Since Denmark was approved as a wine country in the year 2000, the cultivated area has grown exponentially
The fact that Denmark has developed as a wine country is of course helped along the way by climate change, but what has really meant something is that, with the help of breeding, grapes such as Solaris are developed that can ripen stably in the Scandinavian climate.
Solaris has become the primary grape variety in Denmark and accounts for approx. half of the cultivated area.
The importance of climate
What matters for the ripening of the grapes is the total heat calculated with 10 degrees as the base temperature.
Measurements show that the heating sum in Denmark is growing by approx. 40 for each 10-year period.
This means that it will take 80-100 years before we reach the heat sum of 1100-1200, which was previously normal for Champagne and the Rheingau. Therefore, there are long prospects for us to be able to grow the classic grape varieties such as e.g. Riesling, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and the like.
Are the grapes ripening?
Solaris ripens in Denmark in 95 days from flowering to harvest, which corresponds to approx. 1 October. This means that it matures stably every year with a good yield and good acidity and aroma.
Many other grape varieties are grown by the Danish winegrowers, but most varieties ripen too late to be able to produce quality wine in anything other than the very best (rare) years. Therefore, there is a need to develop more grape varieties that can ripen just as well as Solaris and are just as robust to grow.
Varieties such as Ortega, Madeleine Angevine and Siegerrebe ripen well, but these old European varieties have no resistance to the serious diseases of powdery mildew, wine mold and gray mold. They therefore require a lot of spraying. Other varieties (Vilaris, Riesel, Phönix, Zalas Perle, Orion and Bianca) are harvested unripe and can only be used for sparkling wine.
It is problematic to base such a rapidly growing industry on just one grape variety. Even though it is incredibly versatile.
Sustainable viticulture
During the last 80-90 years, German research centers have worked to develop fungus-resistant grapes that can resist mildew and other fungal diseases in the vineyards. The new varieties, called PIWI ("Pilzwiederstandsfähige rebsorten"), can reduce the consumption of fungicides by up to 80%.
This is extremely important, because - although viticulture only makes up a very small part of the total agricultural area (1-3%) in the large wine countries - they account for the largest share of the total fungicide consumption (approx. 2/3).
This means that the use of the new grape varieties constitutes a very important step towards a more sustainable viticulture in the future.
Scandinavia is the only wine region in the world that is almost exclusively based on high quality PIWI grapes.
FastGrapes collaborates with The Julius Kühn Institute, Siebeldingen on the development of a series of grape varieties that are specifically selected to ripen at the same time as Solaris.
Vision / goal
The primary goal for FastGrapes is – to develop 2-3 new blue grape varieties before 2030, so that high-quality red wine can also be grown and produced in Denmark.
The secondary goal is – at the same time – to develop a few green grape varieties that can complement Solaris for white wine (with other aroma profiles).