Haven’t had enough time to hang out here lately (or even brew much) because I’ve been focused on Finnviini, the winery my wife & I founded. Wanted to let everyone know it is paying off. Two weeks ago we were awarded our first trophy at a wine competition.
The competition is organized by the union of French winemakers. 3540 commercial wines from 45 countries competed, though almost half the entries were from France. The trophies are the “supreme awards”, and were given to the eight highest rated wines.
My wine Vaapukka made from Finnish raspberries became the first berry wine to win a trophy in the history of this competition.
If anyone know a US or Canadian wine importer who might be interested in our wines, PM me.
Oh yes, hats off to you and your wife! A celebration is well deserved there! I would love to see your wine over here so I would be able to taste! Sneezles61
jmck, this is one of three dessert wines that we make which seem to have generated the most interest for us. All three are sweet but balanced with enough acidity that they don’t seem sticky. All three are also rich, intense and strongly bring out the character of the berries.
The other two are Valokki (translate to “light one” sort of) made from cloudberries, and Sametti (velvet) made from wild forest bilberries. Vaapukka is an old Finnish word for “raspberry”.
If I can get these to N. America, I’ll let here people know.
Unfortunately sneezles, totally impossible. Need a licensed, bonded importer to bring alcohol into the US. Only exception is if you carry it in yourself for non-commercial purposes. So those wine clubs have either contracted with an established importer, or have a license themselves.
When I first arrived here, I always asked “do you speak English” before talking to someone, and they always answered “a little” before responding fluently. Almost everyone here speaks good English.
But if anyone does end up this way, let me know first; there is a beer revolution going on, and some very good brews available in Helsinki.
Count me in if it’s available to get to US. I’m absolutely interested.
