Success when the best wines in Sweden were chosen

More than 800 wines competed in 38 different classes, setting a new record when the Vinordic Wine Challenge took place in Stockholm in April. Gold, silver and bronze winners were named for each different type of wine, and you can find the most affordable wines in Sweden here.

FOR THE FIFTH YEAR in a row, a jury of professionals has named the best wines to buy in Sweden. The Vinordic Wine Challenge is the only EU-accredited wine competition in Sweden, a vital fact which guarantees neutrality. This year’s competition beat all previous records. The number of entries was up by more than 25 per cent.

Quite clearly, this is a very important competition for anyone wanting to make their name known on the Swedish wine market. To be granted EU status, all wines have to be sampled blind on equal terms by a qualified jury of people with an established reputation on the market. This accreditation is also necessary for the winners to use the honor correctly in their marketing in accordance with international requirements.

This competition is run in partnership by Vinordic and Allt om Vin magazine. This year’s jury was made up of sommeliers Susanne Berglund Krantz, Ulf Engelhardt, Åsa W Karlson and Jan Rosborn, together with wine journalists Igor Arvidsson, Gunilla Hultgren Karell, Claes Löfgren and Magnus Waern.

JUDGING THIS YEAR’S LINEUP was a mammoth task for the jury. Fast decisions were the order of the day, not long, drawn-out guesswork. The price is stated, and all the testers judge is whether the wine tastes better or worse than its price would imply, on the basis of a set scale of points.

“This is an exciting and revealing way in which to sample wines”, says Bengt-Göran Kronstam, Chairman of the jury. “In the international arena, wine competitions are based solely on the flavor of the wine and no attention is paid to how much they cost. Our opinions are much more definite, and makes clear the thing on which consumers base their decisions in the long run: which wines offer the best value for money”.

First, a winner is selected from each price category in its class in the competition. These winners then go through to the final, where they go head-to-head against one another. On this basis, gold, silver and bronze medals are awarded in each respective class. As a result, a simple, budget wine can hold its own against a rich luxury wine.

One clear trend is that the number of wines from the to-order range, wines which the suppliers of Systembolaget (the Swedish Alcohol Retail Monopoly) choose themselves and which are available to order in all shops at no extra charge, fare extremely well when competing with wines from the regular stock list. In this year’s competition, the wines available to order took home almost a third of all the awards.