Only ten years ago, Swedish winery was an almost unknown concept. Now vines are swaying upwards of 40 farms around southern Sweden, mainly in Skåne.
- The challenge is to get the grapes to ripen sufficiently before the harvest and to ensure that they do not get fungal infestation, says Anette Ivarsson, who runs one of Sweden's largest vineyards in Arild outside Höganäs and has 120,000 vines on her property.
- In a few years, we hope to be able to live solely on wine production, she says.
According to the Swedish Wine Association, interest in wine growing has exploded in recent years, not just in Skåne. Even in Blekinge, Halland and in Öland and Gotland there are now vineyards in neat rows.
Solaris grape
Since 1991, Sweden has been on average a degree warmer, according to SMHI.
But that's not why the vineyard has grown, but because many have discovered a relatively new green grape variety, Solaris. It was developed by German scientists and adapted to mature at northern latitudes and can survive without pesticides.
- Most people can make a good wine at the Solaris grape in Sweden, because it can ripen properly, says Anette Ivarsson.
So far, it is mainly white wine produced in Sweden, in relatively small volumes. Swedish wine is currently classified as table wines which is the lowest quality class.
If the industry is to grow and develop in the future, better links need to be established between researchers, the wine industry and growers, says Kimberly Nicholas, associate professor of sustainability science at Lund University and expert on wine cultivation and climate change.
"Such collaborations have proven to work well in other countries," she says.
Sweden can grow as a wine country
According to the Swedish Wine Association, an increasingly warmer climate in Southern Europe may cause the quality of white wines to deteriorate and the cultivation limit to move north. This may mean that Swedish growers can benefit indirectly from climate change in the future.
- I think Sweden has great opportunities to grow as a wine country. But I hope we do not become a world leader in growing grapes such as Cabernet Sauvignon, which thrives best in warm climates. Because that means we failed to stop global warming and then we have far greater problems to deal with than what wine we should drink, says Kimberly Nicholas.