Sweden

Sweden has an extremely marginal climate for wine growing, well outside the natural area for vinifera. The current trend for wine production started in the 1990s and is centred around the southernmost municipality Skåne (Scania). Other winegrowing areas include the Baltic islands Gotland and Öland, Halland on the west coast, and Blaxta outside Stockholm. By 2013 it was estimated that Sweden already had 100 ha/250 acres under vine. That winemaking is nascent, though rapidly improving, is particularly evident in cooler vintages. Key challenges include ripeness and rot, and early-ripening varieties such as Solaris and rondo are favoured. Léon Millot, ortega, and regent are also grown, as is Vidal for icewines. Sweden does not have to apply for eu planting rights and does not currently have any controlled appellations.