The Nordic Light Terroir

Abstract

Grapes are culturally a new crop in the Swedish landscape, which demands an introduction period concerning development of knowledge about how to grow the wine. Climate changes together with the development of "cross breeding" in Vitis vinifera open up new possibilities with new grapes, that previously were not possible to grow commercially and that suits the Swedish consumers. Wine production is of great interest among growers, producers and consumers. Experiences from regions with the same climate as Sweden show that production of quality wines is possible. Sweden was appointed as EU official wine country in 1999. There is a lack of tradition and experience of commercial cultivation of grapes, but Sweden has 300 vineyards including 15 to 25 vineyards approved by the authorities. A project started in the winter 2013 with the aim to increase the knowledge about grapevine growing and wine production with the Swedish and Nordic Light Terroir as background. A study where researchers from disciplines like agriculture, chemistry, yeast/microbiology, process engineering, sensorial analysis and market analysis collaborates. We have started to study the micro climate at Hällåkra vineyard and different types of grapes/crops and vineyards management that suits the Swedish and Nordic Light Terroir. A sensory analysis was made of Swedish white wines trying to identify The Nordic Light Terroir attributes. The Sensory profile of white wine from Solaris grown in Sweden is as we found a wine with a fresh, citrus and flowery aroma and a fresh, citrus and green apple taste. The wine's body will grow with increased knowledge of the entire chain; from soil to bottle based on the knowledge-building the new beverage platform will assist with.

Full text

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Acta Hortic. 1115. ISHS 2016. DOI 10.17660/ActaHortic.2016.1115.28
XXIX IHC – Proc. IV Int. Symp. on Tropical Wines and Int. Symp. on Grape and
Wine Production in Diverse Regions
Ed.: P.E. Read
189
The Nordic Light Terroir
L.Nordmark1,J.Lindén1,C.Skjöldebrand2andH.Hansson3
1Departmentof BiosystemandTechnology,SwedishUniversityof AgriculturalSciences, P.O.Box103,SE-230 53
Alnarp,Sweden;2DepartmentofDesignSciences,LundUniversity,SE-22100 Lund,Sweden;3HällåkraVineyard,
SE-23172,Anderslöv,S wed en.
Abstract
GrapesareculturallyanewcropintheSwedishlandscape,whichdemandsan
introductionperiodconcerningdevelopmentofknowledgeabouthowtogrowthe
wine.Climatechangestogetherwiththedevelopmentof“crossbreeding”inVitis
viniferaopenupnewpossibilitieswithnewgrapes,thatpreviouslywerenotpossible
togrowcommerciallyandthatsuitstheSwedishconsumers.Wineproductionisof
greatinterestamonggrowers,producersandconsumers.Experiencesfromregions
withthesameclimateasSwedenshowthatproductionofqualitywinesispossible.
SwedenwasappointedasEUofficialwinecountryin1999.Thereisalackoftradition
andexperienceofcommercialcultivationofgrapes,butSwedenhas300vineyards
including15to25vineyardsapprovedbytheauthorities.Aprojectstartedinthe
winter2013withtheaimtoincreasetheknowledgeaboutgrapevinegrowingand
wineproductionwiththeSwedishandNordicLightTerroirasbackground.Astudy
whereresearchersfromdisciplineslikeagriculture,chemistry,yeast/microbiology,
processengineering,sensorialanalysisandmarketanalysiscollaborates.Wehave
startedtostudythemicroclimateatHällåkravineyardanddifferenttypesof
grapes/cropsandvineyardsmanagementthatsuitstheSwedishandNordicLight
Terroir.AsensoryanalysiswasmadeofSwedishwhitewinestryingtoidentifyThe
NordicLightTer roirattributes.TheSensoryprofileofwhitewinefromSolarisgrown
inSwedenisaswefoundawinewithafresh,citrusandfloweryaromaandafresh,
citrusandgreenappletaste.Thewine'sbodywillgrowwithincreasedknowledgeof
theentirechain;fromsoiltobottlebasedontheknowledge-buildingthenew
beverageplatformwillassistwith.
Keywords:climate, climate change, microclimate, hybrid grapes, vineyard management,
winesensoryanalysis
INTRODUCTION
Theglobalwineindustryistodayamarketwhereyoucanfindagreatheterogeneityof
sensoryattributesandtastes.Duringthelastthreetofourdecade of the 20thcenturynew
wineregionswereestablishinmorecool/coldclimatesasinCanada,England,NewZealand,
Tasmania,DenmarkandevenasfarnorthasNorway.
Swedenissituatedinthenorthernhemispherebetweenthe55and70°latitudewhich
canbecomparedwithAlaskaintheUS.DuetothewarmGulfStreamintheAtlanticOcean,
theclimateeastoftheScandinavianmountainsiswarmerthanotherplacesatthesame
latitude,whichgivesaproductionregionforhigh-valuecrops.Therearespecificregionsin
thesouthpartofSwedenwhereitispossibletoproducemostofthehigh-valuecropsas
producedelsewhereinEuropeandtherearealsoinnovationandresearchcentersfornew
crops.ClimateinsouthernSwedenistypicallywarmtemperatewith averagetemperature
just below 0°C during the coldest month (February) and highest summer average
temperaturebetween15to17°C(July/August),witha220day-longvegetationperiod(base
tempforgrowth4°C).TheareahassimilaritiesinsomepartstotheclimateinBordeaux.As
climatechangesanother2to3°C,ahigheraveragetemperaturefortheregionispredicted.
Fermented beverages in Sweden can only be purchased at “Systembolaget”,whichis
ownedbytheSwedishgovernmentandisfamousforitsuniquerangeofqualitywinesfrom
aroundtheworld.EventhoughvinegrowingandprocessingiswithouttraditionsinSweden,

