Fruit Wines From The Top Of The World
Ξ February 17th, 2008 | → 0 Comments | ∇ A Day at a Time, Wineries |
Fruit wines, wines other than from grapes, have been the mainstay of the home winemaker for many hundreds of years. Indeed, agricultural histories of the temperate zone of any continent always include references to fermentation done around the hearth. Of course, wine made from vitus vinifera has long been the world’s preference. And winemaking from grapes has taken up residence, virtually within living memory, in the University, in Viticulture and Enology programs, so technically complex and commercially-driven has its practice become. But fruit wines remain, linking the contemporary home winemaker to a pastoral tradition, knowledge with a small ‘k’ passed down through generations. A wonderful list of the bewildering assortment of fruit-derived wines may be found on Jack Keller’s very fine web site.
So, what is a winemaker to do when presented with extremely challenging climactic and environmental conditions well beyond the temperate zone? The history of winemaking in the ‘frigid’ zone is very thin. While we wait for global warming to recalibrate degree-days, for Greenland’s first pinot harvest, there have recently appeared two fruit winemaking concerns, one very near the Arctic Circle, in HúsavÃk, Iceland, the other well within it, in Lakselv, Norway.
The fruit used for both concerns is the Crowberry as it is called in the states. Naturally, the fruit has other names. Crowberry grows wild throughout Alaska, the Yukon Territory, Canada to Labrador, Newfoundland, Greenland, Iceland and northern Scandinavia, but also south to New England, the Great Lakes states, and along the Pacific Coast down to northern California. And it has considerable health benefits, containing far higher levels of antioxidants than red wine grapes, for example. Indeed, according to a reliable source, Crowberry’s regenerative strength’s were very early recognized, 1000 years ago, in old Icelandic texts wherein is recorded wine having been made of the fruit for more than sacramental purposes.
HúsavÃk is Iceland’s premier whale-watching destination, and home to Omar Gunnarrson. He’s an accomplished chef, currently working at the Fosshotel restaurant located there. He has long wanted to make his own wine. And in 2001 he released his first vintage of Kvöldsól, a blend of 80% Crowberry, 19% Rhubarb, 1%(?) Blueberry, and a secret sachet of Icelandic herbs. How does it taste? One soul who sampled his 2003 said, “It tastes just like wine made from grapes except that it’s richer in anti-aging phytochemicals”. Inventory of all his cuvées are extremely limited. Should you wish to purchase a bottle or two contact the Nordic Store.
The second Crowberry winemaker, Arnt Mathias Arntzen (sommelier), boasts of having the world’s northernmost winery, North Cape Wine, at 70 degrees latitude. The winery itself is located on the mountain plains of Finnmark. His main product is NordKapp (North Cape), 100% Crowberry with an alc. of 13%. In fact, there is no added alcohol. His first vintage was a 2000.
Crowberry, note the pic above, is a low lying shrub. Mr. Arntzen credits the diligence of the local pickers to gather a sufficient quantity of the berry for commercial production. It is labor intensive work requiring, just as with the California strawberry harvest, days spent in a stoop. Yet as a result, NordKapp may be found in most wine stores in Northern Norway. 
Though he admits to being “a little mad”, Mr. Arntzen also runs a successful wine import business, AVEC (Arntzen Vin & Cigar). The web site, http://www.avec.as/, is currently under construction.
Incidentally, for those interested in the berry and fruit-based wines of Europe you may wish to visit the Wine Information Centre in Muuruvesi, Finland, the only non-grape wines info clearing house of its kind on the continent.
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