden. But until recently, the wine wasn’t considered high-quality enough to pair with the world-class cuisine.
“When I moved to Sweden in 2011 and tried a wine from Klagshamn, I thought it was incredibly sour, too much acidity. Several years later I had it again, and it was really good,” says André Bekker, a South African who is head sommelier at Frantzén, Sweden’s only three-Michelin-star restaurant. Recently, he added a “fresh, elegant” white wine from Kullabergs to Frantzén’s list. While it’s gotten a positive reception from guests, it’s not in any of the wine pairings.“People expect to see wines from classic wine regions and top producers. We serve it more as an interesting feature,” Bekker says.
Sweden is part of Europe’s “vodka belt,” where hardy potatoes, not delicate grapes, play the starring role. While the nation’s fresh-tasting mainly white wines are unlikely to challenge the sales of Pernod Ricard’s Absolut Vodka, the world’s second-most popular vodka brand and a national treasure, they could become a lucrative industry through domestic sales, exports and offerings through boutique hotels with fine dining.
Scandinavian wind could be the next big thing as unpredictable weather hits southern Europe.
Scandinavia isn’t exactly what connoisseurs would define as prime wine country. But with climate change making for warmer and longer growing seasons, and new varieties of grapes adapted to this landscape, Swedish winemaking is gaining steam.
As drought, rising heat and other extreme weather events are forcing traditional wine-growing regions to reassess their methods, Swedish winemaking is shifting from mostly small-scale amateurs to an industry with growing ambition.
Kullabergs Vingård is a vineyard and winery at the vanguard of producers seeking to redefine what Swedish wine can be.
Stretching over 14 hectares, most of its vines were planted less than a decade ago. By 2022, the winery had reached an annual output of over 30,000 bottles – mostly whites that can be found in high-end restaurants from Europe to Japan and that have won multiple international prizes.