Viticulture in the Land of the Midnight Sun

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Canadian winemakers are famous for turning out superb wines in some of the toughest conditions in the world, but there’s now a new and rising wine region that takes the cake for cold climate wines.

While it seems unlikely, even impossible, intrepid winemakers in Scandinavia are building out their own wine region in a landscape known for its long winter nights and bone-chilling cold.

It would be hard to find a more unique terroir in the world. Wineries in Sweden, Norway and Finland experience 23 hours of sunlight in the summer, and the same amount of darkness in winter. Some of the wineries are above the 60th parallel, making them the most northerly in the world.

Also, some wineries are turning their frigid temperatures into a bonus, as they create ice wine styled products that can compete with Canada’s famous and extremely profitable ice wine. The Blaxsta winery near Stockholm, for example, grows their grapes in the 23 hours of sunlight in summer, and then harvests them in the dark, frigid days of December, after which they are sold to Michelin restaurants across Europe.

Growers and winemakers in Scandinavia are working hard to turn their small wine production region into a multi-billion dollar industry. In Sweden, for example, there were only 150 hectares in production in 2022, but that’s 50 per cent more than just two years ago. Sweden’s winemakers predict their growing region will more than double in size within five years, and eventually could grow to more than 10,000 hectares.

The same thing is happening in Denmark, Norway and even frosty Finland. A good example is the Slinde Vineyard in Norway, located at the 61st parallel, well north of the 30 to 50 degrees latitude that is typical of wine production.  Married winemakers Bjorn and Halldis Bergum have been working on their vineyard and winery since 2014. “When we found the most suitable land for our vineyard, we immediately started working and now we have won several gold medals in blind wine tasting competitions with acclaimed wine critics on the panel,” said Bjorn Bergum. “Our white wines based on the Solaris grape has won several times and our very special Solarissa (Solaris) has gotten the highest score so far. Our red wine has fared very well too, giving us a gold medal for our wine based on Leon Milot.”

And while producing wine near the North Pole may seem unlikely, Bergum says the location has some advantages.

“It is cold at night and hot during the day in our summers and it is light outside almost 24 hours,” Bergum says. “We therefore have the perfect climate to make unique wines ... as long as we ripen the grapes.”

And speaking of grapes, the experience of winemakers in Scandinavia may hold lessons for viticulturists in Canada.

One aspect of wine production is that the climate is changing, as global warming makes it viable to grow wine grapes in northerly regions, but the other factors come down to technique and the selection of cold hardy varietals. The most common grape throughout Scandinavia is the Solaris, a white varietal first released in 1975 by the Feiburg Wine Institute in Germany. Winemakers say Solaris has a taste profile similar to Sauvignon blanc, and that it’s well suited to high-end sparkling wines.

There’s also the Rondo varietal used for red wine, although much of the production in Scandinavia is steered toward rosé wines.

Other unique grapes include Pinot Noir Précoce, a Pinot Noir mutation that matures three weeks earlier; Cabernet Cortis, a crossing of Cabernet Sauvignon and Solaris; Souvignier Gris, a cross between Cabernet Sauvignon and Bronner; and Muscaris, a green grape with a muscat flavour that can achieve very high levels of sugar.

Lotta Nordmark, a researcher at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, says grapes that are both cold and disease resistant have been critical to the success of Scandinavian wines.  “Wine connoisseurs are interested in Swedish wines because the grapes have a long development period, high acidity that builds an interesting sensory palette and already now Swedish wines are gaining ground in international wine-tasting competitions,” she says.

With critical acclaim has come increased sales, and a growing reputation for a unique and high quality assortment of wines. In Sweden, domestic sales have almost doubled in the last five years, from 19,388 litres in 2017 to 34,495 litres in 2022.

As well, the region’s reputation is now attracting winemakers from all over the world, including Californian Joe Roman, who now heads the team at Arilde Vineyard, the largest winery in Sweden.

“The greatest challenge in a cold climate is not actually the cold climate per se,” says Roman, who studied oenology in Oregon and Switzerland. “Yes, cold weather will have a different effect on maturity, ripeness, acids concentration, different phenolics, etcetera, but once you get accustomed to the microclimate, then you understand your wine profiles.

“This is the challenging part,” he adds. “The realization and understanding that the same variety grown in a different part of the world will have an absolute different profile here, so even if a professional winemaker had worked with a specific grape variety outside of Sweden, then works with the same variety here, the learning curve will start again from zero.”

Just as Canadians turn out a lighter Cabernet Sauvignon than their competitors in California, Roman says educating the consumer about terroir is key.

“The second challenge in a cold climate is actually the market,” he explains. “Swedish consumers are more accustomed to trying wines from abroad, meaning they always compare the wines to southern Europe, and this is a big challenge to educate the market in understanding what our terroir is.

“Swedish wines are very different to other countries, especially red wines. So the Swedish consumer asks often, ‘but can you make this wine more German style or French style’, and my answer is always, ‘yes we could, however these wines represent our microclimate and I don’t want to change their expression.

“We must understand what we can produce and enjoy them for what they are.”

Another way the Scandinavian wineries are similar to their Canadian cousins is that many also offer a full travel experience, including restaurants, upscale accommodation, and spa resorts.

Arilde offers 23 cabin-like rooms, a ‘glamping’ area with luxuriously equipped tents, conference and wedding facilities and a fine restaurant serving up fine Swedish cuisine.

Another good example is the new Ästad Vingård winery, home to the acclaimed Restaurant ÄNG and where construction has begun on a 28-room resort, where each cabin has its own natural pool, sauna, and bathing dock in the room. The new rooms are at the center of the vineyard with proximity to Sinnenas Spa, the Michelin-starred Restaurant ÄNG and the vineyard.

Winemaker Claes Bartoldsson says Astad is not as cold as one might expect, as it’s located near Varburg, a beach destination known for surfing.  “The greatest challenge for us is the temperature in May and June, the fact that some years the temperature in May and June just won’t get high enough for the vines to develop in a good way, thus having problems getting the flowering going,” Bartoldsson says. “In the worst years for us, the season is almost over before the flowering. If we get through that part of the year, we don’t have more challenges than any other marginal wine region in the world.”

Despite the naysayers, Bartoldsson fully believes the Scandinavian wine scene will flourish. “Everyone is very optimistic right now,” he says. “There have been a lot of new wineries popping up in the last few years. When people see that it’s actually possible to make great wine in Sweden with decent consistency of yields, I can really see it taking off. I wouldn’t be shocked if there were 10 times as many vineyards planted in 10 years.

Roman agrees, saying this is just the beginning of a long ramp toward success, similar to  the Ca

nadian industry in the 1980s. “The Swedish wine industry has been alive for around 20 years,” Roman says. “At the beginning the wine producers used to get many complaints about the wines, but this is because of the learning curve.

“These days the overall quality has risen tremendously and it is very impressive that for the first generation of producers they have taken on such a big challenge and have succeeded.

“This shows to me the potential for the future is really limitless.”