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todaytherearewineproducersandresearchersindifferentareasthathavebegunto
collaboratetowardsasensoryattributeofTheNordicLightTerroirforatypicalNordicwine.
Theobjectiveoftheworkpresentedinthispaperistodemonstrateandproblematize
theNordicLightTerroir,sensoryattributesofwinefromtheSwedish vineyards as a new
wineregion.
MATERIALSANDMETHODS
Winesfromthreevineyardswereanalyzed.Thevineyardswerelocatedcloseto55,4°
latitude;vineyardsWP1andWP3werelocatedinthesouthwestpartofSwedenandWP2in
thesoutheastpartoftheregion.ThesoilinthesouthwestpartofSwedenisasandyclayto
claywithapH-rangebetween6-6.5,whileinthesoutheastthesoilisclassifiedassandywith
apH-rangeat6.5.ThevineswereplantedinaNorth/Southdirectionwith1mbetween
plantsand2to2.5mbetweenrows,whichgave4000to5000plants ha-1. Trainingsystem
consistsofdoubleandsingleGyuotdependingonvigor.
Grapes:Solaris (interspecific) (Seyve-Villard ×Riesling×PinoGris)×(Zarya Seva ×
Muscat Ottonel) green grapes with good disease resistance, medium sized clusters, high
sugar content, and high yielding in cold climate, were harvested towards the end of
September.
Registrationofmicroclimateweredonebyaweatherstation(Adcon,Klosterneuburg,
Austria)inthevineyard;airtemperatureweremeasuredat1.5and0.2mabovegroundand
soil temperatureat0.2and0.5mbelowthesoil surface, globalirradiationandwindsensor
at2m,andraingaugeat1.5m.Growingdegreedays(GDD)wereusedasatoolforvine
developmentratesandtopredictfruitripening.GGDcalculateaccumulatedtemperatureby;
(maxtemperature+mintemperature/2)-bastemperatureforgrowth(10°C).
During spring 2014, Solaris wines from years 2012 and 2013 by vineyards WP1
andWP3weresubjectedsensory analysis.Wine(W1)and(W3)representwinesfrom2012
andwine(W2)and(W4)representwinesfrom2013.W2andW3representwinesfromthe
samevineyard.
ThesensoryanalysiswasconductedbyIpsos(Kristianstad,Sweden),alongwitheight
panelliststrainedinsensoryanalysis.Thepanellistswerefurthermoretrainedintheuseof
referencestandardstounderstandandagreeonthemeaningofattributesusedforanalysing
whitewine(LawlessandHeymann,2010).AsdescribedbyLindén(2014)theprofilingwas
conductedinthreessteps;firstalistofsensoryattributesfor white wine was created,
secondlythepanelwastrainedinassessingthewineandtheattributes, finally the wines
wereblindtestedintriplicate.Resultsarepresentedinspiderchartsintermsofaroma,taste
andaftertastewitha0to100scale,fromnothingtomuchintensity.Thespiderchartsare
arrangedinsuchawaythattheattributeswiththehighestscores areplaced towards the
samesidetovisuallydisplaytowardswhichattributesthewineisdrawn.Statisticalanalyses
wasmadebymultivariatePCA(Principlecomponentanalysis)(Lawless and Heymann,
2010).
RESULTSANDDISCUSSION
Periodically during 2013/2014 a group of researchers in the area of agriculture,
chemistry, yeast/microbiology, process engineering, sensory analysis and market analysis
collaborated in workshops with the Swedish and Nordic Light Terroir as the workshop
theme.Theoutcomewasascientificplatformbuiltforfermentedbeverageswiththecore
taskofgatheringknowledge and experience ofmakingwine from grapesproducedincold
climates.Theplatform consistedofstakeholdersfromindustry,universitiesandcollegesin
theregion,withhopetoexpandtotheneighborcountriestoSweden(Figure1).
Asapartoftheworkforthebeverageplatform,asensoryanalysis was completed
duringspring2014onthe sensoryattributesofSwedishSolaris(Lindén,2014)winesfrom
threevineyardsinsouthernSweden.Afurtherefforthasbeeninitiatedwiththeadditionof
mycorrhiza for start-up of vines and will be evaluated continuouslyforgrowthand
developmentalongnutrientcontentinplantsandgrapes.Aweatherstationhasbeenplaced
in Hällåkra vineyard to aid in the mapping of the vines growth and development,andthe

