Australian winemakers turn focus to Nordic market

The quality and diversity of Australian wine was celebrated at Wine Australia’s largest ever Nordic Roadshow, held in Finland, Denmark, Norway and Sweden earlier this month.

More than 900 trade and consumers attended Wine Australia’s Nordic Roadshow, which took place in four cities across two weeks.

Attracting a record number of guests, this year’s roadshow also showcased a record number of wines: more than 1100 wines from 104 producers, representing more than half of Australia’s 65 wine regions. Some of the wineries were familiar names in market, but others were new discoveries, with 41 producers not yet in market and seeking distribution.

The program comprised a trade master class, ‘Sustainable Australia’ hosted by Wine Australia’s Education Manager Mark Davidson, followed by a trade tasting and a consumer tasting.

With a broad range of styles and grape varieties on show, the reaction to the wines was very positive from guests, who were impressed with the high quality and diversity.

“It was a great opportunity to taste a diverse, exciting range of Australian wine and meet the people behind the wines. The master class was really informative and demonstrated the quality and breadth of wines made by sustainable and organic methods,” said wine writer Kristiina Vahvaselkä, who attended the master class and tasting in Helsinki.

Additionally, Sommelier Tommy Lennartsson summed up the tasting in Stockholm as “Very good...showing the sheer variety of premium Australian wines. I discovered some interesting wineries that I’d now like to visit on my trip to Australia early next year.”

The winemakers who flew over from Australia to pour their wines included Andrew Watson (Woodlands Wines), Ben Heide (Patritti), Caroline Mooney (Bird on a Wire), Emma Norbiato (Calabria Family Wines), Hamish MacGowan (Angus The Bull), Jenny Semmler (919 Wines), Peter Logan (Logan Wines), Ray Nadeson (Lethbridge Wines), Sarah Fagan (De Bortoli Wines), Steven Worley (The Hairy Arm) and Tod Dexter (Route du Van).

Some of these  Australian winemakers commented on the enthusiasm of the trade and consumers, and how beneficial it was to meet them to gain a better understanding of the market and create leads.

Patritti Winemaker Ben Heide said the event was “Excellent, with an impressive turnout of high quality trade representatives and enthusiastic, knowledgeable consumers. We made positive connections with importers in Finland and Norway, we have promising leads with Danish importers with tentative orders already on the table, and we strengthened our relationship and boosted sales with our existing Swedish importer.”

While Angove Family Winemakers’ Regional Export Manager Jonathan O’Neill added:”These roadshows provided a good way to catch up with the monopoly buyers and discuss our organic wines, which is a big part of Angove Family Winemakers these days. It was also important to collect consumer feedback on wine styles and the latest trends in the market.”

Wine Australia’s Head of Market EMEA Laura Jewell MW concluded that: “The Nordic Roadshow was a success, showing guests the diversity of Australian wine and demonstrating to producers the commercial opportunities that the Nordic countries offer. There was a fantastic atmosphere at all four events and I was delighted to see the renewed excitement in Australian wine.”

Sweden as the main market for Australian exported organic and biodynamic wine

According to Wine Australia, certified organic or biodynamic wines exported from Australia are a niche but growing export segment that was worth $12 million in 2016.

The main market for Australian exported organic and biodynamic wines is Sweden, which accounted for 31% of all wine in this category.  Exports of organic wines to Sweden grew by 58% in value in 2016. The UK was ranked second with 24% of exports.

The large export of organic wine to Sweden is both due to the Swedish commitment to sustainability and the environment, and also because Sweden is the biggest wine market in Scandinavia.

Wine Australia noted that Shiraz, Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon were the top three exported varieties with organic certification.

See some photos from the event: