Success as Sweden’s top wines are selected

The Vinordic Wine Challenge, Sweden’s only EU-certified wine competition, has selected this year’s best wines. Almost 700 wines competed in 37 classes, within ten different flavour types. Within each category, a gold, silver and bronze winner is then named. These are Sweden’s best-value wines.

FANCY A GLASS OF ROSÉ? You’re not alone, and the Vinordic Wine Challenge has picked the best buys – just in time for the Vinordic trade fair. The importance of the competition for those looking to make an impression in the Swedish wine market has grown considerably since it was first launched six years ago. In order to qualify for EU-certified status, all the wines must be blind-tasted under the same conditions by a qualified jury with an established reputation in the market. Certification is also necessary in order for the winners to be entitled to use the distinction in their marketing, in accordance with international requirements.

This year’s jury included sommeliers Ulf Engelhardt, Åsa W Karlsson, Susanne Berglund Krantz, Josephine Edelskog and Jan Rosborn, together with wine journalists Igor Arvidsson, Gunilla Hultgren Karell, Claes Löfgren, Anders Röttorp and Magnus Waern.
First, a winner is selected in each price category within the competition class. These winners are then entered into a final, where they are judged against each other. A gold, silver and bronze medal is then awarded within each class. This means that a simple budget wine can go head-to-head with a prestigious collector’s wine.

DECIDING ON THIS YEAR’S line-up was a mammoth task involving three days of tasting for the jury. This involves making quick decisions, rather than long drawn-out conjecture. The prize is awarded, and all the tasters assess whether the wine tastes better or worse than it costs, based on a set scale.
New this year is a separate competition class for rosé boxes, as a result of the enormous success of this type of wine in recent years. The range of wines available has grown accordingly, and this was reflected in the line-up for this category. This summer’s winning rosé box is the 2011 Portal de Aguia (no. 2524, SEK 179 for three litres), closely followed by the 2011 Vernissage Syrah Rosé (no. 2181, SEK 209). For those who prefer their rosé wine in bottles, the 2011 M de Minuty (no. 2590, SEK 99), 2011 Puycheric Syrah (no. 2209, SEK 62) and 2011 Marqués de Cáceres Rosado (no. 2755, SEK 77) were the winners of their respective price classes. In the final, they were ranked in this order, with gold going to the most expensive.

The big surprise in this year’s Vinordic Wine Challenge was the gold medal for red wines. Red burgundy is currently all the rage, both internationally and in Sweden, and the winner was a wine that displays the same characteristics – albeit from a different country. The 2009 Friedrich Becker Spätburgunder Qba (no. 90359, SEK 139) hails from Germany. Germany may be little known as a red wine producing nation, but the jury was bowled over. This result is also reflected in other international wine competitions, proving that this traditional white wine producing nation now also offers strong competition in terms of reds. You can expect this temporary addition to Systembolaget’s range to sell out quickly.

“This is an exciting and revealing way of tasting wines,” says chairman of the jury Bengt-Göran Kronstam. “Internationally, wine competitions are based solely on the taste of the wine, without taking the price into account. Our assessment is much less subjective and shows what is ultimately decisive from the consumer’s point of view: which wines offer the best value for money. The fact that a German red wine took first prize among the reds is nothing short of a sensation!”