Three wines from Danish Skærsøgaard have recently won three silver medals at AWC Vienna, the world’s largest official competion for wines, but the Danish bottles have yet to win the hearts and wallets of the Danes.
Sven Moesgaard was first in line when the EU approved Denmark as a wine producing country. He runs Skærsøgaard, the first and largest authorised vinyard in Denmark.
Since he sold the first bottle in 2001, he has been honoured both nationally and internationally, and with the three new medals he has received a total of 51 medals for his wines. However, he still finds that Danish people can be sceptical about Danish wine.
“Many people think that Danish wine was something their grandfather made in the basement. Then you would get drunk and get a hangover. That is not how we make wine now. I believe that Denmark can be taken seriously as a wine producing country now,” he says.
Danish wine is a gimmick
Despite all the rewards for their wine, Danes still don’t buy much of it. Lars Bo Henriksen, who is the head of sales and buying at H.J. Hansen Wine, says the interest in Danish wine is limited to people thinking of it as a bit of fun.
“People buy it as a gimmick just to try it and show off to their guests. Not many people buy it and look forward to drinking it because they think it’s good,” he says and explains that it is mostly wine connoisseurs who take an interest in Danish Wine.
Expensive drops
Niels Lillelund has 15 years experience as a wine writer for Jyllands Posten and his immediate reaction to Danish wine is that it tastes good. But he reckons that it will take a long time before it will be able to match wine from traditional wine countries, especially when it comes to the price of it.
“If you look at the quality compared to what it ought to cost it is definitely not worth the money. It is at least six times as expensive as it ought to be,” he thinks.
But Sven Moesgaard is not easily shaken by such a statement.
“That means a sparkling wine should cost 60 kroner. You can hardly find a sparkling wine like the ones we make for that amount,” says the winemaker.
Still not profitable
Skærsøgaard produces 8000 bottles of wine annually and the income is just enough to pay the wages of the four employees. However it is not enough to pay for production necessities such as corks.
The situation is the same for all Danish winemakers says Jean Becker, the chairman of the Danish Winemakers Association.
“You have to forget about your investment. It takes time and money, and you can’t cover the costs of running the vinyard until the third year,” he says with experience.
Sven Moesgaard sticks to quality over costs, and he would rather make a good wine than a cheap wine which is easier to sell.
“It is all about the quality. If you don’t add that to the equation then the finances won’t add up. If we disappoint the people of Denmark it will be the same as it was with the Danish ostrich farms – it just won’t have a future,” he says and explains that his business will be profitable in fours years time when production reaches 12-15,000 bottles.
Wine pioneers
Niels Lillelund prefers Bourgogne and still would not choose a Danish bottle over a foreign one. If Denmark will ever be taken seriously he is still unsure of.
“You still cannot tell if it will turn out well. At the moment it is for patriots. But those who are working on it are pioneers and I have a lot of respect for that,” says the wine writer.
Lars Bo Henriksen holds the same high esteem of the Danish winemakers, and even enjoys the national sparkling wines.
“The Danish winemakers have the same attitude towards wine as Danish dairymen have towards milk or brewers towards beer – you learn something new every year. It is not like in other countries where you just shrug you shoulders and try again,” he says.
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