Can Scandinavia Liberate European Wine From Climate Change?

As Sweden and Denmark innovate wine to withstand climate change, they also alter its cultural fundamentals – for better or worse.

There’s an old legend in Sweden that goes something like this: Once upon a time, there was a mighty and magical creature named Gotland. Witches put a cruel spell on it: by night, it took the form of an island – but as soon as the sun came up, it would sink underwater, destroying everything and everyone on it.

One day, a man named Tjelvar ventured out to Gotland; before sunrise, he started a fire. Miraculously, this broke the curse. Gotland no longer had to sink and could stand proud for all eternity.

Fast forward to 2024, and Sweden’s largest island still has that mystical quality. Located in the middle of the Baltic Sea, Gotland is home to sprawling burial grounds from the Viking era. Its main city, Visby, is a UNESCO heritage site thanks to its preserved medieval character. Gotland hosts an active Swedish military base, with planes howling in the skies on a daily basis.

Its seemingly endless coastline is studded with raukar: impressive stacks of limestone that jag out of a tormented sea, with waves at the mercy of sweeps of aggressive wind. In many ways, Gotland is emblematic of Scandinavia in its climatic harshness – but also in its somber atmosphere.