Produced with 100% Swedish apples and the Nordic winter cold, Brännland Iscider have created an avid following in some of the world’s most exclusive restaurants. Now the Västerbotten-wine maker invites you to its brand new Tasing Room in the Vännäsby winery, 20 minutes west of Umeå.
Produced with 100% Swedish apples and the Nordic winter cold, Brännland Iscider have created an avid following in some of the world’s most exclusive restaurants. Now the Västerbotten-wine maker invites you to its brand new Tasing Room in the Vännäsby winery, 20 minutes west of Umeå.
Brännland Iscider are planting apple-orchards all over northern Sweden to create a new Swedish wine-terroir. In the future the ice cider will be produced exclusively on northern apples.
Ever since the very first batch of Brännland Iscider in 2013 the artisanal ice wine has found a following and a place on the menu of some of the world’s finest restaurants. Now the winery – located only 20 minutes’ drive from central Umeå – have opened its doors to the public and invites you to experience its brand-new Tasting Room.
Andreas Sundgren, founder of Brännland Iscider.
– During the pandemic our production slowed down and for the first time in a decade we found ourselves with some time to actually think about how to develop the public part of the operation. Our focus will always be on creating the very best ice cider possible, but we’ve continually received requests for tastings and visits. This could be the first step in creating a full-scale destination experience, says Andreas Sundgren, founder of Brännland Iscider.
Local architects design the meeting place
The new Tasting Room was designed by local architect agency Peripheral Works, also responsible for the design of the spectacular new resort “Nabben” at beautiful Granö Beckasin 70 kilometers north-west of Umeå. To Andreas and the team at Brännland Iscider the design of the new Tasing Room had to be an integral part of the everyday operations at the winery – not just to be used at public events.
– It really lifted the entire space, working on the next blend got a whole lot more inspiring with these new surroundings, says Andreas Sundgren.
Tasting Room at Brännland Iscider, designed by local architects Peripheral Works.
Adjacent to the new Tasting Room, cellar-assistants Harry and Ulla are hard at work packing orders for clients around the world. The 2021 vintage is finally ready for delivery, and around 20 000 liters of ice wine is waiting for shipment. The Brännland Iscider is produced locally, on 100% Swedish apples. The concentration of sugar is done using fermentation in natural northern cold, with no addition of alcohol, sugar, preservatives, flavor, or coloring.
– This vintage had the perfect 1:10 balance between residual sugar and acidity. This is always the goal but very difficult to achieve, and only matched twice before in the past decade of production. Now we’re starting work on the next vintage which will be our ten-year anniversary, says Andreas Sundgren.
Brännland Iscider is produced using only Swedish apples and completely without addition of alcohol, sugar, preservatives, flavor, or coloring. The northern cold makes the Umeå-region especially favorable for production.
But no one is a prophet in their own land. Even as Brännland Iscider have received a number of awards – including five gold medals at the IWSC:s inaugural judging for cider produced as wine – the Swede’s are notoriously hesitant to embrace sweet wine.
– We often must start by explaining what ice cider is, and a common response before trying our product is “I don’t like sweet wine”. But there’s a new generation of consumers emerging, one that’s a lot more curous and focused on craftsmanship. They prefer to drink “less but better”, which puts us in a great position.
Okay, help us clear things up: Is ice cider wine?
– We are wine makers, although we happen to use another primary commodity than grapes. We have the same production cycle, we get our knowledge from wine makers, our ice cider is served at some of the best restaurants in Europe and we strive to be at the level of the best wine makers in the world. We have a lot more in common with a traditional winery than a brewery. So yes, we say ice cider is wine.
What’s the future of Brännland Iscider?
– We’ll keep honing the product. Right now, we’re prepping for the next vintage, buying apples from all over Sweden and setting up the production. 2022 will be our 10-year-anniversary but that just makes us babies in the industry. The best wineries in the business have been around for 500 years, and it’s their level we are aiming for.
…and continue with your own orchards?
– Yeah, we have a vision of a new apple-, ice cider- and wine terroir in the north of Sweden and planted our very first apple orchards in 2014. Now we keep planting apple trees all around the regions of northern Sweden, in the future Brännland Iscider will be made completely on apples cultivated in these orchards.
Brännland Iscider offers open events and private tours and tastings to groups and organizations. Read more on brannlandcider.se/tasting-room.
Ice cider Facts:
Ice Cider is a sweet wine produced through the fermentation of apple juice that holds a sugar content of at least 30° brix before fermentation. Concentration of sugar is to be done using naturally occurring cold.
Alcohol content in the finished product must be between 7 and 13 percent by volume and residual sugar must be at least 130gr/L.
• Starting juice must be constituted of 100%, unconcentrated natural apple juice from Swedish grown apples.
• No addition of preservativs.
• No addition of flavors or coloring.
• No addition of alcohol.
• Chaptalization is not allowed. Work continuously from year to year to refine the blend of apples that shape our Ice Cider.