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developmentofharvestpredictionsincool/coldclimate.

Figure1.TheNordic Light Terroir, a scientific platformbuiltforfermentedbeverageswith
thecoretaskofgatheringknowledgeandexperienceofmakingwinefromgrapes
producedincoldclimates.
Spiderchartsshowtheresultsofthesensoryanalysisintermsofaroma,tasteand
aftertaste,mouthfeel, and other characteristics.Significantdifferenceswerefound between
the samples with respect to the aroma attributes: intensity, citrus, fruitiness, oak and
tropical fruits as shown in Figure 2. The aroma profile of W1 and W4 follow each other
relativelywellexceptfortheattributesmineralandoakwhereW1havethehighestvaluesof
allsamples.W2hasthehighestintensityinthefruityandfloweryattributes.Lowvaluesare
found with W3 through all attributes except for sweetness and honey where it has high
valuestogetherwithW2.OutofallsamplesW2hadthehighestvalues in the attributes
fruity,flowery,elderflowerandtropicalfruits.

Figure2. ThearomaprofileofSolariswinesfromyears2012and2013fromthreeSwedish
vineyards. Wine (W1) and (W3) represent wine from 2012 and wine(W2)and
(W4)representwinefrom2013.W2andW3representwinefromthe same
vineyard.Thespiderchartsarearrangedinsuchawaythattheattributeswith
thehighest scores areplaced towards the sameside to visuallydisplaytowards
whichattributesthewineisdrawn.Therearesignificantdifferencesbetweenthe

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samples in the attributes of aroma intensity, citrus, fruitiness,oakandtropical
fruits.
Asignificantdifferencebetweenthesamplesintheattributesintensityoftaste,citrus
and the intensity/length of the aftertaste were found (Figure 3),maybeduetonatural
environmentimpactsbetweenyears.W1hadthehighestvaluesintheattributesintensityof
taste,bitterness,grapefruit and oak and its aftertaste lasts the longest and thus standsout
fromthegroup.W3hasthelowestvaluesexceptformineral,sweetness and green
apple/unripethroughouttheattributes.SimilartasteprofilesarefoundforW2andW4.

