05
FEB
French winemaker in Sweden
My name is Emma, I am 25 years old and I would like to share with you a little bit of my daily life as a Winemaker in Sweden. After all, wine is a moment of sharing, often connected to a story, so I'll tell you a bit of my story to help you understand my vision of wine.
I grew up in the South of France and was raised with a double culture as my mother is Swedish and my father French. During my childhood, we were often outside, spending time in the nature, picnicking or going hiking. When we went horseback riding, after 5 minutes we were in the vineyard and I loved the changing landscape according to the seasons. Having felt the freedom of nature, I always knew that it would be difficult for me to work in an office.
Why wine?
What led me to work with wine then? First of all, the fragrances. I have always had a sensitive nose, and have been good at picking up scents since I was a child and I always wanted to work with this sense. For me, the world of wine is the perfect way to put this ability to use. It’s an incredible mixture of curiosity about the living world, nature, epicureanism and manual work.
"But why Sweden? Back to my roots and for the possibility to create something new"
Education
After a bachelor's degree in life and earth sciences, I did a master's degree in oenology in Montpellier, which allowed me to obtain the diploma of oenologist. This was followed by internships and jobs, mainly in my native region. I love the wines of the Southern Rhône and I had the chance to work in Châteauneuf-Du-Pape with some of the most famous wines. I have good memories of these experiences, the places are incredible and full of history and the people I met were fascinating. For me, the region is however living a strange paradox, because it is on one hand one of the many appellations threatened by global warming but on the other hand they have difficulties to adapt rules and minds to prevent the negative outcome from this evolution. For this reason and because of a macho mentality still present in the region, it was difficult for me, a young graduate woman with no parent wine-grower to imagine a future in this place.
How did we end up in Sweden?
It's a funny story. My partner and I both had jobs, but like all young people, we were always on the lookout for alternative offers. It was however not a good time to change jobs, mainly because of Covid. One day, Romain saw an advert via an international winemaker group on Facebook saying "looking for a winemaker couple for a vineyard in southwest Sweden". We looked at each other and said "let's try it". Then everything changed very quickly, interviews, employment contract, resignation. In 15 days we left everything: jobs, family and friends to come and live in Skåne and we realised our dream of running a vineyard as a couple. I never imagined that a Facebook ad would change our lives like this!
"I will try to share this journey with you throughout the year, following the different stages of wine making"
THE NEW WINE YEAR
To start this new vintage, there is nothing better than pruning to start the cycle again. The vines are in winter rest and the activity of the sap is reduced. Pruning allows us to structure the vines for the next season, to prepare the desired number of branches and bunches.
We start with the Pinot Noir grapes, which need more time to reach the maturity necessary to make a quality red wine. We have chosen to prune the vines using a method called "Soft pruning". To do this we observe each vine to understand its sap flow and injuries from the previous year and we adapt our pruning accordingly. In this way we facilitate the circulation of the sap from the roots to the future bunches.
There are different ways of pruning vines. For our part, we have decided to prune the Solaris using the "Cordon spur pruning" method, which seems to us to be more suitable for tempering this vigorous grape variety. Pinot Noir is less productive, so a “Cane pruning” is more adapted to this variety.
Of course, the choices made in viticulture are specific to each winemaker and each domain according to the desired wine styles.
EMMA ABOUT SWEDEN AS A WINE COUNTRY
Sweden is a young country when it comes to wine. There is no appellation, no specifications, no severe restrictions like in France, it is only subject to European legislation. This allows winemakers in Sweden not only to create new territories for wine but also to think about new forms of viticulture.
THORA VINGÅRD
Since our arrival in July 2021, we have been managing the estate in constant collaboration with the owners. We want to work the vines according to biodynamic precepts and to vinify with lower doses of sulphur. This is not to follow the fashion or craze that has been going on for these wines, but for real conviction. We want to produce a qualitative, authentic wine with a low impact on the environment and on the biodiversity around the vineyard. Read more about Thora 