Figure3. ThetasteandaftertasteprofileofSolariswines.Wine(W1)and(W3)represent
winefrom2012andwine(W2)and(W4)representwinefrom2013.W2andW3
representwinefromthesamevineyard.Thespiderchartsarearrangedinsucha
waythattheattributeswiththehighestscoresareplacedtowardsthesameside
to visually display towards which attributes the wine is drawn.Thereisa
significant difference between the samples in the attributes intensity of taste,
citrusandtheintensity/lengthoftheaftertaste.

Figure4. Themouthfeelandotherprofileofthewine.Wine(W1)and(W3)representwine
from2012andwine(W2)and(W4)representwinefrom2013.W2and W3
representwinefromthesamevineyard.Thespiderchartsarearrangedinsucha
waythattheattributeswiththehighestscoresareplacedtowardsthesameside
to visually display towards which attributes the wine is drawn.There is a
significantdifferencebetween the samplesin the prickingattribute and W1has
thehighestvalueinthatattribute.

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Today wine experts and wine producer seems to have the same opinion about how
whitewineshouldtaste(Lindén,2014)whichcorrespondstooursensoryanalysisofSolaris
grape. The wines have a low but sufficient tingly/carbonic mouthfeels, although the wine
still needs more body (Figure 4). Plocher and Parker (2008) suggested that in cool/cold
climate winemaking has a more manipulative role, due to the fact that the grapes usually
havenotripenedoptimally,tomakeagoodblendoftheyear.We also see that climate
changeswillhelptogivemorecomplexityinwinefromcoolclimate,which needs a longer
period for maturation (Jackson and Schuster, 1987) to achieve balance in wine with high
acidityandspecialmalicacid.
CONCLUSIONS
In order to achieve annual production of wine from grapes with a defined quality
basedonNordicLightTerroir,characterknowledgehastobedeveloped.Hopefullythe
developmentofa beverageplatform will enhancethis knowledge buildingandhelpfuture
wineproducers.
TheSensoryprofileofwhitewinefromSolarisgrowninSwedenisaswefoundawine
withafresh,citrusandfloweryaromaandafresh,citrusandgreenappletaste.Andthismay
beonebaseguidelineonsensoryprofileforNordicLightTerroir.
WeseethattheworkofmappingsensorsystemonwinefortheNordicLightTerroir
characterwilldevelopinrelationtoclimatechangebutremainitsfreshacidic/citrusnature.
Thewine'sbodywillgrowwithincreasedknowledgeoftheentirechain;fromsoiltobottle
basedontheknowledge-buildingbeverageplatform.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Lars Nilsson, LTH, Sweden; Tommy Nylander, LU, Sweden; ViktoriaOlsson,HKR,
Sweden,AndersSandström,LTH,Sweden;HannesVanLunteren,Krinova,Sweden;PeterBo
Jörgensen,Hällåkra,Sweden,HåkanAsp,SLU.FoundationfromPartnershipAlnarp,SLU.
Literaturecited
Jackson, D. and Schuster, D. (1987). The Production of Grapes and Wine in Cool Climates (Wellington, New
Zealand:ButterworthsofNewZealand,Ltd.).
Lawless, H.T., and Heymann, H. (2010). Sensory Evaluation of Food - Principals and Practices (New York:
Springer).
Lindén, J. (2014). Sensory profiling of Sweden white wines and a contextual analysis of Swedish viticulture.
Degreeproject,30hec.(HorticulturalScience,SLU).
Plocher,T.,andParker,R.(2008).NorhternWinework,GrowingGrapesandMakingWineinColdClimate(Hugo,
MN:NorthernWinework,Inc.).
Systembolaget. (2010). Stort intresse för vinodling i Sverige. http://www.systembolaget.se./Dryckeskunskap/
Om-vin/Svensk-vinodling/(AccessedMay5,2014).

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